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The Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge spans the Golden Gate Strait connecting San Francisco to Marin County, with the idea for a bridge existing for many years to address San Francisco's isolation. Planning began in 1916 but underwent changes, with construction starting in 1933 and completing ahead of schedule and under budget in 1937, featuring innovative safety measures and becoming an iconic landmark.

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204 views3 pages

The Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge spans the Golden Gate Strait connecting San Francisco to Marin County, with the idea for a bridge existing for many years to address San Francisco's isolation. Planning began in 1916 but underwent changes, with construction starting in 1933 and completing ahead of schedule and under budget in 1937, featuring innovative safety measures and becoming an iconic landmark.

Uploaded by

desaxee215259
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

The Golden Gate Bridge is a well-


recognized landmark in the United
States. It spans the Golden Gate Strait
- a mile-wide stretch of water that
connects the San Francisco Bay to the
Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate Bridge
itself connects the city of San
Francisco with Marin County on the
other side of the Strait. The Golden
Gate Bridge is one of the most
beautiful bridges in the world. It is also
one of the tallest.

The idea for a bridge across the strait had been around for many years,
because San Francisco suffered from its isolated location. The only
practical way to get across the San Francisco Bay was to take a ferry.
Planning for the Golden Gate Bridge began in 1916, but the design
underwent many changes before construction finally started in 1933.

Joseph Strauss was the chief engineer in charge of the bridge project.
However, he had little experience with the construction of suspension
bridges. For this reason, other engineers, architects, and designers
made vital contributions to the design and construction of the bridge.
For example, the bridge owes its art deco style and distinctive orange
color (“international orange”) to the architects Irving and Gertrude
Morrow. Charles Alton Ellis, an expert on structural design, was the main
engineer on the project, and did much of the technical work necessary to
build the bridge.

It was not easy to get the project started. Financing had to be found, and
there was much opposition to the very idea of a bridge. The U.S. Navy,
for example, feared that a bridge would obstruct ship traffic. The
Southern Pacific Railroad, which ran the ferry fleets, feared competition
from the bridge.

Many experts did not believe that it would be possible to build such a
long bridge under such difficult circumstances. A suspension bridge of
that length had never before been built. There are strong currents and
heavy winds on the bridge site, which made construction dangerous.

The construction of the bridge finally began in 1933. The construction


work set new standards for safety – workers were among the first
required to wear hard hats, and an innovative safety net saved the lives
of nineteen men while the bridge was built. The Golden Gate Bridge was
completed 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 originally budgeted.

Today, the Golden Gate Bridge has a main span of 4,200 feet (almost a
mile) and a total length of 8,981 feet, or about 1.7 miles, making it one
of the longest bridges in the world (it was the longest until 1964). The
bridge is 90 feet wide, and its span is 220 feet above the water. The
towers supporting the huge cables rise 746 feet above the waters of the
Golden Gate Strait, making them 191 feet taller than the Washington
Monument. Each steel cable is 7,650 feet long and has a diameter of 36
inches. About 40 million automobiles cross the bridge every year: proof
that the bridge serves a vital function.

There are foghorns 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.

Because the Golden Gate Bridge is the first sight for many people
arriving in the United States by ship, it is sometimes called the “Statue
of Liberty” for the West Coast.

Comprehension/ Social Studies - Landmarks


©2003-2008 abcteach.com

Name ______________________________________ Date _________________


ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GOLDEN GATE
BRIDGE

1) The Golden Gate Bridge................


a) spans the San Francisco Bay
b) is the best-known symbol of the United States
c) spans the Golden Gate Strait
d) is painted gold and has a gold-plated gate at each end

2) The idea for a bridge across the Golden Gate Strait.............. .


a) was first suggested in 1916
b) was perfected by Irving Morrow in 1933
c) was around for many years before construction started
d) was first put forth by Joseph Strauss

3) The bridge proponents wanted to...........


a) give the West Coast a new tourist attraction
b) connect San Francisco to the land across the Bay
c) prove that the innovative project could succeed
d) compete with the ferry fleets

4) Safety innovations during the construction of the bridge


included
a) hardhats and a safety net
b) foghorns and radar
c) aircraft beacons
d) all of the above

5) Put the right pairs together:


a) 7,650 feet e. length of bridge
b) 3 feet f. length of main span
c) 4,200 feet g. diameter of cable
d) 8,981 feet h. length of cable

6. Before the Golden Gate Bridge was built, San Francisco suffered
from transportation problems. Why were different people opposed
to building the bridge?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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