The reporter learned from the Municipal Road and Bridge Group that the Dadeng Island section of the New Airport Expressway has recently officially entered construction, while the controlling project of the previously started southern section—the Nangang Sea Bridge—has completed more than 80% of its pile foundations and entered bridge construction. At this pace, the southern section and the Dadeng Island section of the New Airport Expressway are expected to be completed in 2019.

At the construction site on the seaward side of Huandeng South Road, the reporter saw that pile foundation work for the Dadeng Island section of the Airport Expressway was underway. The Dadeng Island section is the starting section of the Airport Expressway, directly connecting to Dadeng Airport. With a total length of 6.4 kilometers, it crosses Dadeng Island entirely in the form of an elevated viaduct. It is divided into two construction bid sections; currently, piling has started on Bid Section B1, which is 2.4 kilometers long. The construction unit has deployed 25 pile drivers and is racing against time to carry out pile foundation construction on the sections where land has been handed over.

According to Wang Jinze, project manager of the China Railway 17th Bureau Group: "About 50% of the land has been handed over. The current construction stage is bridge pile foundations, with a total of 686 piles. All pile foundation construction is expected to be completed by May 2018."

The Dadeng Island section is the second section of the Airport Expressway to start construction. The southern section of the airport road started earlier in March 2016 and has progressed smoothly. Its controlling project—the Nangang Sea Bridge connecting Xiang'an and Dadeng Island, which is 884 meters long—has now completed 80% of its pile foundations, 40% of its pile caps, and 20% of its pier columns, and has begun bridge concrete pouring. The box girders of the approach bridge have been completed, and construction of the main bridge deck will also begin. This sea-crossing bridge is scheduled to be completed in February 2019.

Wang Shujun, project manager of the CCCC First Highway Engineering Co., Ltd.: "Coming out of the airport, traffic will certainly have to pass through this sea transport section. If the Nangang Sea Bridge is completed, it will mean that the airport, Dadeng, and Xiang'an are connected."