SAN FRANCISCO — After expanding into New York with a multibillion-dollar contract to redevelop the historic Penn Station rail hub, Italy’s Gavio Group is setting its sights on San Francisco. Its latest project involves one of the world’s most recognizable suspension bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge, with its unmistakable International Orange color.

Astm, the Italian highway and infrastructure group controlled by the Gavio family, is continuing its expansion in the United States. This time, the move is from the East Coast to California. Through its subsidiary Halmar International, the group has secured a contract to upgrade the seismic resilience of the bridge connecting San Francisco with Marin County to the north. Awarded by the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, the project is worth $863.9 million, or just over €770 million.

Work is expected to be completed by September 2031. The contract is the first construction award for the final phase of the bridge’s seismic retrofit program. Opened in 1937, the 1.7-mile bridge has six lanes, as well as pedestrian and bicycle paths, and carries an average of about 95,000 vehicles a day.

“The overall goal of the project is to strengthen the bridge’s structure,” the district said in a statement, “so that it can continue to serve as a vital transportation link and reopen quickly for emergency response and the restoration of traffic following a major earthquake comparable in magnitude to the 1906 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault.”

That earthquake, which measured 7.8 in magnitude, was one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history.

Halmar International’s work will include seismic upgrades to the north and south towers and the two side spans; replacement of the roadway’s seismic isolation joints; reinforcement of the deck girders and lateral bracing structures; and repainting of the south tower above the roadway. The project will also involve installing 28 seismic energy-dissipation devices.

Astm CEO Umberto Tosoni welcomed the contract. “The Golden Gate is an engineering and cultural icon. Being entrusted with its modernization and seismic upgrade is a source of great pride for us, but also a responsibility we take very seriously. This major contract strengthens our position as an international partner of choice for large-scale infrastructure projects with significant technological and strategic importance.”

Building and upgrading bridges and viaducts is familiar territory for Astm, now the world’s third-largest operator of toll-road networks under concession. Its construction subsidiary Itinera has a track record of major bridge projects.

In 2019, Itinera was awarded a contract to build the Skuru Bridge in the municipality of Nacka, east of Stockholm, Sweden, worth a total of €75 million. The company also built the bridge over the Okavango River in Botswana, inaugurated in July 2022. In June 2026, the Storstrøm Bridge in Denmark, the country’s third-longest at 2.5 miles, was officially opened.

The Golden Gate contract, Tosoni said, “further confirms Astm’s ability to compete in the most strategic and complex infrastructure markets worldwide. The United States is now joining Brazil as a strategic market for the group.”

In June, Halmar Infrastructure Development, another Astm subsidiary, was selected as master developer for the redevelopment of New York’s Penn Station, in partnership with the Swedish construction multinational Skanska. The project is estimated to be worth $7 billion.

“In highly competitive markets like these,” Tosoni said, “our integrated approach, combining expertise in concessions, construction and technology, enables us to create greater value.”