New Bay Bridge flies the flag for China

China's biggest heavy machinery maker has completed work on the east span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, marking a departure for Chinese industry which has been hitherto focused on major engineering projects in the developing world.

Five years after work started, the last four pieces - which will anchor the bridge's suspension cables and took thee million hours of labour to build - are awaiting shipment to San Francisco.

California's Department of Transportation chose Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries to fabricate the steel girders and tower meant to improve the earthquake resistance of the bridge linking San Francisco and Oakland after the 1989 earthquake collapsed part of the bridge.

Zhenhua, which until recently focused mainly on manufacturing cranes, is hoping the project will seal its reputation as a company capable of meeting the most stringent safety and quality specifications. "The US is the world's most advanced country, and the San Francisco Bay Bridge will be a bridge of the highest quality," Zhou Jichang, chairman of Zhenhua, said yesterday.

"We believe this bridge is very important. When people see it, they will ask, 'Who built it?"' he said. "This will really raise our brand image."

"The new bridge will reflect the character of those who built it," said Tony Anziano, manager of the toll bridge programme at the California Department of Transportation.

Two more years of work lie ahead before the self-anchored suspension bridge's expected opening in September 2013.

"First and foremost, the new span is a safety project," said Steve Heminger, executive director of San Francisco's Metropolitan Transportation Commission. "Success will only be achieved when we remove travellers from the seismic risk of travelling on the existing bridge," he said.

The decision to save some $400 million by outsourcing the fabrication of the main sections of the bridge to Zhenhua reflected global realities, especially of the ageing American steel industry, he said.

The Chinese company has gargantuan facilities, some 35,000 workers and the ability to make and deliver the huge crane needed to lift the sections of the bridge into place.

The bridge must handle an average of 300,000 vehicles a day and be strong enough to withstand any quake.

"In general, if a bridge is able to withstand an earthquake without collapsing or breaking, that is good enough," Mr Zhou said. "But this requirement was that it be usable right after a quake."