On December 15 last year a giant fireworks display on the waters off Lover’s South Road in Zhuhai, marked the official start of construction of the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge. A host of top officials from Macau, the mainland and Hong Kong, together with Politburo Standing Committee member of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, Li Keqiang, said the construction of the bridge would not only help deal with the financial crisis and stimulate investment, but further connect Hong Kong and Macau and the mainland.

Financing
The total investment, revealed last August after long and detailed talks between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, will be RMB72.9 billion, massively exceeding the estimated cost. Funding for the main body of the bridge will be provided by the three governments, by dividing the total cost in proportion to the respective economic benefits gained from the bridge.
The remainder will be raised through loans and each government will be responsible for investing in their own checkpoints and link sections.
The projected economic benefit breakdown per region is 57.8 percent 32.6 percent and 9.6 percent respectively for Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau, and the three have agreed to build their own linkage parts, with the construction costs of the main over-water bridge project to be shared out 50.2, 35.1 and 14.7 percent respectively.
The Hong Kong part of the bridge is six kilometres long and the section within Guangdong waters is 29.6 kilometres. The main section of the bridge is a six-lane expressway with a width of 33.1 metres. Its lifespan is expected to be 120 years.
Macau will shoulder the cost of its part of the main bridge and the building of an artificial island off the Zhuhai-Macau port.
According to the former Chief Executive, Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Macau will spend at total of MOP33.1 million between 2009 and 2018.
Mainland academic Jin Xinyi, who studies the economy of the Pearl River Delta region, says Hong Kong will benefit the most and Macau the least.
In June 2007, the Singaporean press quoted Zhang Xiaoqiang, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, as saying that research showed Hong Kong would receive a profit of 64 percent, Guangdong 26 and Macau 10 – an estimation similar to Macau’s share of the cost of building the bridge.

Just one more option
The economic benefits of the bridge will include a reduction in transportation costs, travelling time for people and goods and port facility and cargo-handling costs.
The fee charged for vehicles is expected to be below HK$100 – cheaper than a ferry ticket – so the development of Macau’s tourism industry and the overall economy is expected to rise.
The journey between Hong Kong International Airport and Macau will take about 20 minutes. But when travel time into the centre of Hong Kong is taken into account there isn’t much difference between taking the existing Macau-Sheung Wan ferry.
Vehicles using the bridge will not be allowed to enter Macau but will be stopped on an artificial island off the Zhuhai-Macau port for clearance. 5,500 parking bays will be available.
Macau Business spoke to a number of Hong Kong people who work in Macau about the bridge.
Mr Mui, is a manager who works in Macau for a Hong Kong-owned company, and commutes weekly between the two territories.
Even though the bridge will be open to traffic in six years, he claims he will still take a ferry because the landing point of the bridge in Hong Kong at San Shek Wan on Lantau Island is far from his home.
Mr Cheung, a supervisor at a securities firm, says the bridge will give Hong Kong people one more choice and may be a cheaper option.
A Macau academic also concludes that the second Macau-Hong Kong ferry terminal – the Taipa Ferry Terminal – is still in a trial phase of its operations.
After it is finished, the sea and air transportation capabilities between Hong Kong and Macau will be further strengthened.
In recent years, the number of Hong Kong tourists has grown 20 percent annually and is expected to continue to grow, either by sea or bridge.

Logistics
Beijing says the bridge will bring a direct economic benefit of approximately HK$42.64 billion to the three regions within 20 years.
Hong Kong will secure nearly 60 percent of the benefits – more than HK$24.6 billion. It is hoped that the bridge will also relieve pressure on Hong Kong port facilities resulting in a reduction of loading and unloading charges. It is also expected that the economic benefits from the bridge will offset some of the costs of constructing nine new parking areas for 1,000 to 3,000 ton ships, recently completed by Hong Kong authorities with an investment of HK$5.51 billion.
Hong Kong will also enjoy an increase of 607,000 TEU (International measure) shipping containers from Zhuhai, Zhongshan, and Jiangmen cities in the first year.
Scholars point out that some Western Guangdong freight transports to and from Macau International Airport will be diverted to the Hong Kong International Airport. Whether the pie of Macau’s local freight services will be “shared” by the Hong Kong International Airport still remains unknown.

Travelling costs
Two separate proposals agreed on a predicted charge of HK$150 for cars and HK$450 for tour buses. However the two proposals came up with rather significant differences on charges for trucks.
One proposed charging container trucks at HK$330 and ordinary trucks HK$225, whereas the other scheme proposed charging HK$115 and HK$60.
In view of the current responses, of the two schemes, most people support car charges of HK$150, tour buses HK$450, container vehicles HK$115, and trucks HK$60.
However, things remain unclear and will only be known for sure three months before the bridge is set to open.
Some in Macau say a charge of HK$300 or more for container vehicles is too high since the driving distance is approximately 30 minutes.
Also, only around 500 container vehicles in Macau possess “two sets of licence plates”, whereas in Hong Kong there are around 15,000 (20,000 maximum). Bearing these figures in mind, it is obvious that there is no way Macau can compete with its Hong Kong counterparts.
Most of the freight volume on the bridge will come from Western Guangdong with which Hong Kong has developed a strong logistics network, so it will not be easy for Macau to get a share of the pie, unless it seeks cooperation with Hong Kong logistics enterprises.
One advantage remains however, in that Macau freight drivers are paid less than Hong Kong drivers and may be able to do deals with Hong Kong logistics firms.

Property market
Macau’s property market was re-activated in the middle of last year when it became clear the bridge was going ahead.
Wong Kwok Kei, Sales Manager of Centaline (Macau), said confirmation of the bridge saw transactions in second-hand properties heat up, and many property owners increased their price by 5 to 8 percent, or even took their property off the market.
Wong said convenient and fast transportation is a priority for property owners and investors.
Macau’s boom in recent years has seen purchases by non-Macau residents grow massively and the bridge will add to this phenomenon across the Pearl River Delta.
However, one property agency manager said with the completion of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Mass Rapid Transit System, Macau will gradually be integrated into the ‘Greater PRD development’ and ‘one-hour economic circle’.

Total investment: RMB72.94 billion
Duration of preparation: 26 years
Planning: six years

Construction: six years
Driving speed: 100 kilometres/hour
Tunnel length: 6.7 kilometres
Service life: 120 years

Navigational spans: three, each opening can resist three tons
of impact force | Crash proof: collision resistant to 30 tons
Resistance: 51 metres/second wind speed and 8-magnitude earthquake

by Herman He