Spanning the Gate: A Golden Gate Bridge History

The story of the bridge they said could never be built

34 Milestones
150+ Years of history
∞ Growing daily
Joseph Strauss

Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress / Public domain

Joseph Strauss

Designing the Golden Gate Bridge

  • Engineered and led the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, a monumental engineering achievement.
  • Overcame numerous technical and political challenges to complete the bridge.
  • His work on the bridge revolutionized suspension bridge design and construction.

Joseph Strauss was an American engineer best known for his role in the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. He was the chief engineer and primary designer of the bridge, which became a symbol of ingenuity and perseverance.

Milestones

  • The Ugliest Bridge Never Built
    The Fight to Build Design & Engineering
    The Ugliest Bridge Never Built

    Joseph Strauss's original 1921 proposal was a grotesque cantilever-suspension hybrid that San Francisco rejected — forcing the redesign that created an icon.

    1921
  • The Military Said No
    The Fight to Build Political & Funding
    The Military Said No

    The U.S. War Department nearly killed the Golden Gate Bridge over fears an enemy could bomb it and seal San Francisco Bay forever.

    1924
  • The $35 Million Gamble
    Depression-Era Construction Political & Funding
    The $35 Million Gamble

    In the teeth of the Great Depression, voters in six counties approved a massive bond measure to build a bridge many engineers said was impossible.

    1930
  • The Engineer Erased from History
    The Fight to Build Design & Engineering
    The Engineer Erased from History

    Joseph Strauss fired Charles Ellis, the man who actually designed the Golden Gate Bridge, and removed his name from every record.

    1931
  • The Banker Who Believed
    Depression-Era Construction Political & Funding
    The Banker Who Believed

    When no financier in America would touch the bridge bonds during the Depression, A.P. Giannini's Bank of America bought the entire issue and saved the project.

    1932
  • The First Shovel in the Sand
    Depression-Era Construction Construction
    The First Shovel in the Sand

    On January 5, 1933, construction officially began at Crissy Field as the Great Depression raged — putting a thousand desperate men to work on the impossible.

    1933
  • 1933
    Depression-Era Construction Design & Engineering
    The Fort That Bent a Bridge

    Rather than demolish a Civil War fortress, engineers redesigned the Golden Gate Bridge to arch over it — creating the span's most dramatic feature.

    1933
  • The Pier That Defied the Pacific
    Depression-Era Construction Construction
    The Pier That Defied the Pacific

    Building the south tower's foundation 1,100 feet offshore in raging open ocean nearly doomed the entire bridge project.

    1934
  • 1935
    Depression-Era Construction Design & Engineering
    The Color That Almost Wasn't

    Architect Irving Morrow fought the U.S. Navy and Army to paint the bridge International Orange instead of battleship gray or candy-cane stripes.

    1935
  • 27,572 Wires Across the Sky
    Depression-Era Construction Construction
    27,572 Wires Across the Sky

    Over six months, workers shuttled individual steel wires back and forth across the Golden Gate strait to spin the bridge's two massive main cables by hand.

    1935
  • The Halfway-to-Hell Club
    Depression-Era Construction Construction
    The Halfway-to-Hell Club

    A revolutionary safety net beneath the Golden Gate Bridge saved 19 workers' lives during construction, creating an unprecedented brotherhood of survivors.

    1936
  • The Day the Safety Net Failed
    Depression-Era Construction Disasters & Incidents
    The Day the Safety Net Failed

    A collapsed scaffold sent twelve men plunging through the Golden Gate's famous safety net, killing ten and ending the bridge's remarkable safety record just months before completion.

    1937
  • The Day 200,000 People Walked the Bridge
    Opening and Early Glory Cultural & Symbolic
    The Day 200,000 People Walked the Bridge

    Before a single car crossed, San Francisco threw the greatest walking party in American history.

    1937
  • The Foghorns That Guide the Lost
    Opening and Early Glory Design & Engineering
    The Foghorns That Guide the Lost

    The Golden Gate Bridge's iconic mid-span foghorns became the sonic signature of San Francisco, blasting through fog that blankets the strait over 300 days a year.

    1937
  • The Mighty Task That Killed Its Builder
    Opening and Early Glory Cultural & Symbolic
    The Mighty Task That Killed Its Builder

    Joseph Strauss died just one year after his bridge opened, broken by the very fight that made him famous.

    1938
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