Image Credits: China Railway Construction Corporation/ FB China’s CRCC Bridge Piling No. 1, the world’s largest pile-driving vessel, has left China for Brazil. It will be used to build the foundations of the Salvador-Itaparica Bridge. The vessel left Lüsi Port in Nantong, Jiangsu province, on Sunday. It has a journey of about 11,300 nautical miles ahead of it and is expected to take around 45 days. It will sail through the Strait of Malacca, pass around the Cape of Good Hope and then cross the South Atlantic before reaching Brazil. The vessel will work in the Bay of All Saints, where some of the bridge foundations will be built in water up to 64 metres deep. This is the vessel’s first overseas job since it was delivered in March. The Salvador-Itaparica Bridge will cross Brazil’s largest bay. It is being built as a cable-stayed bridge and is expected to be the largest cross-sea bridge of its kind in Latin America. CRCC Bridge Piling No. 1 was built by China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC). The vessel is 130.5 metres long, 40.8 metres wide and 8.4 metres deep. Its pile frame is 156 metres high and it can lift up to 700 tonnes. It can also operate in water up to 70 metres deep. Pile-driving vessels are used to put large steel or concrete piles into the seabed. These piles form the foundation of structures such as bridges, offshore wind farms and deepwater ports. The conditions at the Salvador-Itaparica project are difficult. The area has complex seabed geology, strong currents and changing waves. The sources said conventional pile-driving vessels generally have pile frames of around 80 metres, lifting capacities of hundreds of tonnes and positioning accuracy at the decimetre level. The new vessel was built to work at greater depths and handle larger foundation piles. The vessel uses two systems to stay in position: dynamic positioning and anchor mooring. Song said it is the first large pile-driving vessel to combine the two systems. The positioning system also