China's Great Expansion Fuels Boom in High-Profile Designs
China’s tremendous infrastructure buildout is making it a country of superlatives and that includes bridge construction. From ring roads to signature crossings—particularly self-anchored suspension spans—bridge projects abound. Non-Chinese consultants and suppliers see a growing role for themselves in helping build these bridges to international standards—and one U.S. firm is staking its claim in a particularly bridge-rich section of China.
The hilly region of Chongqing in central China is a poster board for the kind of bridge construction flourishing in the country. With the Yangtze and Jia-ling rivers running through it, some 20 new bridges are planned in the next decade. and three “superlative” bridges are under way or nearing complete now. “It’s the Pittsburgh of China,” says Tom Ho, vice president of San Francisco-based T.Y. Lin International (TYLI).