On March 31, the “CRBC Bridge Pile 1,” the world’s tallest pile-driving vessel built by Jiangsu Dajin Heavy Industry (Nantong) for China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group, was officially delivered. This milestone marks China’s achievement of full-chain localization—from design to construction to operation—in the field of ultra-large marine engineering equipment, providing a solid foundation of “Chinese confidence” for major strategic projects in the deep and distant seas.
The “CRBC Bridge Pile 1” vessel has a total length of 130 meters, a pile-raising frame height of 156 meters, and an operational water depth exceeding 70 meters. It is capable of driving piles weighing up to 700 tons and measuring 7 meters in diameter. It is currently the world’s tallest pile-driving vessel in terms of frame height, with the greatest pile-lifting capacity and deepest operational water depth. It is also China’s first pile-driving vessel to feature both a dynamic positioning system and these three world-class performance metrics.
This rig is also capable of meeting the requirements for pile driving operations in international offshore, coastal, sheltered waters, and Class A inland waterway areas, and is equipped for deployment in global navigation zone. It is primarily used for construction projects such as steel casing piles for bridges and offshore wind turbine foundations.
Upon delivery, this vessel will be deployed for the first time on the construction of the Salvador-Itaparica Bridge in Brazil, the largest cross-sea cable-stayed bridge in Latin America. The bridge features the world’s deepest pile foundations; the continuous rigid-frame structure used for the approach spans represents a world-first integrated design combining ultra-long spans, large clearances, extreme heights, and steep gradients.