New San Francisco bridge built in China to be shipped to US

The Telegraph ^ | Malcolm Moore

[AfricanChristian]

Next month, four enormous steel skeletons, the last of the 12 segments of the bridge, will be shipped 6,500 miles from Shanghai to San Francisco before being assembled on site. The bridge, which will connect San Francisco to Oakland on the other side of the bay, is a sign of how China has moved on from building roads and ports in Africa and the developing world and is now aggressively bidding for, and winning, major construction and engineering projects in the United States and Europe. After building forests of skyscrapers in Beijing and Shanghai, showpiece buildings like the Bird's Nest stadium and the Guangzhou Opera House, and a high-speed rail network that is the envy of the world, Chinese construction companies are flush with cash and confidence. This week, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, lobbied David Cameron to give the contract for the UK's new high speed rail link to a Chinese company. According to Engineering News Record, five of the world's top 10 contractors, in terms of revenue, are now Chinese, with likes of China State Construction Engineering Group (CSCEC) overtaking established American giants like Bechtel.

[Reagan Man]

The future is here and it ain’t pretty.

[Para-Ord.45]

Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act

How prevailing wage laws benefit unions at the expense of taxpayers

For nearly 80 years, contractors working on federally funded construction projects have been forced to pay their workers artificially inflated wages that rip off American taxpayers while lining the pockets of organized labor. The culprit is the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, which requires all workers on federal projects worth more than $2,000 to be paid the “prevailing wage,” which means THE LOCAL UNNION WAGE.

http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/24/repeal-the-davis-bacon-act

[Eva]

I was going to mention that some industries have been running into problems with the Chinese steel being improperly cured, creating weak points and fractures.

I guess that’s what happens with re-cycled steel.

[mowowie]

YOU HAVE TO BE F-ING KIDDING ME!

I was already in a bad mood, thanks for the post.

sorry for the caps.

[supermop]

And I suspect that Stimulus Funds are being used to pay for this improvement project. Glad I left the Bay Area 16 years ago. Used to cross the old bridge to get to SFO

[elpadre]

the legal definition for treason needs updating to include those who would deliberately cause harm to US business, industry and vital elements of national economy. Or words to that effect.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks! That's a famous (or infamous) video.

I've always wondered if anyone was in that car. This from Wiki:

No human life was lost in the collapse of the bridge. Tubby, a black male cocker spaniel, was the only fatality of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge disaster; he was lost along with Coatsworth's car. Professor Farquharson and a news photographer attempted to rescue Tubby during a lull, but the dog was too terrified to leave the car and bit one of the rescuers. Tubby died when the bridge fell, and neither his body nor the car were ever recovered.

[GSWarrior]

Good one!

[Wuli]

“and a high-speed rail network that is the envy of the world”

NOT

and apparently not to most every-day Chinese who can’t afford a ticket, or the freight industry in China that is not getting enough “high speed” time on it and often not enough time on it all, and thus still clogs China’s highways for lack of a choice, nor to everyone in China who knows it is not now operating at “high speed” most of the time (saving fuel).

Bragging about “high speed rail” is like bragging about the Concorde. We are not saddened because we did not waste our money on the Concorde, and we have nothing to be disappointed about regarding “high speed rail”. The idea of it is hundreds of times of greater than the substance of it. Practical people do not concern themselves with having the flashiest car on the block, especially knowing what a waste of money it is.

[Wuli]

How did you get to the future and get a “post collapse” picture of the new bridge???

[outofsalt]

They should have had GE & GM build it in Mexico.
They’re stealing good jobs from our Mexicans!

[colorado tanker]

[screaminsunshine]

Sounds good for San Francisco.

[org.whodat]

Saw a Chinese bridge like that on TV a few years back, they were filming out in the part of china that has towers built everywhere, people there were thrashing wheat by hand.

[BfloGuy]

Due to US regulatory requirements,(Notice I didn’t say “wages””?) it is 4x to as much 10 times more expensive to make steel of the same quality in America, than it does to make it in China

It isn't just regulatory requirements, it's 40+ years of unbridled inflation thanks to our comrades at the Fed. Prices and wages rise here every year and make our industry uncompetitive.

It's what has caused the hollowing-out of our manufacturing sector and our eternal trade deficits.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks AfricanChristian. This op-ed masquerading as an article is hysterical to the point of orgasm about alleged Chinese engineering prowess, without mentioning that their high speed rail is faulty, buildings tip over, the air is solid muck...

[greeneyes]

China has trouble with quality control. You could not pay me enough money to travel over this bridge on a routine basis.

[Navy Patriot]

Sounds good for San Francisco.

That is true without sarcasm as well.

The entire replacement of the Bay Bridge fiasco perfectly compliments the real life social, political and economic condition of San Francisco.

[wac3rd]

I live here and my father-in-law was an Oakland contractor for 30+ years.

All of the California and Federal regulations/rules/fees for making steel and concrete (CARB/EPA) prohibited local factories from being considered for this work. The empty warehouses, foundries and plants lay vacant in many parts of Oakland because we are saving ourselves from Global Warming.

The Liberals at least got some of the work to their union buddies at 2x the going rate for workers and OT, but the architect, engineer and ultimately the actual bridge construction was foreign.

I would bet the Chinese payoff to the Democratic politician or bureaucrats for the work was in the millions to an offshore account. Kamala Harris (our Marxist AG) would never ever look into that, because she is part of the Liberal Pelosi/Brown/Feinstein/Bloom/Newsome/Union that rivals Chicago in corruption.

Google “Treasure Island” and see how many Democrats will make millions on no-bid development deals with guys like Ron Burkle and Paul Pelosi.

[screaminsunshine]

If the USA could expel California, New Yor, And Washington DC we would be a lot better off. There should have been a way in the Constitution to get rid of States.