The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

The Golden Gate Bridge, one of the most recognizable structures in the world, is the most beloved symbol and representative of the city of San Francisco. It was also at the time of its completion in 1937, the longest suspension bridge, and remained so for 27 years. Known as a suspension bridge claimed in gravity, between its two towers high steel cantilever pass 1280 meters of open water.

Joseph Strauss is credited as the visionary and leader of the project engineer. However, the engineer Charles Ellis and the designer Leon Moissieff, played an important role in the success of this iconic intersection.

States with only a slide rule and a calculating machine, with its operations solved the problems of compression and tension faced by the project.

Hanging between two elegant towers, the two main cables of the bridge weighing 11,000 tons each, and consist of 25,000 individual wires. Besides holding the street suspended cables to transmit compression and mooring towers at each end of the bridge construction.

Become an instant success, in 1971 the Golden Gate Bridge covered its $ 75 million cost-only collection of a toll the visitors on their way south of San Francisco. In the past seven decades, endured countless earthquakes, including the devastating 1989 of 7.1 on the Richter scale. In fact, the bridge has been closed only three times in its history, due to high winds.

Before the construction of the bridge, the only way across the bay from San Francisco was the ferry, so that, in the twentieth century, the bay was obscured by the large number of ferries that circulated.

The engineer and bridge builder Joseph Strauss became convinced that a bridge be built across the bay. After years of difficulties in its construction, the Golden Gate Bridge was opened in the year 1937.

The Golden Gate Bridge is visible from dozens of places, but the best of them is the Mirador H. Dana Bowers (also called «Vista Point»), in addition to the spectacular views of the bridge, in the city of San Francisco and the bay, has some other attractions:
Blue Star Memorial Highway: a tribute to the armed forces of the United States.
The Lone Sailor Memorial: a statue dedicated to the naval infantry, coast guard and merchant marine.
Compass Rose: commonly called «wind rose» is a figure used to show the orientation of the cardinal points.

To reach the Mirador H. Dana Bowers just have to cross the Golden Gate to the north.

To get an idea of ​​the strength of the bridge, the Golden Gate has so many wires forming their wires that could go around the earth 3 times.

Another curiosity more unfortunate is that the Golden Gate Bridge is the world’s highest suicide rate.