Here's how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority explains the
decision to use Chinese steel in rehabilitating the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge:
MTA spokesperson Adam Lisberg says the agency had spent "millions" trying to source the steel contract in the U.S., preferably with a unionized company in New York state. But highly specialized requirements for the steel means there are no U.S. mills currently producing the right type, he says, so several attempts were made to induce an American company to initiate production. The attempts were unsuccessful, and the MTA only turned to Chinese sources as a last resort, according to Lisberg. Furthermore, the $34 million in steel work is only part of the total bridge project cost of $235 million, the vast majority of which will be spent using U.S. vendors and employing unionized labor, the MTA spokesman said.
But according to United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard:
With precious little effort, the United Steelworkers found two American bridge fabricators that said they could meet MTA’s requirements for specialized orthotropic steel decking for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Both are located in eastern Pennsylvania within 100 miles of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge site.
One was cleared by a bonding company, lined up financing and prepared to meet the MTA’s construction schedule.Also in eastern Pennsylvania, Lehigh University’s Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems Center tested full-scale prototypes of the orthotropic steel panels for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Both American bridge fabricators were prepared to use American-made steel, which would employ Americans in good, family-supporting jobs in mills that are required to control emissions and that wouldn’t have contributed to pollution by hauling steel halfway around the world.
And more: