The Western Corridor was recently linked to a road in western Shenzhen, a move which marks the completion of the main structure of the Western Corridor.

The extension on the Shenzhen side is 4.48 kilometers long and mostly underground, yesterday's Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported, quoting officials with the municipal construction and public works office. The Daily report said the link could help ensure that the Western Corridor will be open by July 1 next year.

The road is an important part of the Western Corridor, which also consists of the bridge spanning the sea, checkpoint facilities and a reclamation project. The road will only be used by vehicles.

The plan for the road was first drafted in 1997 and has undergone three major changes since to lessen the impact on the environment and the nearby neighborhoods. Originally, it was designed as a raised road. Eventually, it was built underground with the investment raised from 780 million yuan (US$97.5 million) to 2.13 billion yuan. The underground part of the road is 3.09 kilometers in length, designed for vehicles moving at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour. When completed, the road will be China's longest urban underground tunnel.

The road is more than 30 meters wide, with six two-way lanes.

According to Zhu Meng, an official supervising the construction of the road, the project was a difficult task, because many underground pipes and lines had to be found and removed. Sometimes construction was taking place barely three meters from a hotel, he said.

The road requires 550,000 cubic meters of concrete and 100,000 tons of steel.

According to Zhu, the authorities had set aside three years to build the road. Most of it, however, has been finished in one year.

The road is environmental-friendly as it uses noise-reducing and water-percolating asphalt as well as fireproof asphalt for the underground section.

The Western Corridor, a new passage linking Shenzhen and Hong Kong, is a 5.5-kilometer, two-way three-lane carriageway from Dongjiaotou, Shekou, Shenzhen to Ngau Hom Shek in northwestern Hong Kong, spanning across the Shenzhen Bay.

Editor: Yan