The Golden Gate: Building an Impossible Bridge

in the 1920s long before the technologies and advancements of today's construction industry a scheme was conceived to build an impossible bridge across the Golden Gate straits in California today that structure remains one of the world's most famous landmarks but to truly appreciate the magnitude of this achievements you need to understand the British story [Music] the Golden Gate Strait is a mile wide channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean many of Northern California's waterways and mountain slopes run into San Francisco Bay and out to the ocean through this channel generating fast flowing treacherous water up to the 1920s before the existence of the bridge the only way to cross the channel without taking an extended drive around the bay was by ferry with the rise of cars and the growth of San Francisco during the boom years some 2.5 million car trips a year were being made across the water by 1929 the congestion led to growing calls for a bridge to be attempted across the gap many felt such a feat was impossible the channels with combined with a depth of over 372 feet which is about 113 meters and the harsh environmental conditions was seen by many as two grades were overcome the city turned to the renowned bridge engineer Joseph Strauss to consider the feasibility of such a scheme Strauss had a high pedigree in developing bridges but was infamously difficult to work with and had a reputation for creating unattractive designs his first proposal was widely disliked and the city's authorities insisted that he could only proceed if he accepted design input from others that input came from Leo moiseev irving moreau and charles orton ellis and led to the development of the bridge as we know it today despite public supports gaining approval for the bridge was not easy the Golden Gate Bridge districts a holding company established to construct and operate the bridge faced opposition on a number of fronts first they had to contend with the Southern Pacific Railroad company who operated the highly profitable ferry service the operator filed over 2,300 legal disputes in an attempt to prevent the bridge proceeding then they had to deal with the US Department of War as it was then known they feared enemy planes bombing the bridge and collapsing it into the Straits trapping Navy ships in the bay they also voiced concerns about vessels colliding with the bridge during rough weather or in San Francisco's infamous fog the Department of war even pushed for the bridge to be painted black with yellow stripes to make it highly visible eventually opposition gave way and plans to divert the bridge proceeded but just as that milestone had been reached the financial crash and Great Depression hit government funding evaporated and the British future looks very uncertain determined to boost their economy with all the benefits that the British could bring the city's authorities took matters into their own hands to secure funding they proposed a bond measure secured against the properties of their citizens in San Francisco and the counties north of the bay in a remarkable step this decision was put to a referendum and those Californians decided to proceed with the bond despite the widespread concerns about the bridges feasibility the bridge is 35 million US dollar costs and associated finance fees were only paid off in 1971 this historic vote combined with an initial five million u.s. dollar credit line and the founder of the Bank of America enabled construction works to commence for all the struggle that had gone in up to this point the hardest days still lay ahead [Music] construction began in January 1933 with the erection of the British towers each of these structures weighs 22,000 tons and stands 746 feet tall about 227 meters above the waters of the bay they carried the entire weight of the bridge the first step was to create footings and erect the North Tower on the banks of Marin County construction of the South Tower out in the waters of the Strait was far more challenging first the team built a temporary pier 1,100 feet or 335 meters out into the ocean this pier was destroyed twice during the works once by storm and again by steamer ship traveling in the fog at the end of the pier pilot bombers were dropped down shafts to break up the rock on the seabed seagulls swarmed over this operation a stunned fish floated to the surface with the bedrock loosened the area was dredged before the first underwater concrete pool the area was then pumped out and the remainder of the concrete was dry poured simultaneously the concrete Anchorage's that the suspension cables would connect to were cast on either bank the scale of concrete being poured across the bridge site led to an on-site mixing plant being established with the southern putting in place the steel South Tower was erected the next step was to suspend cables from the bridge a posters began in the summer of 1935 the cable was used by in fact formed of many individual wires 27,000 to 572 wires to be precise totaling some 80,000 miles in length enough to circle the globe three times over with shipping lanes close the first wires were dragged across the bay by a coast guard vessel and lifted by crane into the 150 ton curved cable cradles on top of each tower a mid span working platform as then slid across with this successfully achieved the painstaking process of bundling and draping strands of wire back and forth across the bridge began those at the top of the towers worked for months in 45 mile-per-hour winds 746 feet above the water despite the hostile environments productivity was high and in one record-breaking shift a gang managed to spin 1000 miles of wire across the street as each wire crossed they were tightened at their opposing end eventually forming the bridges two main cables each 3 feet wide in diameter wooden pallets were then hung beneath the cables creating a catwalk for workers to weave compact and bond the wires before painting them to create a watertight seal but the main cave was in place smaller vertical cables would drop down towards the water steel trusses were then attached to them creating the deck for the concrete roadways report on [Music] throughout the construction process many workers fell from the bridge a fall to the water from the road deck was fatal in most instances as impact speeds reached 75 miles an hour thanks to her then innovative safety net many workers who fell were saved meet in the water and became members of what was dubbed the halfway to hell Club tragedy struck in February 1937 when a paving machine fell into the net taking a number of workers with it the net collapsed under the weight of the machinery and ten people were killed in the instant as construction progressed so too did the debates around what color the bridge should be painted it was the bridges orange still promoter struck a chord with the public and suited the Department of wars requirements with visibility this shade is actually known as international orange a standout toner is also used on NASA astronauts and American footballs just four years after construction work started and with 600,000 stewardesses in place the bridge was complete they opened on the 27th of May 1937 with a pedestrian walk over day cars followed 24 hours later traffic was stopped and the walk over day repeated for the bridges 50th anniversary in 1987 however serious overcrowding occurred and the bridge deflected by 10 feet flattening out under the weight of the crowd this extremely dangerous incident has led officials to commemorate anniversaries in different ways ever since the bridge has been a huge cultural and economic success since his completion over 2 billion cars have now crossed the deck and the Golden Gate has gone on to become an American icon synonymous with the city of San Francisco such status has led to increase security particularly in the post 9/11 era steps have also been taken to better protect the bridge from seismic activity especially as technology and research in this area has moved on from 1930 understanding the bridge sits between the San Andreas and Hayward fault lines and is at risk of high magnitude quakes energy dissipation devices have been subtly retrofitted and the towers supporting the approach ramps have been completely replaced maintenance of the bridge is an ongoing task and forced to a team of 110 full-time personnel to look after every aspect in maintenance terms the bridge is very similar to an offshore oil platform it must contend with ocean climates and the onslaught of the elements this entails repainting is done by specific areas based on corrosion monitoring whilst an on-site steel fabrication shop is able to create the placement components larger-scale refits have taken place including a complete replacement of the suspension ropes in the 1970s and a new lighter steel road deck in the 80s now 80 years old the bridge remains one of the single most important elements of the u.s. road infrastructure a key piece of cultural and construction heritage and an iconic symbol of what human engineers are truly capable of if you enjoyed this video and would like to get more from the definitive video channel for construction subscribe to the v1 own you

Channel: The B1M

Views: 2,282,102

Rating: 4.8921633 out of 5

Keywords: The B1M, B1M, TheB1M, Golden Gate Bridge, Oakland Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge Documentary, Golden Gate National Geographic, San Francisco, San Francisco Bridge, Golden Gate suicide, Golden Gate jumpers, How the Golden Gate Bridge was built, Building the golden gate bridge, suspension bridge, building suspension bridge, construction, engineering, BIM, Fred Mills, megastructures, MEGAstructures, MEGA Structures, Big Bigger Biggest

Id: OC5C9a2udjo

Length: 9min 42sec (582 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 21 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/kirijo]

There are at least three different variations of International Orange

1. #F04A00 (Golden Gate Bridge)

2. #FF4F00 (Aerospace)

3. #BA160C (Engineering)

Source

[u/TheLastHeroHere]

r/therewasanattempt To show the colour of the bridge.

[u/onjefferis]

As a kid finding out the Golden Gate bridge wasn't gold was traumatic.

[u/Seminalreceptical]

Rusty Red home depot return blend

[u/Iwannabeaviking]

I thought it was red?

[u/RustySix]

9:42? No way