Handled with care

San Francisco's new Bay Bridge presented extensive design and fabrication challenges. The volume of steel, both temporary and permanent, required by the new self-anchored suspension bridge is substantial. Because of this, a great deal of innovation was utilized for the preparation, fabrication, inspection, trial assembly and transportation of the steel elements. Fabricator Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company (ZPMC) supplied all the structural steel for the permanent deck and tower structure. The details of the process are included in this article,