Given China's track record on construction, safety and overall product quality, I've a feeling it won't be long before half the thing collapses into the water below, killing god only knows how many people.

Why in the world would you want to go to Hawaii! Caymans yes but Hawaii! UGH

who said it was going to Hawaii

The Jiaozhou Bay

bridge is 26 miles (42 kilometers) long and links China's eastern port city of Qingdao to an offshore island, Huangdao.

If we built a bridge to Hawaii, we would probably hire a Chinese contractor..That's right. We are already doing. Chinese worked on the San fran-Oakland Bay Bridge, they have built schools, working on New Yorks subway and a 4000 room hotel in Atlantic City. E-mail your representatives and ask them why at almost 10% unemployment, why are we spending federal dollars on Chinese contractors. We need to stop this bs now.

Lets start on something easier and work our way up! How about a bridge from Wales, Alaska to Uelen, Russia? Then we can all take a road trip to most any where you'd want to go in the world. If you added a rail service on the bridge all the better.

UMM no this isn't the same kind of construction as their goods you ignorant fool...

If you don't like it stop buying Nike shoes etc and live in the jungle I noticed something since I live in the US ... you guys always complaining about something.. I love the US and don't complain a bit that is the best country to live in and I will dare to say a thing about it...

Mr. Von Dorf,

They may know how to put something together fast but as a result there have always been problems with the quality of what it is that they are building. I will be curious to see how long it take before one of the bridge spans ends up in the water with a load of unsuspecting commuters on board just in time to take the plunge to their collective deaths into the deep blue sea. In a word I wouldn't have the Chinese build me a dog house let alone a freaking bridge that I might have to cross one day.

It took them four years to build...And with many times more drivers than we have here in the states, im sure they took every precaution...Lets not forget that more than 50% of the cars here in the states are made by them, and most have a life of more than two times an american made car.

^^ thank you... at least there are some sensible people who think before they speak ! ;)

@Andres

Why people always question the quality of Chinese construction. Just because Chinese are superlative in organisation and getting the projects in the shortest possible time, does mean they are not of quality. Take a looke at the Beijing Internation Airport Terminal 3 Building, which is the largest single building in the world with a floor area of in excess of 1 million square metres. It's construction took only 5 years and so far being ranked no. 5 best airport in the world (none of the US airport in the top 10)

China also has a 38 km bridge (six-lanes)span across Hangzhou Bay in east China. It has been in operation since June 2007 and no report of any problem of quality.

The Wuhan-Guangzhou high speed rail, 968 km long, has been in operation since December 2009 and so problem has been reported. Next year another 1100 km will be added to this line to eventually link Beijing with Guangzhou.

I have travelled across the Hangzhou Bay Bridge as well as travelling on the high speed rail many times and found them superb.

Do yourself a favour, go and visit China and gain a first hand experience rather than believe in the negative reports you've been fed from the western media. May be this will open your vision and change your mind about the Chinese quality.

I love the small-minded people who criticize Chinese manufacturing and quality control when most likely at least 70% of the electronic goods they currently own are made by Chinese workers throughout China.

iPhone? iMac? Dell? Sony? PS3? Yep. All Chinese-made.

Just like we did post ww2; till the unions grabbed us by the throat

Phil:

Without the unions we would still have a standard of living like China today, and we would be a much poorer nation.

Unions are garbage and why we are in the current state of problems in America!! There was once a time for Unions, when men were working in hazardous conditions inside mines, or warehouses. Today Unions only jack up the cost of living for the same job that was going on before Unions.... Ultimately unions did their job by creating a safe workplace, but today Unions are continuing to increase the wages and cost of living without increasing productivity or quality.

Lazy Americans that want to work less for more money = Unions

How lame is it, that Unions recommend their members to picket and sabotage other places of work that are non-union. Reminds me of jealous teenagers that feel picked on.... boo hoo!!

Now this is the observation of experience and building know how, gee the name says it all "impatientgirl." Remind me to recommend you to the company that is in the process of rebuilding the Bay Bridge. With you leading the team, we won't have to worry about them screwing things up, we can count on it! impatientgirl!!! What will she think of next??? How to turn a toaster into a car????

Thank you for your adroit observations fire-them-all, I suspected as much from the von Dorf posting. I think that it is an insult to the integrity and high standards of quality that have been the hallmarks of German engineering. I also suspect that if a German building inspector had been hired on as a consultant he would have shut the project down for any number of reason ranging from safety violation to questionable building practices.

See, Henrich? Americans don't like to be told they are not the biggest, longest, thickest, hardest, meanest son of a b*tch. They have a supersized pride, just like their supersized food and butts. The German idea of being lean and efficient is very foreign to American brains.

You go! "See, Henrich? Americans don't like to be told they are not the biggest, longest, thickest, hardest, meanest son of a b*tch. They have a supersized pride, just like their supersized food and butts."

You go! your statement is not accurate. Only some Americans, not all.

And exported to China. They are eating the planet.

If you think about it, it is not only just saving time.... it is helping them expand new roadways to reduce traffic and such....which they have a lot of.....

How do you think they crossed the sea prior to this bridge? It saves 20-30 minutes but those minutes would have been spent on a ferry taking the islanders to the mainland - the cars would not have been running during that time, so actually you are now adding to the consumption of gas and pollution not the other way around.

"60,000 car driving minuets"

It's not advisable to dance while driving.

I worked there for over a year, it is not actually an island, there were no ferries from the down town and the industrial parts of Qingdao you had to drive around the bay to get to the other side, on some days it took an hour and twenty minutes to get there. It is a big savings in time, money and pollution.

I like this converstation... Nice to see someone who is atleast thinking along the lines of pollution reduction not only the saving of time. Essentially "Time is Money" but saving time and pollution/consumption will bring the cost-to-benefit-ratio way down. Great move China, lead by example, something Americans have a hard time doing!!

3.65 mil automobile hours coverted to US dollars is $12 an hour = 43.8 mil per year, and using 2 gal of gasoline per hour at $4 a gallon = 29.2 mil per year

What's with all the differening articles on how long the bridge is and how much the bridge costed. costs are either $1.5 bil or $2.3 bil

and according to this article the main path of the bridge is 28 km long

To those that wonder how they built this bridge so cheaply, I wonder how many workers died during construction

Sooo true, the ignorance of some of these posts is truly horrifying...

That's the eastern span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, not the Golden Gate Bridge, but your point is good.

I'll take 2 shovels.

It is not the labor cost, it is the need for continued profit increases, but if you are so concerned maybe you could lead the way and reduce your income to $200 a Month and tell us how well it works.

Actually, several of us who taught for fifteen or twenty years or more, HAVE taken even larger cuts in pay. I am thinking of going to China to teach English/ESL as every teacher there is paid well and has their own copier readily available. Here in the USA the Republican party is determined to keep the poor as ignorant as possible, and would love to ship all public educators anywhere besides America. I wonder just how many of China's schools are now underwater as the world's biggest and costliest dam is filling fast. Maybe we could get jobs over there building a highway across the three gorges drowned there.

Crass Optimist