How is the Golden Gate Bridge still standing?

The weight of the roadway is hung from 250 pairs of vertical suspender ropes, which are attached to two main cables. The main cables pass over the two main towers and are fixed in concrete at each end. Each cable is made of 27,572 strands of wire.



People Also Ask

The forces carried down through the steel towers are resisted by the strength of the concrete foundations, which extend into bedrock. The pulling or tension forces in the cables are resisted by the massive concrete anchorages at both ends of the Bridge, and those anchorages are also embedded in bedrock.

MORE DETAILS

The original Golden Gate Bridge collapsed during an earthquake in 1906, which was later determined to be caused by exposure to winds and long-term deterioration. The Golden Gate Bridge is about 9,000 feet long (nearly two miles) and is one of the most iconic bridges in the United States.

MORE DETAILS

5 Fun Facts About the Golden Gate Bridge
  • The bridge is actually not golden at all! It's a bright red-orange.
  • It was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
  • It took four years to build.
  • There are approximately 600,000 rivets in each of the bridge's towers.
  • It's the most photographed bridge in the world.


MORE DETAILS

The Golden Gate Bridge is closely monitored to make sure it does not exceed its stress limits due to traffic, wind and seismic loads. We can look forward to at least another 80 years of this engineering masterpiece.

MORE DETAILS

As such, the Golden Gate Bridge became known as 'the bridge that couldn't be built'. This was due to the complex challenges presented by the strait: strong tides, wind, fog and the San Andreas Fault located just 7 miles offshore.

MORE DETAILS

The Golden Gate Bridge is closely monitored to make sure it does not exceed its stress limits due to traffic, wind and seismic loads. We can look forward to at least another 80 years of this engineering masterpiece. (Top image: Courtesy Getty Images.)

MORE DETAILS

Do you know why the Golden Gate Bridge has its iconic name? The answer might surprise you. Rather than being named for the area's association with the Gold Rush, it's actually named for the water that runs beneath it—The Golden Gate Strait.

MORE DETAILS

5 Fun Facts About the Golden Gate Bridge
  • The bridge is actually not golden at all! It's a bright red-orange.
  • It was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
  • It took four years to build.
  • There are approximately 600,000 rivets in each of the bridge's towers.
  • It's the most photographed bridge in the world.


MORE DETAILS

Since it opened on May 27, 1937, there have been an estimated 1,600 deaths in which the body was recovered, and many more unconfirmed.

MORE DETAILS

Bonds Paid Off. The last of the construction bonds was retired in 1971, with $35 million in principal and nearly $39 million in interest being paid entirely from Bridge tolls.

MORE DETAILS