SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) _ A key piece of the new Bay Bridge is being maneuvered into place.

The 165-foot, 1,200-ton piece, known as a lift arrived in the Bay Area from China earlier this month.

It is one of five pieces that will make up the first leg of the 525-foot tower, which will be the centerpiece of the new, seismically safe, $6.2 billion eastern span.

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Dale Bonner, the State’s Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing said just wait.

“We think people are going to come here not just to drive across this for the daily commute,” he said. “But we’ll have people coming all over the world just to stand in awe of the good work that’s going on right now.”

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said the new suspension bridge, the largest of its kind in the nation, will be an icon and more.

“This will be magnificent when it’s done. You’re going to have bicyclists and pedestrians out on a bridge that they haven’t ever been able to access except opening day in 1936,” said Newsom.

Bridge officials said work on the first section is expected to be completed in two weeks and the entire span is expected to be finished by late 2013.

Traffic is not expected to be affected during the tower construction, but drivers will soon have a new view of the eastern span project.