In October, China Railway Shanhaiguan Bridge Group Co. (CRSBG) reached a significant milestone with the opening of the new Slussen Bridge in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. It was the ninth steel bridge project of CRSBG, a subsidiary of China Railway Hi-Tech Industry Co., which had supplied the steel structures and key parts in Europe.

Prior to that, it supplied steel structures to bridge projects in the United States. CRSBG also executed bridge projects in Ethiopia, Chad and Tanzania.

The latest project is located in a historical, pedestrianized public space arranged around a navigation lock in downtown Stockholm, where the city's land and water transportation hubs meet.

The Slussen area of Stockholm has been rebuilt every century since the 1600s. The new bridge is a gigantic structure integrating bridge and tunnel functions, said Lin Junke, Chairman of the Hebei Province-based enterprise.

Under such circumstances, he said the project not only required high-end materials and technologies but replaced the two old bridges as a transport project with highway, bicycle and pedestrian lanes. The total contract value for CRSBG to supply all the bridge building materials was 97 million yuan ($14.73 million).

The bridge, 140 meters long and 45 meters wide, with the largest span of 58 meters in the middle, has three lanes and a designed life of 12 decades. The steel box girder weighs 3,400 metric tons, which was transported as a single unit from China to Stockholm on a vessel. It took 70 days to transport these items to the Nordic country.

The Chinese bridge maker said overseas business is expected to increase as a proportion of overall business during the period of China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), while focusing further on updating building quality through innovations with smart technology.

With an eye on a larger global footprint and offering more focused services, the company has set up marketing and management teams in a number of global locations such as the U.S. and Germany.

Lin said the company no longer depends on price advantages to win a contract, but focuses more on project quality and cost management. "Prior to bidding in overseas markets, we find partners first and then we bid," he said.

Supported by over 4,000 employees and six manufacturing bases in Jiangsu, Guangdong and Hubei among other provinces, CRSBG has either built or supported steel structures of more than 3,200 bridges in China and more than 30 in overseas markets.

"Only by heavy investment in innovations will we be rewarded with handsome returns and an advantage in global competition," Lin said. "The priority goes to smart manufacturing and smart services."

By Qian Banglei