Overdue Shipment For New Bay Bridge Roadway Arrives

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

SAN FRANCISCO -- A huge ship from China carrying very special cargo sailed through the Golden Gate Thursday, at last delivering the long-awaited first pieces of steel for the Bay Bridge's new roadway.

Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said the ship from shanghai was carrying eight steel box girders weighing 68,000 tons. The pieces were held in place on the ship by bright yellow fasteners.

"This is the road bed that people will be driving on when they go across the new Bay Bridge," said Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney. “These are the first 8 sections."

The Zhen Hua 17 left China on December 30th and had smooth sailing until hitting Wednesday's storms off the coast.

"They potentially could have came in yesterday, but the swells were over 20 feet so it was not possible to get a bar pilot in there,” explained Ney. “So we had to wait until today."

That 24-hour delay was minor compared to the larger setback engineers already faced. This shipment arrived one year behind schedule.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/22310191/detail.html

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

the hidden story in this is - why we can't make those steel girders ourselves.

[natty bumppo 297]

the hidden story in this is - why we can't make those steel girders ourselves.

was thinking the same thing ...

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

was thinking the same thing ...

Kinda why I posted it here.

[NickD 203]

Only make sense to drive a vehicle with Made in China parts in it on a bridge with Made in China sections in it.

Gosh, I hate this Chinese stuff, had a Chinese made remote entry door motor apart, if they only made the motor commutators a half of a mm thick, but was just foil, nothing left of it to clean up, had to buy a new piece of chit Made in China motor.

Can't seem to repair anything Made in China, all chit, maybe that's how they get rid of their chit instead of proper sewage disposal we use here, just ship it here. Heard they even put chit in the food products for either humans and dogs, plus we have a lot of chit in our rivers and streams, and in our forest, killing off everything. How come we don't sue China?

We were very happy before Clinton brought China here. I am not happy with China, are any of you?

[Mrs.J06 4]

Only make sense to drive a vehicle with Made in China parts in it on a bridge with Made in China sections in it.

Gosh, I hate this Chinese stuff, had a Chinese made remote entry door motor apart, if they only made the motor commutators a half of a mm thick, but was just foil, nothing left of it to clean up, had to buy a new piece of chit Made in China motor.

Can't seem to repair anything Made in China, all chit, maybe that's how they get rid of their chit instead of proper sewage disposal we use here, just ship it here. Heard they even put chit in the food products for either humans and dogs, plus we have a lot of chit in our rivers and streams, and in our forest, killing off everything. How come we don't sue China?

We were very happy before Clinton brought China here. I am not happy with China, are any of you?

It's hardly his fault that people can't pull into the Walmart parking lot fast enough twice a day to make a "good deal".

This will not change unless people are willing to pay a little more for something a little less trashy that's not made in China.

[natty bumppo 297]

Kinda why I posted it here.

speculation ....

one year late ... so order was placed well before the meltdown last year ... US companies/foundries had huge backlogs and excessively long lead times due to the demands of the energy/oil/gas industries ... and this one little company in china had extra capacity ... so ...

nah ...

[Dan J 277]

the hidden story in this is - why we can't make those steel girders ourselves.

Two reasons, unions and taxes. You have to pay workers union wages in the US, which will result in higher taxes that people hate. Do it in China and you solve both problems.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Two reasons, unions and taxes. You have to pay workers union wages in the US, which will result in higher taxes that people hate. Do it in China and you solve both problems.

Another possibility: Since the Chinese have already bought all our scrap metal, it only makes sense they sell it back to us in the form of finished products, at a sizable profit.

ETA: Much better than what the Japanese did 70 years ago, when they delivered a good portion by air.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Lone Ranger

[luckytxn 2,264]

About 6 months ago I was in Wal Mart and was bored because the wife was trying on clothes and stuff so I went and started looking at where everything was made and never found one thing that wasn't made in China. I go and look now anytime I am there and still have never found anything until a few weeks ago. I looked at the coleman lanterns and of course they were made in China but I noticed it said the glass that comes with it was made in Germany. Made me wonder why the Chinese couldn't have made the glass too.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

About 6 months ago I was in Wal Mart and was bored because the wife was trying on clothes and stuff so I went and started looking at where everything was made and never found one thing that wasn't made in China. I go and look now anytime I am there and still have never found anything until a few weeks ago. I looked at the coleman lanterns and of course they were made in China but I noticed it said the glass that comes with it was made in Germany. Made me wonder why the Chinese couldn't have made the glass too.

Try and find anything sold in any store actually made in the US from US materials.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Try and find anything sold in any store actually made in the US from US materials.

Sears actually has many things but I usually go there to buy tools mainly as I like Craftsman's quality.

[Peikko 1,575]

Try and find anything sold in any store actually made in the US from US materials.

Try to persuade the average Walmart shopper that price should not be the sole determining factor as to whether to purchase an item or not.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Try to persuade the average Walmart shopper that price should not be the sole determining factor as to whether to purchase an item or not.

If it is a brand name item, then why not? Hint: Walmart does not always have the best price on brand name items.

[Scott & Lai 12]

Try and find anything sold in any store actually made in the US from US materials.

And we wonder why our economy is in the toilet...