HomeBuilding a Livable New Homeland for Macao – Documentary of Soft Ground Improvement Works for Macao New Town Area A
Release time：Jul 02,2026
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Facing the Lingdingyang Estuary and rooted in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, New Town Area A stands as Macao’s largest reclamation livelihood project in recent years. It undertakes core missions to ease Macao’s housing shortage, upgrade municipal public facilities and optimize the regional transportation network. The entire urban zone is formed by marine hydraulic reclamation, covered with thick soft soil layers underground, resulting in extremely adverse geological conditions.
Before constructing new buildings above ground, ground stabilization must be completed underground. As the primary construction phase of the project, subsurface soft ground improvement directly determines the safety and service life of future residential buildings, roads, underground utility tunnels and rail transit systems. Guangzhou Sunzo Foundation Engineering Co., Ltd. has long specialized in coastal soft soil improvement. Adopting mature and high-efficiency vacuum preloading as its core technology, the company tackled all key technical challenges throughout the soft ground improvement project of Macao New Town Area A. With sophisticated geotechnical expertise, we have laid a solid underground lifeline for Macao’s new urban district.
I. Overview of the New Town: A Core Livelihood Reclamation Zone of Macao
Macao New Town Area A is located east of Areia Preta next to the Friendship Bridge, adjacent to the artificial island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Macao Port. Covering a total land area of 138 hectares with a seawall stretching approximately 5,600 meters, it is the largest and best-equipped zone among Macao’s five major reclamation areas.
Centered on people’s livelihood needs, the zone is planned as a comprehensive livable new district with three core objectives:
Housing Security: A total of 32,000 housing units are planned, including 28,000 public housing flats and 4,000 private residential units, accommodating nearly 100,000 residents and effectively alleviating Macao’s long-standing housing shortage.
Complete Supporting Facilities: The zone features a full range of municipal amenities, including stations of the East Light Rail Line, circular underground utility tunnels, urban arterial roads, coastal leisure parks, schools and medical facilities.
Transportation Hub: It connects the Macao Peninsula and Taipa, links cross-sea passages and port transportation, and forms an efficient internal commuting network across Macao.
Beneath the seemingly flat reclaimed land lies highly problematic marine silt strata with no naturally stable foundation across the entire site. High-quality soft ground improvement is a mandatory precondition for all above-ground construction works.
II. Project Challenges: Three Major Difficulties of Coastal Reclamation Soft Soil
New Town Area A is a newly formed hydraulic reclamation site where soil has not undergone natural consolidation, bringing prominent geotechnical risks that hinder project progress, mainly reflected in three aspects:
Highly Fluid Surface Soil: The surface layer consists of fluid mud with zero bearing capacity, making direct access for heavy construction machinery impossible.
Slow Consolidation of Deep Silt Layers: Dozens of meters of silty clay lie underground with high water content, large void ratios and extremely low permeability. Natural consolidation would take several years or even decades.
Strict Settlement Control Requirements: The zone hosts various load-bearing structures including high-rise residences, underground utility tunnels and rail transit facilities. Uneven settlement may easily trigger safety hazards such as pavement cracking, wall damage, pipeline leakage and foundation pit instability.
Constrained by Macao’s strict environmental regulations, tight construction schedule for this livelihood project and cost control requirements for the large-scale site, traditional surcharge preloading involves an excessively long construction cycle while pile foundation improvement comes with prohibitive costs, neither of which fit the project requirements. After joint expert demonstration, SUNZO innovatively adopted a combined construction technique of PVD (Prefabricated Vertical Drain) + Vacuum Preloading + Surcharge Preloading for full-site soft ground improvement.
III. Core Technology: PVD + Vacuum Preloading + Surcharge Preloading – Drainage & Consolidation Reinforcement for Soft Ground
This triple reinforcement system integrating vertical drainage channels, vacuum negative pressure and surcharge loading addresses the slow consolidation issue of coastal silt with high water content and high compressibility. The construction process features high standardization with stable and controllable improvement outcomes.
① Sand Cushion Paving for Construction Platform
Medium-coarse sand cushion is laid across the whole site to isolate fluid surface mud and prevent mud extrusion, providing a stable and safe working platform for subsequent PVD installation machinery.
② Prefabricated Vertical Drain Installation to Form Vertical Drainage Paths
High-precision PVD installers are used to drive plastic drainage boards in triangular layout. The drains penetrate the full depth of soft soil, forming dense vertical drainage channels underground to release pore water trapped in silt.
③ Horizontal Pipe Network & Impermeable Membrane Laying to Form Airtight Negative Pressure Chamber
Mesh filter pipes are embedded in the sand cushion to connect all vertical drains. Double-layer HDPE impermeable membranes fully cover the construction area. Sealing trenches are dug around the site and filled with clay to avoid air leakage, ensuring efficient vacuum preloading performance.
④ Zoned Vacuum Pumping & Surcharge Preloading to Accelerate Soil Consolidation
Vacuum pumps are installed in separate zones to sustain a stable vacuum pressure above 80kPa under the membrane. Negative pressure extracts pore water rapidly from silt, combined with staged surcharge loading to apply vertical additional stress. The synergy of vacuum negative pressure and surcharge stress greatly increases effective soil stress, enabling rapid compression, settlement and consolidation of loose silt.
⑤ Full-process Dynamic Monitoring for Strict Quality Control
Settlement monitoring points, pore water pressure sensors and horizontal displacement detectors are deployed throughout construction to track real-time soil consolidation data. Vacuum pumping can only be terminated and the site handed over to the next construction phase once all monitoring indicators meet standards.
Cities rise upward, while solid foundations root deep down.
Though unseen by the public, underground ground improvement is the most reliable backbone of a city. Transforming soft marine waters into stable livable urban construction land, every vertical drain, every impermeable membrane and every vacuum pumping operation embodies our persistent pursuit of engineering quality.
In June 2026, construction of residential buildings, schools, medical facilities and roads within the zone was accelerated simultaneously. The first batch of residents moved into their new homes, while commercial and community service facilities opened one after another. This coastal new town carrying Macao’s housing hopes is steadily turning from blueprints into reality, and the solid underground ground improvement works serve as the fundamental support for the district’s long-term livability, safety and sustainable development.
If you have ground improvement requirements for your project, please contact SUNZO. We will deliver customized solutions tailored to your project conditions to support safe and efficient project delivery.
Before constructing new buildings above ground, ground stabilization must be completed underground. As the primary construction phase of the project, subsurface soft ground improvement directly determines the safety and service life of future residential buildings, roads, underground utility tunnels and rail transit systems. Guangzhou Sunzo Foundation Engineering Co., Ltd. has long specialized in coastal soft soil improvement. Adopting mature and high-efficiency vacuum preloading as its core technology, the company tackled all key technical challenges throughout the soft ground improvement project of Macao New Town Area A. With sophisticated geotechnical expertise, we have laid a solid underground lifeline for Macao’s new urban district.
I. Overview of the New Town: A Core Livelihood Reclamation Zone of Macao
Macao New Town Area A is located east of Areia Preta next to the Friendship Bridge, adjacent to the artificial island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Macao Port. Covering a total land area of 138 hectares with a seawall stretching approximately 5,600 meters, it is the largest and best-equipped zone among Macao’s five major reclamation areas.
Centered on people’s livelihood needs, the zone is planned as a comprehensive livable new district with three core objectives:
Housing Security: A total of 32,000 housing units are planned, including 28,000 public housing flats and 4,000 private residential units, accommodating nearly 100,000 residents and effectively alleviating Macao’s long-standing housing shortage.
Complete Supporting Facilities: The zone features a full range of municipal amenities, including stations of the East Light Rail Line, circular underground utility tunnels, urban arterial roads, coastal leisure parks, schools and medical facilities.
Transportation Hub: It connects the Macao Peninsula and Taipa, links cross-sea passages and port transportation, and forms an efficient internal commuting network across Macao.
Beneath the seemingly flat reclaimed land lies highly problematic marine silt strata with no naturally stable foundation across the entire site. High-quality soft ground improvement is a mandatory precondition for all above-ground construction works.
II. Project Challenges: Three Major Difficulties of Coastal Reclamation Soft Soil
New Town Area A is a newly formed hydraulic reclamation site where soil has not undergone natural consolidation, bringing prominent geotechnical risks that hinder project progress, mainly reflected in three aspects:
Highly Fluid Surface Soil: The surface layer consists of fluid mud with zero bearing capacity, making direct access for heavy construction machinery impossible.
Slow Consolidation of Deep Silt Layers: Dozens of meters of silty clay lie underground with high water content, large void ratios and extremely low permeability. Natural consolidation would take several years or even decades.
Strict Settlement Control Requirements: The zone hosts various load-bearing structures including high-rise residences, underground utility tunnels and rail transit facilities. Uneven settlement may easily trigger safety hazards such as pavement cracking, wall damage, pipeline leakage and foundation pit instability.
Constrained by Macao’s strict environmental regulations, tight construction schedule for this livelihood project and cost control requirements for the large-scale site, traditional surcharge preloading involves an excessively long construction cycle while pile foundation improvement comes with prohibitive costs, neither of which fit the project requirements. After joint expert demonstration, SUNZO innovatively adopted a combined construction technique of PVD (Prefabricated Vertical Drain) + Vacuum Preloading + Surcharge Preloading for full-site soft ground improvement.
III. Core Technology: PVD + Vacuum Preloading + Surcharge Preloading – Drainage & Consolidation Reinforcement for Soft Ground
This triple reinforcement system integrating vertical drainage channels, vacuum negative pressure and surcharge loading addresses the slow consolidation issue of coastal silt with high water content and high compressibility. The construction process features high standardization with stable and controllable improvement outcomes.
① Sand Cushion Paving for Construction Platform
Medium-coarse sand cushion is laid across the whole site to isolate fluid surface mud and prevent mud extrusion, providing a stable and safe working platform for subsequent PVD installation machinery.
② Prefabricated Vertical Drain Installation to Form Vertical Drainage Paths
High-precision PVD installers are used to drive plastic drainage boards in triangular layout. The drains penetrate the full depth of soft soil, forming dense vertical drainage channels underground to release pore water trapped in silt.
③ Horizontal Pipe Network & Impermeable Membrane Laying to Form Airtight Negative Pressure Chamber
Mesh filter pipes are embedded in the sand cushion to connect all vertical drains. Double-layer HDPE impermeable membranes fully cover the construction area. Sealing trenches are dug around the site and filled with clay to avoid air leakage, ensuring efficient vacuum preloading performance.
④ Zoned Vacuum Pumping & Surcharge Preloading to Accelerate Soil Consolidation
Vacuum pumps are installed in separate zones to sustain a stable vacuum pressure above 80kPa under the membrane. Negative pressure extracts pore water rapidly from silt, combined with staged surcharge loading to apply vertical additional stress. The synergy of vacuum negative pressure and surcharge stress greatly increases effective soil stress, enabling rapid compression, settlement and consolidation of loose silt.
⑤ Full-process Dynamic Monitoring for Strict Quality Control
Settlement monitoring points, pore water pressure sensors and horizontal displacement detectors are deployed throughout construction to track real-time soil consolidation data. Vacuum pumping can only be terminated and the site handed over to the next construction phase once all monitoring indicators meet standards.
Cities rise upward, while solid foundations root deep down.
Though unseen by the public, underground ground improvement is the most reliable backbone of a city. Transforming soft marine waters into stable livable urban construction land, every vertical drain, every impermeable membrane and every vacuum pumping operation embodies our persistent pursuit of engineering quality.
In June 2026, construction of residential buildings, schools, medical facilities and roads within the zone was accelerated simultaneously. The first batch of residents moved into their new homes, while commercial and community service facilities opened one after another. This coastal new town carrying Macao’s housing hopes is steadily turning from blueprints into reality, and the solid underground ground improvement works serve as the fundamental support for the district’s long-term livability, safety and sustainable development.
If you have ground improvement requirements for your project, please contact SUNZO. We will deliver customized solutions tailored to your project conditions to support safe and efficient project delivery.
