What is IMPOSSIBLE?

What makes
What are the things something
that are IMPOSSIBLE IMPOSSIBLE?
to create/build/make?

Do you believe in Do you believe that, the

the power of IMPOSSIBLE to create
POSSIBILITIES? can be POSSIBLE?
The Golden Gate Bridge
THE IMPOSSIBLE BRIDGE
 GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
HAT: A suspension bridge
HERE: San
Francisco,
HEN: CA, USA started at Jan.
Construction
05, 1933
HY:Construction
to connectfinished at May 27,
San Francisco
1937Marin County across the 1600
with
meter wide strait VIA vehicle and
footwalk which links the San
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
LET’S GO BACK TO WHERE

THE BRIDGE
STARTED
 1920: A feasibility Study recommends
construction of the Golden Gate
Bridge

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 January 1920: San Francisco City Engineer
Michael O'Shaughnessy requests the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey to make
soundings of the channel bottom. The U.S.S.
Natoma completes the sounding of the
channel in May 1920.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 May 1920: O'Shaughnessy receives the
Natoma's survey data. O'Shaughnessy consults
engineers from around the country about
feasibility and cost. Many say IT CANNOT BE
DONE, and if it can be the cost would exceed
$100 million….
1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 May 1920: …O’Shaughnessy writes a letter to three
prominent engineers: JOSEPH B. STRAUSS in Chicago;
FRANCIS C. MCMATH, president of the Canadian Bridge
and Iron Company in Detroit and leader in the
construction of the Quebec Bridge; and GUSTAV
lindenthal, the man who engineered the 1,000-foot Hell
R ES P O N D
O Y OU T HI N K
Gate Arch over New York's East River in 1916…
WHO D
E T T ER ?? ?
1920 1923 THE L
1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 May 1920: … Strauss,
who has designed nearly 400
spans, claims a bridge CAN
BE BUILT, and it can be
built for $25 to $30 million.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 1923: The State Legislature Passes
the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway
District Act of California into Law

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 January 13, 1923 : An organization
meeting of Bridging the Golden Gate
Association, which was formed to
promote Strauss’ plans for a bridge, is
held in Santa Rosa, CA.
1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 May 25, 1923: The California legislature
passes the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway
District Act of California which was
introduced by Senator Frank Coombs of
Napa. The Association of Bridging the Gate is
empowered to create a district to build the
bridge.
1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
1925: Strauss has Ellis send the hybrid cantilever-
suspension bridge plans to two prominent
engineers: George Swan at Harvard, and Leon
Moisseiff, New York City for review. That same year,
Strauss asks Moisseiff to submit to him a plan for a
conventional suspension bridge.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 August 15, 1929: Joseph B. Strauss was
appointed as chief engineer for the
Golden Gate Bridge. Leon S. Moisseiff, O.
H. Amman, and Charles Derleth, Jr. are
named consulting engineers.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 1930: Joseph Strauss, Chief
Engineer submits his final
plans for the bridge

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 March 1, 1930: Charles Ellis returns to
Strauss Engineering offices in Chicago to
start the preliminary design. Working long
hours, and consulting via telegram with Leon
S. Moisseiff in New York, Ellis computes
dozens of factors involved in the Bridge
design.
1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 March 12, 1930: Joseph Strauss
presented this Report of Chief
Engineer to the Board of Directors,
for the period February 19 to March
12, 1930.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 Summer 1930: Strauss hires a local architect,
Irving Morrow, to design an architectural
treatment for the Bridge. Morrow will later be
recognized for his aesthetic contributions – the
Golden Gate Bridge's distinctive Art Deco lines,
burnt red-orange hue, and the structure's
dramatic lighting.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 August 11, 1930: The War Department
issues a final permit for the construction of a
suspension bridge with a 4,200-foot main
span, a vertical clearance of 220 feet at
midspan and a 210-foot clearance at the
sidespans.
1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 August 27, 1930: Joseph B.
Strauss submits his final plans for
the Golden Gate Bridge to the
District Board of Directors.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 November 4, 1930: Voters from the six countries
that comprise the Golden Gate Bridge and
Highway District agree to a $35 MILLION bond
issue, using their homes, farms, vineyards, and
business properties as collateral to support the
construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. The vote
is 145,657 in favor and 46,954 against.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 February 1931: Consulting Geologist A. E.
Sedgwick publishes a Foundations of the
Golden Gate Bridge report on a study to
determine the competency of the foundation
rock under the north and south piers to carry
an average load of 13 tons and maximum
load of 18 tons per square foot.
1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 January 5, 1933:
Construction of
the bridge begins

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 January 1933 to June 1933: It
took 6 months to build the Marin
(north) tower pier.
January 1933 to May 1935: The
San Francisco (south) anchorage
was constructed.
January 1933 to June 1935:
Marin (north) anchorage was
constructed.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 February 1933: Work begins
on the east approach road
through The Presidio.
February 15, 1933: Russell G.
Cone is appointed resident
engineer for the Golden Gate
Bridge project.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 August - December,
1933: Wreckage and
other destruction
happened

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 1934: San
Francisco fender
wall and Marin
tower were
completed
1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 January 8, 1935: The San Francisco pier
was completed and the steel erector was
in place, ready to begin construction of
the San Francisco tower.
June 24, 1935: San Francisco tower
completed in just six months.
September 27, 1935: Catwalks (a.k.a.
footwalks) completed in readiness for
main cable spinning to begin.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 March 19, 1936: Start of construction of
the Marin (north) approach viaduct
structures.
May 22, 1936: Spinning of the two main
cables is completed.
June 18, 1936: Start of the construction
of the main suspended structure.
July 12, 1936: Start of the construction of
the Fort Point Arch.

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 February 17, 1937: 11 men lost their lives.
While removing scaffolding from the underside
of the roadway structure, ten tons of timber
tilted and fell into the safety net. There were 13
men on the scaffolding – one was able to jump
off the net to a girder, 12 went down, 1 lived
and 11 perished in the waters below.
March 14, 1937: The unfortunate accidents and
the failure of contract enforcement

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 April 19, 1937: Paving of the
roadway deck is completed.
April 27, 1937: The Last Rivet
Ceremony

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 May 28, 1937: Golden Gate Bridge opens to
vehicular traffic at twelve o'clock noon, when
President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a
telegraph key in the White House to announce
the event to the world.
May 28, 1937: According to the San Francisco
Chronicle, “FLORENTINE CALEGERI, striking
houseman of the Palace Hotel, walked the
bridge first on stilts, two ways – over and back.
He thought it was a good idea”
1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
 DECONSTRUCTING
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

1920 1923 1925 1929 1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 +
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: SCOPE

Must be TALL
enough for ships to
pass underneath
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: TIME

There was NO real

set timetable; managers
ensured the project progressed
as quickly as possible.
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: COST

Financial Facts:
• November 4,
$73,000,0 1930: $35
million in bonds
00 • July 1, 1971:
$38 million in
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: COST

Financial Facts:

$73,000,0 •Bridge
00 completely paid
for by tolls
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: COST

Financial Facts:

$73,000,0 •No state or

federal money
00 went into the
bridge
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: COST

Financial Facts:
•People put up their
$73,000,0 homes, farms and
businesses as
00 collateral for the
bridge to generate
the $35 million in
bond issue
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: COST

Financial Facts:
•Presently,
$73,000,0 bridge still
operates only
00 with money
collected from
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: BUILDING
•Strauss expected that three
dozen workers would die during
the construction, about one for
every one million dollars spent on
the construction

•11 DEATHS
 THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: SAFETY
UNDER STRAUSS
•1st Mandatory use of hard hats
•Issuing of safety belts and tie off lines
•Dizzy riveters: respirators for burning paint
fumes
•Riveters and ironworkers required to wear
leather gloves
•Sun goggles, sun-block lotion
•Field hospital at south end staffed full time;
treated 12,000 injuries by December, 1935.
•No deaths for the first 3 years and 8 months
 THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: SAFETY
UNDER STRAUSS

THE NET
$120,000 Safety net
suspended 60 feet
below the road
surface: nineteen men
saved
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: EVENTS

Black Wednesday: February

17, 1937
•A scaffold slipped off the bridge and
through the protective netting below,
taking ten men to their deaths.
 THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE:
Unexpected delays and challenges

•Temporary trestle knocked

over twice
•The ten day San Francisco
Strike
•Fort Point
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE:
RECORDS
•Longest bridge
•Tallest free standing
structure in the world
(over 740 feet)
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE:
FACTS
•Riveting crew held unofficial speed
contests; they sometimes threw red-hot
rivets distances of 70 feet or more
•80,000 miles of pencil diameter steel cable
in bridge
•Steel for the bridge was made in
Pennsylvania and ‘shipped’ to California via
the Panama Canal
•$75,000 paid in tolls each day
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE:
FACTS
•A gold rivet was hammered into
place to celebrate the completion of
the bridge
•‘International Orange’
•1.25 billion cars have crossed bridge
since ’37
Q 1

UE
ST
2
WHAT KIND OF
IO
STRUCTURE IS THE
3

NS
4

5 GOLDEN GATE
6
BRIDGE?
7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO
ANSWER:
3

NS
4

5 Suspended Bridge
6

7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO
WHEN WAS IT
3

NS
4

5 BUILT?
6

7
Q 1

UE
ST
2
ANSWER:
IO
Construction
3

NS
4

5 started at Jan. 05,

6
1933
7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO
WHERE IS IT
3

NS
4

5 LOCATED?
6

7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO
ANSWER: San
3

NS
4

5 Francisco, CA, USA

6

7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO 3 WHAT IS THE
NS
4
PURPOSE OF THE
STRUCTURE?
5

7
Q 1

UE
ST
2 ANSWER: to connect San
IO 3 Francisco with Marin County
NS
4
across the 1600 meter wide
strait VIA vehicle and footwalk
which links the San Francisco
5

6 Bay with the Pacific Ocean.

7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO 3 HOW IS THE
NS
4
STRUCTURE
INNOVATIVE?
5

7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO 3 ANSWER: through
NS
4
Strauss’ idea of
hybrid cantilever
5

7
Q 1

UE
ST
2
WHAT MAKES THE
IO
STRUCTURE A
3

NS
4

5 “WONDER” OF THE
6
MODERN WORLD?
7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO 3

NS
4
ANSWER:
5

7
Q 1

UE 2
OF THE SEVERAL SPECIALISTS
ST WITHIN THE C.E. FIELD, WHICH
IO 3

NS
SPECIALISTS WERE LIKELY
4 REQUIRED TO COLLABORATE ON
5 THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
6
OF THE STRUCTURE? EXPLAIN
YOUR OBSERVATIONS.
7
Q 1

UE 2
ST
IO 3

NS
4 ANSWER:
5

7
REFERENCES:

• http://goldengatebridge.org/research/dates.php
•
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/golden-ga
te-bridge-is-born
•
http://www.bridgesdb.com/bridge-list/golden-gate-bri
dge/
•
http://www.aviewoncities.com/sf/goldengatebridge.ht
m