Port of Long Beach: All the Records, Thanks to the International Gateway Bridge

A bridge opens new routes, offers economic development opportunities, and improves people’s lives. In the port city of Long Beach, California, where the International Gateway Bridge is located, the results speak for themselves: in its first five years of operation, the bridge has increased port activity by over 26%, making it the second-busiest container port terminal in the United States.

In 2024, the Port of Long Beach handled 9.6 million containers compared to 7.6 million five years ago. A volume that approaches that of its twin container port, the Port of Los Angeles, which reached 10.3 million containers.

Built in 2020 by Webuild and its American subsidiary Lane Construction, the International Gateway Bridget is a cable-stayed bridge that thanks to the height of its spans and the technical solutions adopted  allowes access to the port basin for large container ships coming from the new Panama Canal, also built by Webuild in 2016.

Thanks to the International Gateway Bridge, the Port of Long Beach handles 15% of all containerized imports and exports between the United States and the rest of the world.

It’s a daily flow of vehicles and ships, across and under the bridge that connects the sea to Terminal Island, the large island where all goods in transit are collected for marine shipping transit.

According to the Port Authority of Long Beach, maritime traffic supports 2.7 million jobs, over 50,000 of which are in the port area alone, and generates $176 billion in revenue, contributing over $300 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product.

The Long Beach International Gateway is a 2,700-meter-long bridge, with a main span of 330 meters, two side spans about 150 meters long, Its two main support towers, approximately 160 meters tall, make it the tallest bridge of its kind in the United States — and one of the highest bridges in the USA overall.

Another unique feature is the height of its span, positioned 62 meters above sea level, allowing the passage of large ships. Its three lanes in each direction, for a total of six (plus a fourth emergency lane), can accommodate the passage of 68,000 vehicles per day, equal to about 18 million crossings per year.

According to data from the California Department of Transportation, the International Gateway Bridge is a lifeline for California’s economy, as 40% of all imports into the state pass through this infrastructure.

Long Beach, with 50 kilometers of coastline and numerous docks dedicated to Neo Panamax container ships, could not previously accommodate these large vessels due to the old bridge, the Gerald Desmond, which was too low relative to sea level and thus an obstacle for super ships. Hence, Hence the decision for a new infrastructure construction and the demolition of the existing one, without ever interrupting marine traffic, just as was done during the construction of the new Panama Canal, where a new system of locks, three times larger in capacity, was built alongside the century-old one without ever halting maritime transit.