The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a landmark of modern China construction engineering, connects Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai, with a total length of 55 kilometers. It begins at the artificial island of Hong Kong Port near Hong Kong International Airport, spans the Lingdingyang waters of the South China Sea, and ends at the Zhuhai Hongwan Interchange. The project includes a 29.6-kilometer main bridge, a two-way six-lane expressway with a design speed of 100 km/h, and a total investment of 126.9 billion yuan.
This monumental project is renowned for its large scale, unprecedented construction challenges, and advanced technology. A key element, the Hong Kong Port, involved constructing an artificial island of 1.4968 million square meters using offshore bottom discharge vibro-impact gravel pile technology. The water depth ranged from 5–15 meters, with pile lengths averaging 23 meters and a maximum of 36.5 meters. Over 40,000 gravel piles were constructed, totaling more than 1.2 million meters.
The project introduced advanced technologies, resulting in over 10 Chinese invention and
utility model patents. Recognized by national construction associations, it earned several innovation
awards. Key technical achievements include:
1. Four-Column Offshore Vibro-Compaction Gravel Pile Ship:
Capable of constructing four piles simultaneously, this innovation enhanced efficiency and reduced
costs.
2. Automatic Pressure Feeding System: Enabled continuous feeding and automated quality
control, breaking foreign monopolies in this field.
3. Scalable Underwater Drilling System:
Solved challenges related to strict height requirements near Hong Kong Airport.
4. Innovative
Vibro-Impact Gravel Pile Technology: Ensured quality control through automated monitoring systems.
This groundbreaking project set numerous records, breaking foreign dominance in vibro-impact gravel pile technology
and marking a new era of Chinese engineering excellence.
The area 4-7 meters west of Macau International Airport serves as a landfill site, where significant lateral displacement of construction waste has impacted the stability of the adjacent South Link Bridge. To address this issue, the Macao Environmental Protection Bureau initiated the construction of embankments in the landfill area to mitigate waste displacement and ensure the stability and safety of the bridge.The seawall, running parallel to the South Link Bridge, spans approximately 1,600 meters, with the top positioned about 100 meters from the bridge’s edge. The section near the airport apron measures about 930 meters in length, with a top elevation of +3.5MCD and a width of 20 meters.
The embankment foundation utilizes a composite structure of vibro-impact gravel piles, with a base width of 38.3 to 39.4 meters. Gravel piles are 1.2 meters in diameter, spaced 2.0 meters apart in an equilateral triangle arrangement, with lengths ranging from 12 to 27 meters. Each pile extends 0.5 meters into the hard alluvial soil layer to stabilize over 10 meters of marine sedimentary silt.
The project site, with a water depth of 5-7 meters, required two pile-driving boats and six sets of offshore dry bottom discharge vibration equipment. Automated monitoring and recording systems were employed to ensure precise operation control and data collection. Construction, spanning May to December 2010, resulted in the completion of approximately 9,000 gravel piles and a total footage of 110,000 meters. This project set several milestones in Chinese engineering, including the first large-scale application of bottom discharge vibroflotation gravel pile technology and its pioneering use for soil foundation treatment with undrained shear strength below 20 kPa. These achievements provide valuable insights for similar foundation treatment projects in the future.
The White Bay project, located in the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain, United Arab Emirates, is a villa community
development by Emirates Sunland Real Estate Development Company. The project involves foundation
treatment for the site designated for 325 villas, utilizing a combination of vibro-compaction gravel
piles and vibro-compaction techniques.
Our company successfully completed 50,000 meters of gravel
pile construction and 137,000 square meters of soil compaction, ensuring a stable and reliable foundation for the project.
The RSGT container terminal project is located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, along the coast of the Red Sea. Due to the presence of numerous islands and coral reefs in the surrounding waters, coral reefs in the navigation area were excavated to create a harbor pool, with the excavated material subsequently blown and filled to form the land area of the terminal.
This project involves foundation treatment of a 410,000 m2 backfill area from the cofferdam to the dock’s perimeter using vibro-impact gravel pile technology. The design specifications require a treatment depth of 20 meters. After treatment, settlement is controlled to within 25 millimeters over 5 years, 75 millimeters over 25 years, and 150 millimeters over 50 years, with a maximum settlement difference of no more than 30 millimeters within a 25-meter range.
Our company was responsible for constructing the vibro-impact gravel piles for this project. Upon completion, cone penetration testing (CPT) was conducted on the soil between the piles. Test results indicated that the reinforced backfill coral reef sand achieved a medium to dense state, demonstrating significantly improved bearing capacity and effectively eliminating uneven settlement. The reinforcement met all design requirements with noticeable efficacy.
The successful execution of this project established a precedent for utilizing vibroflotation methods for foundation treatment in coral reef sand reclamation areas. It expanded the applicability of vibroflotation technology to coral reef sand and gravel foundations, paving the way for broader applications while contributing valuable insights to research in coral reef geotechnical engineering.
