The 10th pipe section (E10) of the immersed tunnel of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge is being installed. [Photo by Lu Zhihua]

Guangdong Provincial Communication Group announced on June 20 that after about 24.5 hours of continuous operation, E10, the first upwards-sloping pipe section of the immersed tunnel of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, was connected with other sections at a depth of 37 meters underwater.

So far, a total of 1608.5 meters of the tunnel have been completed.

The E10 section is 165 meters long, 46 meters wide, 10.6 meters tall, and weighs about 80,000 tons. It was installed at the same depth as the E9 section, which is the deepest point of the tunnel.

The subsea tunnel is about 6.8 km long and the immersed part is about 5 km long. The combined tunnel including 32 pipe sections and a final joint is currently the widest submarine immersed tunnel in the world.