Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that opens up the Sanfransisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. As part of the U.S Route 101 and California State Route 1, it connects the Marin County to the Sanfransisco area. Completed in 1937 and is the longest spanning suspension bridge in the world and is the internationally recognized symbolic part of Sanfransisco and California. In 1999 it was named the fifth on the List of America’s Architecture by the American Institute of Architecture.
Information:
Carries: 6 Lanes of traffic including pedestrians and bicycles.
Crosses: The Golden Gate
Locale: Sanfransisco and Marin County
Maintained: Highway and Transportation District, Truss Arch and Truss Causeways
Total Length: 8981 feet
Width: 90 feet
Height: 746 feet
Longest Span: 4200 feet
Verticle: 1400 feet , but can go higher (at toll gates)
Opening Date: 27 May 1937
Toll: US$6.00
The first thought of the bridge took place in 1916 by former engineering student James Wilkins. The engineering services at the time estimated that the cost of building the bridge would be that of around $100 million dollars, which at the time seemed rather excessive for the era they were in. So the big question was whether of not it could be built for less. One person who did jump on the band wagon for the good of building this bridge was Joseph Strauss who helped design a railroad bridge across the Bering Strait. At the time Strauss had completed some 400 bridges, but most of which were inland and nothing compared to the massive scale this bridge had in plan.
Local authorities agreed to the idea but only under the promise that Strauss subject his idea’s to other experts in this field first as he had agreed it could be done for around $17 million dollars at the time of the project being undertaken. Strauss was put in charge of overseeing the whole construction once approved, but it was the other experts that were mainly responsible for the creation of the bridge. Irving Morrow designed the structure and street lighting and railway settings for the bridge and the building of the gate began. It past legislation in 1927.
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