HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge wins highest international welding award Ugo Guerrera Prize

The International Institute of Welding (IIW) has announced that the steel structure of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) has won the Ugo Guerrera Prize from the organization. This is the highest international award in the field of structural steel engineering and welding. This is the second time that China has received this highest award after the Chinese National Stadium (also known as the Bird's Nest) project, the main venue of the 2010 Beijing Olympic Games.

Sponsored by the Italian Institute of Welding this IIW Award recognizes an individual or team responsible for fabrication of an outstanding recently completed welded construction from the viewpoints of design, materials or fabrication methods. The award is given every three years.

World's longest bridge-cum-tunnel sea crossing

The 55-km HZMB, comprising the 12km Hong Kong Link Road, 29.6km Main Bridge and 13.4km Zhuhai Link Road, is the longest bridge-cum-tunnel sea crossing in the world

The upper part of the main bridge was constructed with a steel consumption of 425,000 tons, equivalent to that of 10 "Bird Nests." The bridge was erected in large sections ranging from 110 meters to 152.6 meters in length, and its steel structure was constructed within four years, with a tight schedule and high-quality requirements.

The HZMB Authority said that in order to complete the steel structure manufacturing of the HZMB with high quality, the Authority completed a systematic steel structure manufacturing innovation plan. At the same time, the Authority carried out research on automatic welding technology for plate units, steel welding without weathering and mini-robot welding technology, breaking the traditional steel bridge construction mode and effectively improving the level of automatic welding.

Height deviation of the "Chinese knot" shape of the main bridge controlled at 2mm

The HZMB project is the first in China to develop a new type of processing machine and assembly welding equipment for U-shaped ribs, solving the difficult problem of quality and accuracy control of bevel processing. At the same time, the welding quality monitoring system was developed to achieve real-time surveillance of welding parameters and ensure traceability of its quality.

The bridge tower of the Qingzhou Channel Bridge of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is a two-pillar portal frame tower with a steel "Chinese knot" upper beam, 50.30 meters high, 28.09 meters wide, and 780 tons in weight. The height deviation is controlled at 2mm and the allowable deviation of inclination is only l/4000.