Golden Gate Bridge Facts
Golden Gate Bridge Statistics
The Golden Gate Bridge is 1.7 miles long.
Built in 1937, it was the longest main suspension bridge in the world until 1964.
During construction, a safety net was accredited with saving the lives of 19 workers.
The Golden Gate Bridge’s orange color was originally intended as a primer and the Navy requested a blue bridge with yellow stripes.
The Bridge opened to pedestrians on May 27th, 1937, and to motor vehicles on May 28th, 1937.
A roundtrip toll in 1937 was $0.50 per car, while today the toll stands at $18.00 for a roundtrip passage – a 3,500% price increase.
The Golden Gate Bridge
Considered one of America’s iconic symbols of progress, the 1.7 mile Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco and the Marin Highlands, and at its completion in 1937, for a time, anyway, the Golden Gate was the longest main suspension bridge in the world, holding that record until New York’s Verrazano Bridge opened in 1964, followed by Japan’s Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in 2019.
Earthquake During Golden Gate Bridge Construction
During the Golden Gate’s construction in June of 1935, an earthquake struck the region while a dozen men worked atop the bridge’s unfinished south tower, prompting one worker to recall that “the tower swayed 16 feet each way.
There were 12 or 13 guys on top with no way to get down. The whole thing would sway toward the ocean, guys would say, ‘here we go!’ then it would sway back toward the bay.” When the deck was being constructed, a safety net was accredited with saving the lives of 19 workers, and while the bridge’s orange color was originally intended as a primer color only, the now seminal color became permanent, despite the Navy’s request that the bridge be painted blue with yellow stripes in an effort to increase visibility.
Golden Gate Pedestrian Day
When the bridge finally opened on May 27th, 1937, on what local officials called Pedestrian Day, some 200,000 people walked the bridge, many attempting to be the first to run or roller skate the span. The San Francisco Chronicle recorded some of the more outlandish firsts, including the first person to cross the bridge on stilts.
When the Golden Gate opened to motorized traffic the following day, the roundtrip toll was fifty cents per car, while today the toll stands at $18.00 for a roundtrip passage.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate, on May 24th, 1987, the bridge groaned and swayed when more than 300,000 San Franciscans packed onto the bridge like sardines. The middle of the bridge sagged seven feet under the unprecedented weight, causing the famous arched deck to flatten. Officials quickly closed the bridge, preventing an additional 600,000 people from crossing. Engineers later said that the bridge, which was built to bend, was never in danger of collapsing.