Here are some facts about the Golden Gate Bridge.
- The Golden Gate Bridge spans the Golden Gate, the strait that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean.
- It is a suspension bridge and it was designed by Joseph Strauss, Leon Moisseiff, Irving Morrow and Charles Ellis.
- Construction of the bridge began in 1933 and it was completed in 1937.
- Eleven men died during the construction of the bridge and a further 19 were saved by a safety net. Those who were caught by the net were said to have joined the Halfway-to-Hell Club.
- The Golden Gate Bridge is 746 feet high and nearly 9000 feet long.
- More than one million steel rivets hold the bridge together.
- The bridge was officially opened on 27th May 1937. The celebrations lasted for a week.
- The bridge is painted in International Orange. More than 30 bridge painters are employed to touch up the paintwork. This maintenance must be kept up to prevent the bridge from becoming corroded.
- Fog often make sit hard to see all of the Golden Gate Bridge.
- The Golden Gate is one of San Francisco’s most prominent landmarks, and it has appeared in many movies (such as Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Superman: The Movie and Pacific Rim) TV shows and video games
- The Golden Gate Bridge has only been closed three times due to bad weather (high wind speeds). It is sometimes closed during the night so that construction work can take place.
- In 1976 the Golden Gate Bridge appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine.
- It is estimated that if the Golden Gate Bridge was constructed today it would cost in excess of $1 billion.
