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Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend a ceremony in Zhuhai on Tuesday, alongside senior officials from Hong Kong and Macau, with the bridge opening to public traffic on Wednesday.
The 55 km (34 miles) bridge was originally scheduled to open in 2016, but repeated delays have pushed it up to this year.
This is a key element of China's plan for a 56,500-square-kilometer large bay region in southern China, encompassing 11 cities, including Hong Kong and Macao, which are home to total 68 million inhabitants.
Proponents of the idea claim that the bridge will reduce travel times between cities from three hours to 30 minutes, which will allow commuters and tourists to move easily in the region.
Despite the emphasis on driving time, private car owners in Hong Kong will not be able to cross the bridge without a special permit. Most drivers will need to park at the Hong Kong Port, passing a shuttle or a special rental car once they 're going through immigration. Shuttles cost between $ 8 and $ 10 for a single trip depending on the time.
Criticism fierce
The bridge project sparked strong criticism in Hong Kong, where there was little demand or public interest for closer ties with Macau or Zhuhai, and fearing that the city would be overwhelmed by tourists from Mainland China.
In 2016, Hong Kong welcomed 56.7 million tourists, against 37.6 million for the United Kingdom, a much larger country.
For critics of the Chinese government, the bridge is seen as a tool to drag the city – endowed with a semi-democratic legislature and an independent judiciary and many mass demonstrations in recent years – from closer and closer to Beijing.
"It connects Hong Kong with China almost like an umbilical cord, you see it and you know that you are related to the motherland."
"Hong Kong has had to finance much of the bridge, but we will not see many benefits here," Moï Mo said.
Huge engineering effort
Built to withstand an earthquake of magnitude 8, a super typhoon and striking giant cargo ships, the bridge contains 400,000 tons of steel, 4.5 times more than the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge.
It also includes a 6.7 km (4 miles) submerged tunnel to avoid congested shipping routes over the Pearl River Delta. The tunnel connects two artificial islands, each measuring 100,000 square meters (1 million square feet) and located in relatively shallow waters.
Although an impressive technical feat, the construction of the bridge has sparked its own controversy. The Pearl River Delta is home to a population of endangered Chinese white dolphins that has been shaken by massive land reclamation efforts in Hong Kong and other cities.
In response to the environmental concerns raised by the bridge, the Hong Kong government has provided for the creation of additional marine parks to protect dolphins and other forms of aquatic life, but some experts believe that it may be too late to reduce the effects of the construction already carried out.
The bridge has also been the subject of much public criticism regarding safety standards. Seven workers died during the construction of the bridge and 275 others were injured. Hong Kong officials have previously blamed the number of deaths for lack of manpower, and at the beginning of the year a court fined a number of subcontractors.
