Happy 86th Birthday, Golden Gate Bridge!!
86 years ago, the city of San Francisco witnessed an engineering miracle. A massive bridge unlike any other now spanned the entire width of the Golden Gate, a one-mile-wide strait connecting the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It had been an undertaking epic even by today's standards, pushing the limits of bridge engineering as designers at the time understood it. It is recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Wonders of the Modern World. It was the result of several of the finest minds in the engineering business coming together, with chief engineer Joseph Strauss, and contributions from Leon Moisseiff (of the Manhattan Bridge), Irving Morrow (contributed the Art Deco elements, lighting scheme, and picked the famous International Orange color), and Charles Ellis (designed the arch above Fort Point). It is quite possibly the most beautiful, and certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world.
The statistics were impressive. Its main span is 4,200 feet and its height is 746 feet, holding the title of longest suspension bridge in the world until 1964, and tallest until 1998. The total length is 8,980 feet, with a width of 90 feet. Clearance below at high tide is 220 feet. In addition to vehicular traffic, it carries both pedestrian and bicycle traffic as well, on both the Western and Eastern pathways. It has a movable median barrier that is moved to conform to traffic patterns. It can be a 2-4, 3-3, or 4-2 split.
Construction began on January 5, 1933, and the project cost around $35 million. On May 27, 1937, the bridge opened, although the day before, 200,000 people crossed on foot or roller skates before it was opened to vehicular traffic. On the 50th anniversary celebration in 1987, it was again closed to vehicular traffic, and about 750,000 to 1 million people crossed the bridge, with roughly 300,000 people on the bridge at one point, causing the center span to flatten out. There are 250 pairs of vertical suspender ropes attached to the two main cables, which is 36-3/8 inches in diameter.
So let's celebrate by showing love and posting some pictures of this steel beauty! I'll get the ball rolling with a couple of my own photos:
