Who Designed the Golden Gate Bridge

Have you ever driven north out of San Francisco and wondered who designed the Golden Gate Bridge? That beautiful burnt orange expanse connecting the City to Marin is one of the most breathtaking bridges in the world, and when the coastal fog rolls in from the ocean and buries the structure in a billowy cloud, it is truly a one of a kind sight.

Follow the history of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The political motivation to create the Golden Gate Bridge started almost a decade before the bridge was actually created. The Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District Act was signed into law by the California legislature in May of 1924, however construction of the bridge was not to begin until several years later. In August of 1929, Joseph B. Strauss was selected from a pool of eleven engineers to design and construct the bridge. Construction began in January of 1933 and the opening festivities were held on May 27, 1937.

While Strauss played the role of Chief Engineer on the project and oversaw all final construction decisions, his relative inexperience with suspension bridges called for him to bring in an expert. This consultant, Irving Morrow, is actually responsible for many of the most iconic features of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Morrow introduced its signature burnt orange color, which was originally intended as a water sealant that would be painted over, but locals came to love the color so much that they convinced Morrow to leave the sealant as the final coat. The art deco inspired features of the streetlights and walkways and even the appearance of the bridge towers can all be attributed to Morrow's influence.

Strauss also enlisted the help of engineer Charles Alton Ellis, who contributed much of the technical work that assured the bridge could withstand the turbulant Golden Gate weather. Strauss eventually fired Ellis, but because work was difficult for an engineer to find during the Great Depression, Ellis continued to work tirelessly on the bridge pro bono, although he received little credit for this work in his lifetime.

History has shown that Strauss overstated his own contributions to the Golden Gate Bridge's design, and in 2007, a formal report on the bridge corrected the historical inaccuracies and gave Ellis his rightful due for his work on the bridge's creation.

One of Strauss' most significant contributions to history is in his introduction of worksite safety measures that are still used today. Specially designed headgear was invented for the job, which became the prototype for today's hardhat. Workers were also required to wear special safety goggles and a cream that protected their hands and faces from the wind and sun.

Perhaps most significant was Strauss' creation of a special safety net that ran the length of the bridge and was designed to catch workers who slipped and fell. The net saved nineteen workers' lives during the bridge's construction, and these men became known as members of the Half-Way-to-Hell Club. Tragically, however, on February 17, 1937, ten men died when the scaffolding they were on fell through the safety net and into the bay below.

The Golden Gate Bridge is also the most popular place in the United States for people to commit suicide. Public outcry about this tragic statistic, fueled in part by a documentary made in 2006 called The Bridge that filmed several jumpers, has led to the construction of a safety net that will extend almost twenty feet on both sides of the bridge.

As for the question, Who designed the Golden Gate Bridge?, the answer proves to be more of a committee than a single individual. Although Joseph Strauss is credited as being the Chief Engineer, he received notable help from Irving Morrow, Charles Alton Ellis, and many other engineers and technicians who helped create this beautiful national landmark. The next time you find yourself driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, take a second to remember these great people whose vision was responsible for this breathtaking icon.

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