The CRCC Bridge Piling No 1 departs from Qidong, Nantong, to Brazil on Sept 27. [Photo provided by China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group]

The CRCC Bridge Piling No. 1, built by China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group, left Lyusi Port in Qidong, Nantong, on Sept 27, bound for Todos os Santos Bay in Brazil's Bahia state. It will join the construction of the Salvador-Itaparica Bridge, one of Latin America's largest cable-stayed bridge projects.

The vessel, capable of operating in waters up to 70 meters deep, is the world's largest piling vessel independently designed and built in China. With a 156-meter-high pile frame, a pile-lifting capacity of 700 metric tons and the ability to drive piles up to 7 meters in diameter, it currently has the world's highest pile frame, largest pile-lifting capacity and deepest operating depth among piling vessels. It can help overcome the operational challenges faced by traditional piling equipment in deep and offshore waters and complex marine conditions.

The Salvador-Itaparica Bridge crosses Todos os Santos Bay, Brazil's largest bay. Its main span will be 682 meters long, and the full project will extend 46.8 kilometers. The water at the main bridge's pile-foundation construction site is 64 meters deep, making it the sea-crossing bridge with the world's deepest pile foundations.

Once completed and open to traffic, the bridge is expected to cut travel time between Salvador and Vera Cruz from an hour by ferry to about 15 minutes by road.