MILAN, October 5, 2020 – The Port of Long Beach in California has received a new piece of strategic infrastructure with the opening to traffic of the Gerald Desmond replacement bridge by Webuild Group, its U.S. subsidiary Lane Construction and joint-venture partners. The $1.47-billion bridge is the first cable-stayed bridge in California at a length of 2,700 metres (about 8,900 feet) and the second tallest of its kind in the United States with its two towers rising about 160 metres (515 feet) in height.

“If there was a monument to progress, it would be a bridge,” said Webuild Chief Executive Pietro Salini. “We thank the 3,000 people along with the suppliers and other contractors who worked with such commitment despite the difficult months of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to complete the project.”

The bridge, whose construction was done without interrupting vehicle and shipping traffic at the port, replaces the old Gerald Desmond bridge with greater earthquake resiliency and extra lanes to handle truck traffic carrying 15% of the cargo imported into the country by sea. At 205 feet (about 62 metres), it has the highest vertical clearance for cargo ships of any cable-stayed bridge in the country.

The bridge is also a critical access route for commuters between the Port of Long Beach, downtown Long Beach and surrounding communities. Although the Gerald Desmond Bridge was an icon of Long Beach since it was built in 1960, it was no longer able to sustain the heavy traffic. The new bridge will have three lanes in either direction, emergency lanes and bicycle and pedestrian paths.

In the United States, the Group is working to protect the environment, reduce traffic pollution and help cities manage sewage water during heavy rainfall and safeguard rivers and lakes. It is also preparing for the construction of a 379-kilometre high-speed railway that will connect Dallas and Houston in 90 minutes. With a total investment of about $20 billion, with about $14 billion for civil works, the sustainable mobility project will bring an economic boost to Texas and create 17,000 direct jobs in six years of construction and more than 20,000 indirect jobs. Among projects concerning water there are the Three Rivers Protection & Overflow Reduction Tunnel (3RPORT) at Fort Wayne, Indiana; the Dugway Storage Tunnel in Cleveland, Ohio; and the Anacostia River Tunnel along with the Northeast Boundary Tunnel (NEBT) in Washington, D.C.

The 10 main bridges and viaducts that tell our story