In July 2009, the discovery of a series of faulty welds caused delays in the delivery of prefabricated steel deck spans intended for the new $6.3 billion San Francisco Bay Bridge.  ZPMC, a Shanghai, China-based construction firm, had won the contract to deliver a series of deck spans, but the repeated delays have increased production costs, with tens of millions of dollars needed to pay for performance incentives, augmented inspection procedures, and the stationing of quality-control engineers both overseas and on site. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that delays in the steel deck shipments have raised the possibility that the bridge opening could be pushed back beyond its planned late 2013 opening, and that the $6.3 billion budget, including an emergency reserve, could be exhausted.  In order to meet construction schedules, Caltrans officials have implemented a bonus system to speed ZPMC’s completion and delivery of the bridge's steel pieces. Ironically, Caltrans also believes that the safety inspectors at MacTec who first flagged the cracked steel welds had “interpreted the welding standards too rigidly,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.  Their contact with Caltrans was subsequently not renewed.  Some MacTec officials suspect they were pushed off the job for complaining about the welds, something Caltrans strongly denies. Questions about the bridge remain-- most urgenly that repeated weld faults have pushed back delivery of the bridge spans.  Even with new inspectors, how certain are California officials that ZPMC’s shipments are safe? Likewise, a bonus system is being used to hasten completion of ZPMC’s deck spans.  How will this foster a safer production process? The continuing delays have added tens of millions of dollars to the costs of production.  Are California taxpayers really benefitting from the hiring of an overseas firm to produce steel deck spans?