The Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a new sea bridge and tunnel system across the Pearl River Delta which connects three areas: the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Zhuhai (which is part of mainland China) and the Macau Special Administrative Region. The project consists of five parts: the Main Bridge, the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF), the Hong Kong Link Road (HKLR), the Tuen Mun – Chek Lap Kok Link (TM-CLKL) and the Tuen Mun Western Bypass (TMWB). The Main Bridge, part of which is a 6.7km tunnel, is a 29.6km dual three-lane highway running between two artificial islands in Hong Kong and Zhuhai.
Figure 1: Layout Plan for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
Construction began on December 15th 2009, with the tunnels and artificial islands, and the main bridge structure was completed in September 2016, with the final stages of laying the road and fitting lights taking place after this. It is due to open to the public in 2018, when border control arrangements are agreed upon.
Sustainability is defined as the ability ‘to be able to be continued or sustained’. It has three factors; environmental, social and economic. For the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to be sustainable it must not compromise the future. Therefore, there must not be negative impacts caused by the construction of the HZMB on the environment, the economy or on people’s lives. For example, it should not create pollution or greenhouse gases or disrupt wildlife and ecosystems, as this would be environmentally unsustainable. The HZMB also must survive for a long time so that it is economically sustainable and should benefit many people from all three areas.
To what extent is the HZMB economically sustainable?
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The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge has a design life of 120 years rather than the ordinary 100 years that most bridges are designed for. This means that it is more economically sustainable than most bridges as it is more durable, so will not have to be replaced as soon compared to other Chinese bridges and less maintenance will be required in the long term. This has been made possible through innovative engineering and technological advances. The construction of the HZMB has led to more than 1000 patents being issued for advances linked to the design of the HZMB. For example, Duplex Stainless Steel was manufactured in China for the first time, by Tisco, who made 8200 tonnes for the construction of the main structure of the HZMB. Stainless steel was chosen because of its resistance to corrosion, which is needed due to the HZMB being in a saline delta rather than a freshwater river. Pile caps are also used to reduce corrosion, meaning the bridge will last longer without needing repairing. It is also more lightweight than concrete which aids the cost of the construction of the bridge as less expensive equipment is needed to lift the beams into place. These factors mean that whilst in the short term the bridge may be economically unsustainable due to its high costs and enhanced design compared to other bridges, in the long term, the HZMB is more economically sustainable as it will last longer.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge has been designed to be economically sustainable as it can withstand a ‘Super typhoon’ with winds over 185km/h and up to a magnitude 8 earthquake5. This is due to to the bridge’s seismically isolated design and the tunnel being built in segments which can move independently, therefore preventing the tunnel breaking. This means that the bridge will be able to survive large climatic and tectonic hazards without having to be replaced or repaired, therefore saving money in the event of a disaster. However the risk of a magnitude 7 (or higher) earthquake occurring in Hong Kong is very low, with a return period of 500 to 600 years, due to the Pearl River Delta not being located directly on a plate boundary. The nearest plate boundary is between the Eurasian and Pacific plates and runs through Taiwan, but this is still about 600km away from Hong Kong. The risk of a ‘Super typhoon’ occurring in or near the Pearl River Delta is far greater due to its location in the South China Sea, where many typhoons form due to its warm waters. Since 1956, 33 warning signals at level 9 or 10 have been issued. These warning signals signify that an increasing gale or hurricane is expected to affect Hong Kong. This shows the need for the HZMB to be able to withstand a ‘Super typhoon’ as they occur relatively regularly with an average of 0.3 level 9 warnings and 0.2 level 10 warnings issued each year. Although, the bridge is unlikely to need its ability to withstand earthquakes as the risk of a high magnitude earthquake is very low, the ability for the bridge to withstand ‘super typhoons’ is definitely needed due to the high risk. Therefore, the strong and stable design will make the project more economically sustainable in the long term, as it will prevent damage and therefore mean that fewer major repairs will have to be undertaken due to typhoons or hurricanes.
Additionally, to pay for the upkeep and subsidise the cost of construction, there will be tolls for using the HZMB. The proposed tolls include HK$150 (£14) for a private car and HK$115 (£11) for a container truck. These tolls have been controversial with many local residents complaining that the expensive tolls will discourage people from using the bridge, therefore harming any economic development that the bridge could bring. On the other hand, Guangdong authorities say that tolls are needed to maintain the bridge, as over 30 years, the annual operation costs would be HK$2.6 billion (£250 million). This led to a hearing, which took place on 21st December 2017 to decide the toll levels that would be used on the HZMB. The average salary in Hong Kong is HK$371 827 (£34 342), but the minimum wage in Hong Kong is only HK$34.5 (£3.19) per hour. The minimum wage is far lower than the cost to use the bridge therefore making commuting using the HZMB unaffordable for many workers who earn minimum wages or even those who earn the average salary for Hong Kong as commuting using the HZMB in a private car would cost HK$1500 (£139) per week. This could make the HZMB economically unsustainable as many people will not be able to use the bridge because they cannot afford the cost of the tolls. This will mean that only wealthy people will be able to use the HZMB, especially for commuting, as the tolls do not make it accessible to all people.
Another reason that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will be economically sustainable is because of the economic development that it should bring to the Pearl River Delta region, particularly the Western Pearl River Delta. Chen Guanghan, Director of Centre for Hong Kong, Macao and Pearl River Delta Studies said that ‘Investment, capital and business radiate from Hong Kong, driving development on the east’6. This is because eastern areas of the Pearl River Delta are geographically closer to Hong Kong meaning travelling between the eastern Pearl River Delta region in mainland China and Hong Kong is fast. Whereas, cities such as Zhuhai, on the Western Pearl Delta in mainland China are further from Hong Kong and there is a long travel time of three and a half to four hours between these cities. Because of this distance and therefore long travelling times, development has been slower in the Western delta region, as much of the trade in the Pearl River Delta goes through Hong Kong. Economists predict that with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which will reduce commuting times between Hong Kong International airport and Zhuhai to only 45 minutes, development in the Western River Delta will speed up as trade with Hong Kong and other eastern cites, such as Shenzhen and Dongguan, will be faster, due to the 80% decrease in traveling times, and more efficient. This means that in the long term, the HZMB will be economically sustainable as it will be extremely important in bringing further economic development to the Western Pearl River Delta region.
Furthermore, the Pearl River Delta is very important in terms of trade and investment for China, therefore the HZMB was designed so that shipping lanes will not be disrupted, meaning trade can continue. Also, a height restriction was put on the bridge so that flights to Hong Kong International Airport would not be affected. The Pearl River Delta is vital to China’s economy as despite containing only 1% of China’s land area, it provides 10% of its GDP and 25% of trade. The HZMB has been designed so that even the largest container ships, weighing 300 000 tonnes, can still access inland ports, such as in Guangzhou. The highway becomes a subsea tunnel for 6.7km, with a maximum depth of 40m, meaning the trade route is unaffected8. There are also other areas of the bridge that ships can travel through. This means that the HZMB is economically sustainable in the long term as it has been designed so that trade can continue without disruptions.
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On the other hand, the economic impact of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge also shows how the project is not economically sustainable as it has already gone over budget. A statement by the Hong Kong government on 21st November 2017 said that the project had cost around HK$11.84 billion (£1.14 billion) more than the planned HK$18.6 (£1.79 billion), which is a 39% increase. Other parts of the scheme have also gone over budget with an additional HK$5 billion spent on an artificial island. The overall cost is now over HK$117 billion (£11.25 billion). Anthony Cheung (Transport Minister) said “The final cost for the main bridge will be higher than the original estimate due to some construction and manpower challenges”. These large overspends show how the scheme is not economically unsustainable in the short term. Because of the overspends, it will take longer to recoup the money spent on the project through tolls, meaning they will be more expensive and present on the bridge for longer. This will disadvantage users of the bridge in the long term and prevent some people from using the bridge so fewer people can benefit from the HZMB’s construction.
There have been considerable problems in the construction process of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge which have slowed the process down. The bridge was due to be completed and opened in 2016 but this was pushed back to the end of 2017. One problem was due to some of the steel cells, which formed part of the sea wall for the artificial islands, drifting. Most of the cells drifted between three and five metres, but two cells moved by six to seven metres. Although this was fixed by the contractor, at their own cost, it still slowed down the construction process. These incidents decrease the economic sustainability of the scheme in the short term as more money must be paid to continue construction works for longer than planned. It also prevents the bridge from being completed so that it can be opened to the public, meaning tolls can be paid and some of the money spent on the scheme, reacquired.
Long term economic sustainability may be unlikely as Stephen Townsend, who is the director of urban design at an architectural firm, Gensler Asia, said “I think that real estate prices are going to skyrocket in Zhuhai because of the bridge, like in Shenzhen 20 years ago.” This is because Zhuhai and Macau will be within commuting range of Hong Kong when the bridge is opened to the public. This means that with the exuberant prices of living in Hong Kong, people will be able to move to Zhuhai or Macau and have a larger, more affordable house than in Hong Kong. Therefore, property prices in Zhuhai and Macau will increase as there will be a higher demand because the properties will then be within commuting range of Hong Kong. This will be economically unsustainable as it will mean local residents of Macau and Zhuhai may be forced out of the area due to increased property and rent prices, as a result of the building of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Another person that disagrees with the building of the HZMB is Bob McKercher, Professor of tourism management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He said ‘there’s certainly no economic justification in building a bridge’ as ‘It will never pay for itself. And right now the traffic flow will only ever go one way – and that’s from Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macau’. This is because of the vast amounts of money required to pay for the construction of the bridges, tunnel and artificial islands as it will take many years to regain this money. Also the population of Macau is very small (612 000) so this means there will be less people travelling from Macau. If these predictions are correct, then it could lead to long term economic unsustainability.
To what extent is the HZMB socially sustainable?
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The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is socially sustainable because local residents and the general publics opinions were taken into account when the bridge was designed. Public engagement events were held to make sure that local residents voices were heard, so that any potential problems that the HZMB would have caused could be addressed and the designs changed if necessary. There was also a system so that the local communities could have a say in deciding what would be built on the artificial islands. Giving the public a voice whilst designing a major infrastructure project like the HZMB means that the scheme is more likely to be socially sustainable in the long run, as local people feel they have been involved in the decision process.
Transport links across the Pearl River Delta will improve so local people will also be able to travel between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau more easily and more quickly when the bridge opens to the public. This will give the bridge a purpose making it socially sustainable as it will help people to travel more efficiently from one side of the Pearl River Delta to the other, because it will cut down a four hour journey to only 45 minutes, a reduction in travelling time of 80%11.
Furthermore, employment opportunities grew whilst the bridge was under construction as 14 000 jobs were created through the project, with priority given to local residents rather than workers from overseas. This gives the bridge social sustainability in the short term as it provides employment for local people for the duration of the construction of the bridge. Although, employment reduces when construction is finished, so the benefits are short term as far fewer people are employed to maintain the bridge, rather than building it.
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Only some people will be able to make use of the benefits that the bridge will bring, as local people will need a permit to be able to use the bridge in private cars, so this does not show long term social sustainability. The Hong Kong government plan to issue only 3000 permits, for using the HZMB to access Guangdong (mainland China), to Hong Kong residents. This is out of a population of over 7 million, where there are over 600 000 private cars. The only people eligible for these permits tend to be wealthy or have made political contributions. The criteria for obtaining a permit is:
1) an enterprise that pays at least RMB 0.1 million in tax in Guangdong (mainland China)
2) national high-tech enterprises
3) residents of Hong Kong who have donated over RMB 5million to charities in Guangdong
4) members of the People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference for Guangdong.
This shows poor social sustainability for the HZMB as the vast majority of people will not be able to use the bridge so therefore it will not benefit most of the residents of Hong Kong. These people can only travel on the HZMB using shuttle buses. This also causes the divide between wealthy and poorer people to widen, as wealthier people will be able to use the bridge with a permit but people with less money or who have not made political contributions to Guangdong will not. This creates poor long term social sustainability.
During the construction of the main bridge, in March 2017, there was a fatal accident where two people were killed and three others injured, showing short term social unsustainability as safety was not considered a priority during construction. The main cause of the accident was due to the contractor not setting out a safe working procedure and no risk assessment taking place for the jacking up operation, which was being carried out by the workers who were injured and killed. They were harnessed to a temporary platform which collapsed, and dragged them underwater. The workers should have been attached to a permanent structure, so this accident could have been prevented if the safety rules were followed. This has not been the only fatal accident during the construction of this bridge. Altogether, 10 workers have died and 600 injured in 275 incidents. This shows that in the short term, the construction has not been sustainable with large numbers of injuries and accidents showing safety procedures have not been properly set out or followed.
Another controversy that took place during the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge was that some of the concrete strength test data was faked. 21 workers were arrested over the falsified test data. In a Hong Kong government press release, it said ‘210 cubes were suspected of being problematic’ out of 170 000 tests. One man has been sentenced to 8 months in prison due to ‘being lazy’ and making up compressional concrete tests. This has a social impact as local people may no longer trust that the bridge is safe, which is worrying for local people, and will not create social sustainability for the HZMB or political stability within Hong Kong and China.
Many Hong Kong residents feel that the construction of the HZMB is leading to the Chinese Government having a greater influence on Hong Kong and its politics, and is bringing Hong Kong further under their control. This worries many Hong Kong citizens who wish for Hong Kong to be an independent country where freedom of speech, religion, access to the internet, the press and the assembly is allowed, unlike in China which is governed by the Communist Party of China. The bridge is bringing together the two systems of the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau and mainland China. The CGTN, which is China’s state-owned television channel, claims that the HZMB reinforces the ‘one country, two systems’ principle6 which was introduced by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s to bring about the reunification of China. Whereas, critics claim that China is interfering in Hong Kong too much, and the HZMB is helping to ‘undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy’35. It is in China’s interest to have greater control over Hong Kong as it is a major financial market and commercial centre, but many Hong Kong residents reject this. This could lead to political unrest in the future if China gain further control over Hong Kong, which could then lead to long term social unsustainability.
Furthermore, there has been a backlash from some local populations who disagree with the building of the bridges, as they believe that the money could be better spent elsewhere, such as by improving the quality of life of residents rather than on ‘white elephant infrastructure projects’. Spending on local smaller scale projects could improve peoples’ quality of life without vast quantities of money being spent on a bridge which many people will gain no benefit from due to the lack of permits, especially for lower socioeconomic groups. This shows a lack of social sustainability in the long term.
To what extent is the HZMB environmentally sustainable?
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The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge will be sustainable into the future as when it opens it will reduce the time for travelling from Macau to Hong Kong from four hours to 45 minutes and the distance travelled will decrease from over 200km to 40km, an 80% reduction11. In turn, this will reduce the volume of CO2 and other greenhouse gases produced by vehicles travelling between the East and West sides of the Pearl River Delta. According to the HZMB website, CO2 emissions will be reduced by 1100 tonnes per day. This decline in emissions will mean the HZMB is environmentally sustainable in the long term because it will reduce the impact of emissions from transport around the Pearl River Delta on the environment. It may also help prevent air pollution and smog which is formed due to pollution in cities such as Guangzhou. Although, the impact of the HZMB on smog levels is likely to be small as most of the smog is produced because of industry, as the Pearl River Delta is known as the ‘factory of the world’ owing to many factories producing a large array of goods, which are sent all over the world, being produced here.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge travels through an area of environmental importance as the Pearl River Delta is home to Chinese White Dolphins. To prevent damage to the ecosystem and the dolphins’ natural habitat, a team was set up to monitor the environment daily. Levels of pollution were measured daily during construction and the team recorded numbers of dolphins present in the Pearl River Basin6. This ensured there was minimal impact on the dolphins during construction. Also, more marine parks were opened to protect the wildlife and address falling numbers of dolphins during construction of the HZMB. These new marine parks include the ‘Brothers Marine Park’, the ‘Southwest Lantau Marine Park’ (opening in 2018) and the ‘Soko Islands Marine Park’ (due to open in 2019). The Brothers Marine Park is located near the HKBCF so therefore will protect dolphins in this area from disturbance because of construction. It is also an important feeding ground for the Chinese White Dolphins and a spawning ground for commercially important fish. This area will protect the local wildlife through reduced speed limits for boats in the area and will mean the project is more environmentally sustainable as the ecosystems can be protected.
Another way of making the scheme more environmentally sustainable and reducing the affects of construction of the HZMB on the Chinese White Dolphins and other species, is by using new technology so dredging, for the artificial islands and the road tunnel, and other invasive construction techniques do not have to be undertaken. This means there is less damage to the natural environment as the sediments are not disturbed by dredging. Without dredging, there should be a 70% decrease in the amount of suspended sediment present in the water according to an environmental report (2010). Dredging can be harmful to dolphins as they use echolocation, a natural sonar, to hunt and navigate. With sediments clouding the water, the echolocation does not work as effectively as it reflects off sediments instead of potential hazards or prey. As well as not dredging, no underwater percussive piling took place and noisy equipment was acoustically-decoupled to prevent underwater noise pollution as this would also harm to dolphins’ ability to use their echolocation and the loud noises could also overwhelm their senses, so they would not be able to communicate. This shows how the construction of the HZMB is undertaken to make the project environmentally sustainable, particularly in the short term to prevent damage to natural ecosystems in the Pearl River Delta.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge has been built for the future, with a design life of 120 years rather than the usual 100 years for a bridge5. Part of the effort to make it environmentally sustainable in the long term is by fitting the bridge with 550 electric car charging stations that will be able to be used by a variety of vehicles. As electric vehicles become more prevalent, more charging stations will be needed so the inclusion of charging stations makes the bride more sustainable. It will also promote the use of electric cars instead of ones running on petrol and diesel as electricity can be produced sustainably through renewable sources whereas petrol and diesel are not renewable and produce greenhouse gases. With more electric vehicles, this could begin to tackle the Pearl River Delta’s problem with air pollution.
An environmentally friendly sub station has been built to provide power for the bridge such as for lights in the road tunnel and the tolling stations. The substation uses a rainwater recycling system where rainwater is harvested and used for irrigation, which will reduce freshwater consumption by 60%. Drip irrigation will also be used and will reduce consumption by 70%. In terms of construction of the substation, the building uses only materials from less than 800km away to reduce CO2 emissions from transport. It was also a zero waste project as all the materials for temporary buildings, such as the site office, are reusable. All these factors mean that the substation is very sustainable in the short term as well as the long term because it uses less of earth’s finite resources, such as fossil fuels and freshwater, and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
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Despite efforts to prevent disruption to the Chinese White Dolphins in the Pearl River Delta, their numbers have been falling and this has been linked to the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. According to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department’s (Hong Kong Government) reports from 2009 and 2017, the number of dolphin sightings has decreased from 1062 individual Chinese White Dolphins (271 groups) in 2009 to 638 individuals (199 groups) in 2017.
Figure 2: Long term trends in the number of dolphin encounters overall in Hong Kong waters37
This graph shows how the number of sighting of Chinese White dolphins has been steadily declining since 2003. Since the construction of the HZMB began, sightings have dropped dramatically to 5.3 per 100km, which is less than half of the 12.3 sightings per 100km in 2003.
The areas that dolphins were sighted in has also changed, with a decrease in the number of dolphins spotted North of Lantau Island, which is near to the construction sites for the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities and the Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link.
These maps of dolphin sightings from 2004 until 2016 show how sightings of the Chinese White Dolphin have been reduced, especially in areas of construction, and how the spatial pattern of sightings has changed. In the earlier maps, before the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge began, there were many sightings in the ocean between Tuen Mun and Lantau Island. Construction of the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities commenced in 2012 and the numbers of sightings in this area dramatically decreased from 2012 to 2013 showing the impact that the construction had on the Chinese White Dolphins as they moved away from this area. The newest map from 2016 shows no sightings of Chinese White Dolphins in this area and it it thought that this is linked to the disruption to the dolphins’ natural habitat that the construction has caused. This shows that the construction of the HZMB has had a negative impact on the Chinese White Dolphins and other marine species and that therefore the scheme is not environmentally sustainable in the short term, whilst construction is in progress.
In 2016, the levels of feeding and socialising reached their lowest levels, shown by the graph below. This shows a decrease in dolphin activity, especially north of Lantau Island, near the construction sites. This is especially prevalent as there was frequent feeding in this area before 2012 but this has diminished rapidly since construction began. These negative effects on the Chinese White Dolphin are shown in the graph below.
Figure 5: Percentages of feeding and socialising activities of all dolphins spotted between 2002 and 201637
All of these figures and graphs show how the building of the HZMB has negatively affected the Chinese White Dolphin, as it has led to decreased sightings and reduced feeding and socialising activities since the project began construction in 2009. This shows that in the short term the scheme is not environmentally sustainable as it has had negative impacts on wildlife, particularly the Chinese White Dolphins. This is particularly noticeable in the spatial changes of sightings as the number of sightings has drastically decreased North of Lantau Island, near the construction sites of the HKBCF and the TM-CLKL, especially since building began here in 2012. This shows short term environmental unsustainability during the construction period, but these negative impacts on the Chinese White Dolphins may decrease once construction has finished as there would be less activity in the water so feeding areas would not be disrupted, and there would be less suspended sediment present in the water. Numbers may increase again, especially with the new marine parks that are being opened. Therefore, if this were to take place, it shows that the HZMB could be environmentally sustainable in the long term as there would not be long term impacts on the Chinese white Dolphins, as their numbers could increase again.
Reclaiming land from the sea is usually environmentally unsustainable in the long term as it can disrupt the natural processes of the sea and therefore the ecosystems present in the area. Land was reclaimed in the Pearl River Delta to build two artificial islands which house border facilities. Building artificial islands can destroy habitats and therefore the wildlife and species living in the area. Land reclamation can also cause increased sedimentation and more suspended sediment particles present in the water, which can harm marine species that use echolocation to communicate, such as the Chinese White Dolphin in the Pearl River Delta. However, a new land reclamation method is being used, where no dredging has to take place, the environmental reports show that the amount of suspended particles in the water have exceeded the limits set when environmental permits were issued many times throughout the nine year construction period. For example, from March to May 2013, the limit level for the amount of suspended solids present in the water was exceeded 87 times. This increase in sediment in the water could be very dangerous to dolphins and other marine species which use echolocation to navigate and hunt for food. These artificial islands could be unsustainable in the future due to rising sea levels caused by global warming. As the islands are built from the sea, they are low lying so therefore are at risk from future tsunamis or typhoons and rising sea levels, which will cause flooding.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I believe that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is currently unsustainable in the short term, especially if changes are not made in the future. The economic, social and environmental costs outweigh the benefits of building the HZMB in the short term. This is mainly due to the fact that the bridge will not benefit everyone as only 3000 permits to allow people to drive a private car on the HZMB are being issued29, despite Hong Kong having a population of over 7 million. The project is also vastly over budget meaning it is not economically viable, due to the HK$11.84 billion cost overrun24. Environmentally, the construction of the HZMB has led to the decline in the number of Chinese White Dolphins in the Pearl River Delta. This is particularly severe in areas near construction sites such as north of Lantau Island where, according to the South China Morning Post. dolphin numbers have decreased by 60%.
However, in the future, the bridge may be sustainable in the long term due to its long design life of 120 years5, which is 20% longer than most bridges are designed for. The bridge and tunnel system has also been designed for the future, with electric car charging stations, meaning the bridge will be more environmentally sustainable in the future when more electric cars are driven22. In the future, tolls will be reduced and are planned to be removed in 30 years10, which will encourage more people to use the HZMB, increasing its social sustainability. The design of the bridge also contributes to its long term sustainability as it can withstand a ‘super typhoon’ and a magnitude 8 earthquake5, so therefore will need fewer repairs as a result of these events taking place in the future. It has also been designed so that trade can continue and shipping lanes are not disrupted, as the tunnel section of the HZMB means that even the largest container ships can travel up the Pearl River Delta8. Also, when construction has finished and all machinery is removed, the environmental quality in the area surrounding the HZMB will improve, as suspended sediment in the water will decrease. In the future, the Hong Kong Government are planning to open new marine parks to protect the Chinese White Dolphin and other marine species17, therefore increasing long term environmental sustainability. In the long term, the HZMB will lead to economic development in the Western Pearl Delta6 and increase trade between Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China. This means that the HZMB will be economically sustainable in the long term. Greenhouse gas emissions from cars will also decrease in the future due to the reduction in travel time from Macau and Zhuhai to Hong Kong, which has reduced from four hours to only 45 minutes, an 80% reduction11.
In conclusion, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is unsustainable in the short term but could be sustainable in the long term, especially if some changes are made.