Hello from Shanghai
 

The new SAS Oakland Bay Bridge...

Orthotropic Box Girder
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1229237651.jpg

Morning commute:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1229237667.jpg

More to come later...

Sure wish that was being built in the USA.

But of course one would have to deal with the unions, massive health care costs, cumbersome environmental regulations, the ever present threat of lawsuits.....probably not realistic :(

Great pic of the morning commute. I can see before me the humongous pile of bikes and scooters packing up behind a sudden traffic jam.

Serge, are you really there right now? I'll be there week after next. How's the weather and air quality this time of year?

Hey guys. I now live in ShangHai. Although I am back in the US this month. If y'all are there in Jan. drop me a line. There is one other Pelican that is here as well that I have been meaning to meet up with...

I'm surprise that if it is a federally funded project, and most road and bridges are, that there wasn't a "BUY America" clause in the contract.

Alf, I'm headed to Nanjing as soon as I arrive, but might get to spend a day or two in Shanghai around Jan. 17th.

i tried so hard to get assigned over there for the SAS bridge stuff.

what are you doing over there?

Shoot me a mail when you get in. Do not PM, i do not check it.

Yup, I am permanently living on Changxing Island. Production is delayed and I have made the decision to stay here for the duration of it...well over 2 years. The weather is cold right now, but it is sporadic. I don't really pay much attention to air quality as I am here breathing welding fumes as it is...

I am a Structural Materials Representative for the Tower portion of fabrication. I work for the METS of Cal-trans as a consultant.

Here are some fab pics from today:

Diaphragm to skin plate fit-up.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1229329416.jpg

Automated FCAW PJP longitudinal stiffener to skin plate welding.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1229329428.jpg

FCAW CJP longitudinal stiffener to skin plate welding.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1229329439.jpg

A sea of orange...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1229329454.jpg

You are not spiderman!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1229329619.jpg

dude...cool

on a side note, have you met that METS chick in the bay area? gulp.........sorry no pics.

Does your hotel offer 'messages'?

They all do over there.

I'm on the 3rd floor. The whore house is on the 2nd. No joke.

Ive been involve in four orthotropic deck install/rehab jobs here in in the NYC area. The deck system has been fabricated off shore on all but one of the jobs.

Whitestone Bridge fabbed in Brazil

Williamsburg Bridge fabbed in the states (forgot the shop name it was 15 years ago)

Triboro Bridge fabbed in Korea by Hyundai.

Thats not entirely true. If the bridges are owned by Authorities, they usually finance the construction though toll collection,selling bonds, etc.. little if no federal money is involved. On federally funded jobs the "Buy America" allows for portions of the steel to be sourced offshore.. Clever contractors know how to exploit this.


Is this new constuction? or a retrofit? retrofitting stiff orthotropic deck to flexible existing structures can get really interesting :p

ya gotta visit! For nothing else then to experience the wonders of the far east! Tee it up as a cultural experience...

They probably even speak some English in the Shanghai brothels. Try that in the interior and you'll be using a lot of sign language and a notepad for negotiating the price, which is done prior to commencement of massage. Or at least someone told me something like that once. Yeah, that's the ticket.:cool:

no, they speak enough to get the idea across.............or thats what I've been told...

Personal experience here - you need to know how to count and bargain in Mandarin or you will get taken to the cleaners. The only English speakers in a hotel will be at the front desk and you won't get one of them to come down to the brothel to negotiate a happy ending price for you, even if they wanted to save you a dime. Just learn to count to 10 and know that 100 is "bai". You're looking at probably no less than 400 RMB (si bai).

800 RMB (abour $120USD) will get you a very nice few hours delivered to your room...our so I have been told...

Oh, the hotels give the hookers the room numbers of single western men staying there. It's a whole system with commissions and kickbacks. Of course, the hotels prefer you use their whores. I love reading the rules on the welcome card about how prostitution and "whoring" are strictly forbidden in the hotel.....unless you use their own. Sort of like bringing outside food into a movie theater. Shanghai will certainly be more expensive than the rest of the country. Another way to go is with the karaoke bar. Part of your room rental includes a girl for each man to help light his cigarettes, pour tea and work the karaoke machine. You can take them home with you for not too much. They're young and usually from the countryside, so not a word of English, but also not as snooty as the city folk.

you can be only so snooty when your ankles are up by your ears...

Hope I didn't keep you up last night...I had a long flight home and needed to work off some energy;)

Thats waaaay too many RMB. It's cheaper than that.

How's the internet service over there Serge? It's a 2 year job now? I saw your M5 and Ducati for sale on CL guess you changed your mind about selling it? :D

I never had issues with network service in Shanghai, Beijing or Hong Kong. Other than google video being blocked and the knowledge that my packets are being sniffed and whatnot.

I will probably need to pay some bills online and monitor some deposits while there. I hope these sites aren't blocked by the Great Firewall of China.

You get what you pay for...or so I've been told...

They are not. Financial sites never are.

-Porn sites are blocked
-News sites mentioning Tibet/Taiwan/Xinjiang are blocked
-Some blogs are also blocked as people write about Tibet/Taiwan/Xinjiang and Chinese history such as Tianamen and the Cultural Revolution.
-Wikipedia use to be blocked be for the same reason. It has info on all those topics. It's not blocked anymore.

.