On the morning of August 4, the first pile foundation was drilled on the left side of the main bridge at the Luohanshan Hub Interchange, marking the start of substantive construction for the Guangdong-Taiwan Expressway's Kaiping to Taishan section. This milestone, part of a key provincial infrastructure project, sets the stage for a full construction launch within the year.
The Luohanshan Hub Interchange, designed with a single-loop hybrid layout, serves as the starting point for this section. It spans approximately 1.8 kilometers along the main line and will require a total of 479 bridge pile foundations. Once completed, this interchange will facilitate efficient connections with the Zhongshan-Kaiping Expressway and the Zhongshan-Yangchun Expressway, positioning it as a critical transportation hub for the western expressway network of the Greater Bay Area.
The Kaiping to Taishan section spans about 51 kilometers, built to a six-lane dual-carriageway standard with a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour. It will include seven interchanges, one service area, and one rest area. The route begins at the junction with the Enping-Kaiping section of the Zhongshan-Kaiping Expressway, intersects with the Zhongshan-Yangchun Expressway, and ends by connecting to the Western Coastal Expressway and National Highway G228. This corridor serves as a vital north-south link connecting the western wing of the Greater Bay Area with overseas Chinese hometowns, with a planned completion and opening to traffic in 2029.
The completion of this project will effectively fill the gap in the expressway network of southwestern Jiangmen, link tourism resources in the overseas Chinese hometowns, and significantly shorten the travel time between western Jiangmen and the Guangzhou-Foshan core area. Moreover, it will provide efficient collection and distribution support for key infrastructure such as the new Guangzhou Airport and the Daguanghai Bay Port.