The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the symbols of the United States of
America. It is located in San Francisco, California, and spans the Golden Gate
Strait - a mile-wide strait that connects the Pacific Ocean to the San Francisco
Bay.
It is surely one of the most beautiful bridges in the world, and also one of the
tallest (the height of a bridge is the height of the towers).
The bridge as it is today was designed by architects Irving and Gertrude
Morrow. However their art deco project was not the first Golden Gate Bridge.
The original plans for the bridge were drawn in 1916, but they were of a very
complicated and ugly structure, certainly not something America could ever be
proud of.
The bridge was a true experiment in its time; such a long suspension
bridge had never been tried before. It had the highest towers, the thickest cables
and the largest underwater foundations ever built. The foundations were a real
problem, because they had to be cast in a depth of more than 100 feet. Extreme
depth wasn’t the sole problem. The real challenge lay in the sinking of the piers
in the violent waves of the open sea, which was thought to be almost impossible.
The construction began in 1933, and was finished in 1937, when the
bridge opened to pedestrians. (It was opened to cars one year later.) The bridge
was finished ahead of schedule and cost much less than was estimated.
Today, the Golden Gate Bridge has a main span of 4,200 feet (almost a
mile) and a total length of 8,981 feet. The towers supporting the huge cables rise
746 feet above the water. Each steel cable is 7,650 feet long and has a diameter
of 36 inches.
‘International orange’ is the color the bridge has always been painted. The
architects chose it because it ‘blends well with the span’s natural setting’.
However, if the Navy had had its way, the bridge would have been painted black
with yellow stripes - in favor of greater visibility for passing ships.
There are fog horns to let passing ships know where the bridge is, and
aircraft beacons on the tops of the towers to prevent planes from crashing into
them.
The Golden Gate Bridge is the first sight for many people approaching the
United States by boat. It is almost the West Coast’s “Statue of Liberty”, and is
something everyone should visit at least once.