| Golden Gate Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Design | Suspension, Art Deco, truss arch & truss causeways |
| Material | Steel |
| Total length | 8,980 ft (2,737.1 m), about 1.7 mi (2.7 km) |
| Width | 90 ft (27.4 m) |
What are some interesting facts about the Golden Gate Bridge?
- Its named after the waterway over which it runs , The Golden Gate. ...
- The engineer who promoted the project was Joseph Strauss but the actual design engineer was Charles Ellis, an engineer who worked in Strauss’s Chicago engineering office.
- How it was built? Ummm. By both traditional and new methods
How high is the Golden Gate Bridge above the water?
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.
What are the measurements of the Golden Gate Bridge?
• Deformation bridge, load capacity:
- The maximum deviation of the cross in the center includes: 8,4 m
- The maximum downward deflection in the center includes: 3.3 m
- Maximum upward deviation in the center includes: 1,77 m
What are the statistics of the Golden Gate Bridge?
When the Golden Gate Bridge Flattened by 7 Feet—and Other Facts About the San Francisco Icon
- An earthquake struck the bridge before it was even completed. pinterest-pin-it The Golden Gate Bridge under construction in San Francisco, California, April 1935. ...
- A safety net below the bridge saved the lives of 19 men during its construction. ...
- The bridge's orange color was originally intended just as a primer. ...
What is the Golden Gate Bridge made for?
Golden Gate Bridge, suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate in California to link San Francisco with Marin county to the north. Upon its completion in 1937, it was the tallest and longest suspension bridge in the world.
Is the Golden Gate Bridge made of steel?
The bridge is 8,981 feet long (1.7 miles) and contains about 83,000 tons of steel. The total weight of the bridge is 887,000 tons. There are two towers that hold up the two steel cables anchoring the bridge. Also, there are approximately 80,000 miles of wire inside each of the two steel cables.
Is the Golden Gate Bridge made of concrete?
for larger image. Strauss used more than one million tons of concrete to build the anchorages -- the massive blocks that grip the bridge's supporting cables . The north pier, which supports the tower, was built easily on a bedrock ledge 20 feet below the water.
How many died building Golden Gate Bridge?
eleven menWhile the net did save the lives of 19 men who became known as the “Halfway-to-Hell Club”, eleven men did die during construction. The first fatality was Kermit Moore on October 21, 1936.
Who made the steel for the Golden Gate Bridge?
Bethlehem SteelThe Golden Gate steel, manufactured in the 1930s by Bethlehem Steel, is distinctive, he said. Interest in his furniture remains strong.
Why is Golden Gate Bridge red?
The steel that arrived in San Francisco to build the Golden Gate Bridge was coated in a burnt red and orange shade of primer to protect it from corrosive elements.
How is the Golden Gate Bridge made?
How was the Golden Gate Bridge built? First, huge concrete piers were constructed in the bay at each end of the bridge. Then the towers were built, and the cables drawn between them. Finally, sections of roadway were lifted into position, and connected to the Marin and San Francisco approach roads.
Why was concrete used in the Golden Gate Bridge?
This is because of the astounding compressive strength that concrete possess. For the Golden Gate Bridge, concrete is used in the following places: the San Francisco pier and fender, the Marin pier, anchorages, pylons, cable housing, approaches, and paving.
What kind of structure is the Golden Gate Bridge?
Suspension bridgeTruss bridgeTruss arch bridgeGolden Gate Bridge/Bridge type
What building has the most deaths?
Deadliest single building or complex fires and explosions in the U.S.RankEventNumber of deaths1The World Trade Center New York, NY2,6662Iroquois Theater Chicago, IL6023Cocoanut Grove night club Boston, MA4924Ohio State Penitentiary Columbus, OH32016 more rows
Did the Golden Gate Bridge ever fall?
The original Golden Gate Bridge collapsed during an earthquake in 1906, which was later determined to be caused by exposure to winds and long-term deterioration. The Golden Gate Bridge is about 9,000 feet long (nearly two miles) and is one of the most iconic bridges in the United States.
Is the Golden Gate Bridge really gold?
It Is Gold, though! Well, technically the bridge is painted a color called "orange vermillion," which is also known as "international orange." Its bright color was selected because of its name and location - making it truly "the Golden Gate Bridge!"
How much did it cost to build the Golden Gate Bridge?
Although the idea of a bridge spanning the Golden Gate was not new, the proposal that eventually took hold was made in a 1916 San Francisco Bulletin article by former engineering student James Wilkins. San Francisco's City Engineer estimated the cost at $100 million (equivalent to $2.4 billion today), and impractical for the time. He asked bridge engineers whether it could be built for less. One who responded, Joseph Strauss, was an ambitious engineer and poet who had, for his graduate thesis, designed a 55-mile-long (89 km) railroad bridge across the Bering Strait. At the time, Strauss had completed some 400 drawbridges —most of which were inland—and nothing on the scale of the new project. Strauss's initial drawings were for a massive cantilever on each side of the strait, connected by a central suspension segment, which Strauss promised could be built for $17 million (equivalent to $404 million today).
What is the Golden Gate Bridge?
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California —the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula —to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. It also carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and is designated as part of U.S. Bicycle Route 95. Being declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and California. It was initially designed by engineer Joseph Strauss in 1917.
What was the Golden Gate Bridge's first day of celebration?
The bridge-opening celebration began on May 27, 1937, and lasted for one week. The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed either on foot or on roller skates. On opening day, Mayor Angelo Rossi and other officials rode the ferry to Marin, then crossed the bridge in a motorcade past three ceremonial "barriers," the last a blockade of beauty queens who required Joseph Strauss to present the bridge to the Highway District before allowing him to pass. An official song, " There's a Silver Moon on the Golden Gate ," was chosen to commemorate the event. Strauss wrote a poem that is now on the Golden Gate Bridge entitled "The Mighty Task is Done." The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington, D.C. signaling the official start of vehicle traffic over the Bridge at noon. As the celebration got out of hand there was a small riot in the uptown Polk Gulch area. Weeks of civil and cultural activities called "the Fiesta" followed. A statue of Strauss was moved in 1955 to a site near the bridge.
Why did the Golden Gate Bridge collapse?
Although the Golden Gate Bridge design has proved sound, a later Moisseiff design, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, collapsed in a strong windstorm soon after it was completed, because of an unexpected aeroelastic flutter.
What paint was used on the bridge?
The bridge was originally painted with red lead primer and a lead-based topcoat, which was touched up as required. In the mid-1960s, a program was started to improve corrosion protection by stripping the original paint and repainting the bridge with zinc silicate primer and vinyl topcoats. Since 1990, acrylic topcoats have been used instead for air-quality reasons. The program was completed in 1995 and it is now maintained by 38 painters who touch up the paintwork where it becomes seriously corroded. The ongoing maintenance task of painting the bridge is continuous.
Why did San Francisco want to build a bridge?
San Francisco was the largest American city still served primarily by ferry boats. Because it did not have a permanent link with communities around the bay , the city's growth rate was below the national average. Many experts said that a bridge could not be built across the 6,700-foot (2,000-metre) strait, which had strong, swirling tides and currents, with water 372 ft (113 m) deep at the center of the channel, and frequent strong winds. Experts said that ferocious winds and blinding fogs would prevent construction and operation.
Why was the suspension bridge design considered the most practical?
A suspension-bridge design was considered the most practical, because of recent advances in metallurgy.
When was the Golden Gate Bridge built?
The Golden Gate Bridge was, until 1964, the world’s longest single span suspension bridge. Build started in 1934 and it was opened up in 1937! Just three years!
How many cables were there in the building of the bridge?
Building work started at each end where huge concrete blocks were sunk deep into the earth and to which the 200-odd steel cables from which the bridge would be suspended were to be anchored. At the same time they built the towers which would begin to guide and raise the cables to the pylons which would bear the weight of the bridge.
What color paint would preserve steel from rusting?
This paint was an odd orange-red colour and it was expected that this would have to be over-coated with a more mundane colour.
What factors made the construction of the piers impossible?
One of the factors which made its construction “IMPOSSIBLE” were the mud and silt in the Bay and the depth of the sea water.
Where is the Oakland Bay Bridge?
The bridge runs from the northern tip of the San Francisco peninsula for 1 mile out across the Golden Gate entry into San Francisco Bay and the other end is on Yerba Buena Island. At the same time the more conventional Oakland Bay Bridge was built and this went to Yerba Buena Island from the North to connect the two sides of San Francisco across the bay.
Is the Golden Gate Bridge in capital letters?
There is one thing about the Golden Gate Bridge that does puzzle me; the actual methods of construction simply don’t seem to be well recorded anywhere! That may be because the whole project was labelled “IMPOSSIBLE” – yes, in capital letters! So perhaps the lack of documentation is just down to it being too complicated for anyone except the guys doing the work to understand! Fortunately there are photographs of the work in progress which pretty well give the game away to us construction professionals!
Overview
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
• Golden Gate Bridge in popular culture
• List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
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.