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World's Longest Sea Bridge Opens After 9 Years of Construction (go.com)
Chinese President Xi Jinping inaugurated China's latest mega-infrastructure project on Tuesday: The world's longest sea crossing. From a report: The 34.2-mile bridge and tunnel that have been almost a decade in the making for the first time connect the semi-autonomous cities of Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai by road. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge spans the mouth of the Pearl River and significantly cuts the commuting time between the three cities. The previously four-hour drive between Zhuhai and Hong Kong will now take 45 minutes. One section of the crossing dives underwater into a 4.2 mile tunnel that creates a channel above for large cargo ship containers to pass through. The project came in over budget -- with Hong Kong alone investing $15 billion in it -- and delayed, as it was originally slate to open in 2016.
A 20 billion dollar bridge is a win?
Quite possibly yes. It connects some locations that are financially very important both locally and globally. Sure it will take quite a while to pay off (presuming it does) but I could see it being a net economic benefit overall. The Big Dig in Boston cost $24 billion so we're not in uncharted territory cost wise.
800 million/year...US$15,220/lanehour...
They are expecting roughly 29,100 vehicle crossings per day which is 10,950,000 crossings per year so accepting your math that would be ballpark $8/crossing. If it saves the amount of time the article claims they'll make the $800M back in fuel savings alone (3+ hours driving saved) irrespective of the value of the cargo carried and economic development resulting from the bridge. The real value in this bridge will probably be in the cargo and tourists it carries.
So yeah, it's a lot of money but one can make an economic case for it.