In 1933, a construction crew
under the direction of Joseph
Strauss began to build a suspen-
sion bridge across the Golden
Gate, the entrance to the San
Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate
Bridge was completed in 1937, at
an overall cost of less than $35
million. Until 1964, the bridge's
span of 4,200 feet was the
longest main span of any bridge
in the world.
The two main cables, each 3 feet
in diameter, pass over 746-foot-
high steel towers to support a
six-lane roadway and two foot-
paths 265 feet above the surface
of the water.
Building the bridge was no simple
task. Rapid tides, storms, and
thick fog all presented problems,
as did the need for the bridge to
be able to withstand earthquakes.
To plant the earthquake-proof
foundations, the builders had to
blast rock under deep water, then
dredge millions of gallons of
water.
