Facts on the Golden Gate Bridge

General Facts to Remember

These are a list of the most basic facts on the Golden Gate Bridge. If you only have limited time to learn a few details, these are certainly the ones to know.

• The Golden Gate Bridge crosses the Golden Gate, a narrow waterway that connects the Pacific Ocean to the San Francisco Bay.
• Cool nights and warm days generate the foggy conditions so common over the Golden Gate in the mornings.
• From the day it first opened until today, the Golden Gate is a toll bridge.

Physical Facts on Building the Bridge

Creating this renowned bridge was an amazing feat of engineering.

• 388,500 cubic yards of concrete, 117,200 tons of steel, 80,000 miles of wire were used to manufacture the bridge’s structure.
• Four years and $27 million later, the bridge was completed.
• The Golden Gate is a suspension bridge with large cables to support the middle hung from its tall towers.
• The bridge spans 4,200 feet.
• It is estimated that the actual building of the bridge included 25 million labor hours.
• The cables are actually 27,572 individual tiny wires spun together. More than 80,000 miles of wire were used to make them.
• Actual paint color of the Golden Gate Bridge is Dulux International Orange.
• As a worst case scenario, the bridge was designed to withstand 90 mph gale-force winds, the weight of bumper to bumper traffic in both directions, tidal surges of 4.6 million square feet per second, and an 8.0 earthquake – all at the exact same time.

Facts on the Golden Gate Bridge History

• To increase the population of the city of San Francisco and create jobs during the depression were the main political motivations for creating the bridge.
• Joseph Baerman Strauss designed and built the Golden Gate Bridge.
• Money was raised to build the bridge with a voter approved bond issue backed by Bank of America.
• Official ground breaking began on February 26, 1933.
• The Golden Gate Bridge was the first construction project to ever use the rotating drum mixer concrete trucks so common today.
• The production of the bridge was the first of its kind to ever use nets as safety for falling workers. These nets are now standard on any bridge project today.
• The bridge was designed to be a part of the beauty of the area, with slatted railings to improve passing motorists’ views, special accent lighting, and the red paint to blend with the red in the hills of Marin County.
• The bridge officially opened for business on May 26, 1937.
• Strauss’s company was paid a $1 million fee, but unfortunately Strauss died within a year of completing the bridge.

Facts on the Bridge Today

• The Golden Gate Bridge continues to require labor and money for maintenance and renovations.
• It is one of the most widely recognized bridges in the world and a true symbol of San Francisco.
• Tolls are currently $5 (2008) for most cars and only collected in the southbound direction (into San Francisco).
• Over 1,200 suicides have occurred from jumping off the bridge.
• In 1994, the bridge was named one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World” by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
• The Golden Gate is awarded the second place spot, behind England’s Chunnel Tunnel, on the list of the Top 10 Construction Achievements of the 20th Century.
• The Golden Gate Bridge is the most photographed bridge in the entire world.