On this date in 1933, construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, which the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the American 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. The bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States.
The Frommer's travel guide describes the Golden Gate Bridge as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." At the time of its opening in 1937, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 4,200 feet (1,280 m) and a total height of 746 feet (227 m).
Construction of the bridge cost $35 million. A new concept (movable safety netting) was used to save the lives of many ironworkers. Of the 11 men killed from falls during construction, 10 were killed on February 17, 1937, when the bridge was near completion and the net failed under the stress of a scaffold that had fallen. The platform fell into the safety net, but was too heavy and the net gave way. Two out of that group survived the 200-foot fall into the icy waters, including the 37-year-old foreman, Slim Lambert. Nineteen others who were saved by the net over the course of construction became members of their "Half Way to Hell Club". As of April 2012, all workers involved in the original construction are now deceased.
After years of debate and over an estimated 1,500 deaths due to suicide from jumping off the bridge, barriers began to be installed in April 2017. Construction of these will take approximately 4 years at a cost of over $200 million.
(Vid does NOT have audio)
.
↧