The Golden Gate Bridge is the landmark of San Francisco, USA. It spans the Golden Gate Strait, which connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. The pier span of the Golden Gate Bridge is 1,280.2 meters long. When it was built, it was the longest span suspension bridge in the world, with a width of 27.5 meters and a total of 6 traffic lanes in both directions. The bridge body is brownish red. The Golden Gate Bridge has the fourth tallest bridge tower in the world. It is 227.4 meters high and the total length of the bridge is 2737.4 meters.
The original idea of the Golden Gate Bridge came from bridge engineer Joseph Strauss. Strauss had previously designed more than 400 small inland bridges. He spent more than 10 years lobbying Northern California residents.
The color of the Golden Gate Bridge is international orange, because architect Alvin Morrow believed that this color would not only harmonize with the surrounding environment, but also make the bridge more eye-catching in the heavy fog that is common in the Golden Gate Strait. Due to the bridge's novel structure and otherworldly appearance, it is widely regarded as a model of beauty by the international bridge engineering community, and has been named one of the wonders of the modern world by the American Society of Architectural Engineers. It is also one of the most photogenic bridges in the world.
A unique design during the construction of the bridge is a safety net under the bridge. Eleven people fell to death during construction, while 19 people were rescued by safety nets. These 19 people became honorary members of the Halfway to Hell Club. Before 1957, the Golden Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world, and until 1964, its two piers had the longest span of any suspension bridge in the world. These two piers were until recently the highest suspension bridge piers in the world.
The bridge was completed in April 1937 and opened to pedestrians on May 27 of the same year. Straus placed a brick taken from his alma mater, the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, before pouring concrete on the south pier. The next day, President Roosevelt pressed a button in Washington, D.C., and the bridge was officially opened to automobile use. San Francisco-area voters issued an initial $35 million in engineering bonds, pledging their homes, farms, and businesses as collateral. In 1977, the last bond was paid off, with $35 million in principal and $39 million in interest coming entirely from bridge toll revenue.
The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most famous suicide sites in the world. When the number of suicides on the Golden Gate Bridge reached 1,000 in 1993, there were no official statistics. It is estimated that there were more than 1,300 people in 2008. In the five years before 2005, an average of one person jumped from the bridge into the sea every two weeks. As of 2013, a total of 33 people have committed suicide. On March 11, 2005, the Golden Gate Bridge Management Association decided to invest US$2 million to study the feasibility of installing guardrails. But implementation of the plan was delayed because of the economic downturn. Pictured is the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog.
