What happens when you jump off the Golden Gate Bridge?
The Golden Gate Bridge is the most used suicide site in the world. The deck is about 245 feet (75 m) above the water. After a fall of four seconds, jumpers hit the water at around 75 mph (120 km/h; 30 m/s). Most die from impact trauma.
How many times has the Golden Gate Bridge been closed by high winds?
31 of 32 High winds have closed the bridge three times in its history. Once on Dec. 1, 1951 (69 mph), once on Dec. 23, 1982 (70 mph) and Dec. 3, 1983 (75 mph) Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Show More Show Less EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published in 2005, but was resurfaced this morning by Redditors and other Internet users sharing it.
What is the length of the Golden Gate Bridge?
The total length of the Golden Gate Bridge from abutment to abutment is 8,981 feet (2,737 m). The Golden Gate Bridge's clearance above high water averages 220 feet (67 m) while its towers, at 746 feet (227 m) above the water, were the world's tallest on a suspension bridge until 1993 when it was surpassed by the Mezcala Bridge, in Mexico.
Who was the man who fell off the Golden Gate Bridge?
Milikin was a big guy, 6 feet and more than 200 pounds. He was 53 when he slipped over the Golden Gate Bridge railing and dropped to his death. Milikin also had a history of suicide attempts. He had gone to the bridge several times before, only to be stopped before he'd taken the plunge.
How long does it take to hit the water after jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge?
four secondsAfter a fall of four seconds, jumpers hit the water at around 75 mph (120 km/h). Most of the jumpers die due to impact trauma. About 5% of the jumpers survive the initial impact but generally drown or die of hypothermia in the cold water.
What happens if you dive off the Golden Gate Bridge?
Suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge constitutes a good chance of success, a 98% success rate to be exact. In four seconds, it is all over. During the four seconds fall, the body will travel the 240-250 feet at 75-80 mph, ending with a bone shattering impact of 15,000 pounds per square inch.
How far down is the water at the Golden Gate Bridge?
The depth of water under the Golden Gate Bridge is approximately 377 feet (or 115 meters) at its deepest point. The US Geological Survey, with other research partners, have mapped central San Francisco Bay and its entrance under the Golden Gate Bridge using multibeam echosounders.
Is it illegal to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge?
It features a BASE jump off of one of the 700-foot-tall towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is highly illegal, and may have been done very early in the morning.
Can you survive a free fall into water?
The upper survival limits of human tolerance to impact velocity in water are evidently close to 100 ft/sec (68.2 mph) corrected velocity, or the equivalent of a 186-foot free-fall.
What is in the water underneath the Golden Gate Bridge?
Just sitting there in the deep. Underneath the Golden Gate Bridge lies the wreck of the City of Chester, a steamboat that sank on August 22, 1890 at 10 a.m. The boat was impaled on the steamer Oceanic, arriving from Asia, and sunk in six minutes. It traveled to the seafloor and settled in, still upright.
How shallow is the water under the Golden Gate Bridge?
Want to swim over the deepest part of the bay? Maybe you've already done it and had no idea - you'll find the deepest water in our Golden Gate Bridge race just under the bridge at over 370 feet.
What has been found in the waters under the Golden Gate Bridge?
Marine archaeologists say an underwater survey has identified four new shipwrecks in a graveyard just west of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. The waters just west of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge hide a graveyard of sunken ships.
How many have died on the Golden Gate Bridge?
Eleven men died during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. Until February 17, 1937, only man had died, setting a new all-time record for construction projects.
What's in the water under the Golden Gate Bridge?
Just sitting there in the deep. Underneath the Golden Gate Bridge lies the wreck of the City of Chester, a steamboat that sank on August 22, 1890 at 10 a.m. The boat was impaled on the steamer Oceanic, arriving from Asia, and sunk in six minutes. It traveled to the seafloor and settled in, still upright.
What body of water is under the Golden Gate Bridge?
Golden GateGolden Gate Bridge / Body of waterThe Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge. Wikipedia
Overview
Further reading
• Cassady, Stephen (1979). Spanning the Gate (Commemorative edition, 1987 ed.). Squarebooks. ISBN 978-0916290368.
• Dyble, Louise Nelson; the Golden Gate Bridge (2009). Paying the Toll: Local Power, Regional Politics. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812222784.
• Friend, Tad (October 13, 2003). "Jumpers: The fatal grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge". The New Yorker. Vol. 79, no. 30. p. 48. Archived from the original on Nove…
• Cassady, Stephen (1979). Spanning the Gate (Commemorative edition, 1987 ed.). Squarebooks. ISBN 978-0916290368.
• Dyble, Louise Nelson; the Golden Gate Bridge (2009). Paying the Toll: Local Power, Regional Politics. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812222784.
• Friend, Tad (October 13, 2003). "Jumpers: The fatal grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge". The New Yorker. Vol. 79, no. 30. p. 48. Archived from the original on November 8, 2006.
History
Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. A ferry service began as early as 1820, with a regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s for the purpose of transporting water to San Francisco.
Structural specifications
Until 1964, the Golden Gate Bridge had the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,300 m). Since 1964 its main span length has been surpassed by seventeen bridges; it now has the second-longest main span in the Americas, after the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City. The total length of the Golden Gate Bridge from abutment to abutment is 8,981 feet (2,73…
Aesthetics
Aesthetics was the foremost reason why the first design of Joseph Strauss was rejected. Upon re-submission of his bridge construction plan, he added details, such as lighting, to outline the bridge's cables and towers. In 1999, it was ranked fifth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.
Traffic
Most maps and signage mark the bridge as part of the concurrency between U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1. Although part of the National Highway System, the bridge is not officially part of California's Highway System. For example, under the California Streets and Highways Code § 401, Route 101 ends at "the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge" and then resumes at "a point in Ma…
Issues
The Golden Gate Bridge is the most used suicide site in the world. The deck is about 245 feet (75 m) above the water. After a fall of four seconds, jumpers hit the water at around 75 mph (120 km/h; 30 m/s). Most die from impact trauma. About 5% survive the initial impact but generally drown or die of hypothermia in the cold water.
See also
• 25 de Abril Bridge, a bridge with a similar design in Portugal
• The Bridge, a 2006 documentary on suicides from the Bridge
• Life After People
• Golden Gate Bridge in popular culture