How long will the Golden Gate Bridge last without maintenance?

According to the book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, suspension and truss bridges would collapse after two or three centuries without maintenance. The cause would be rust eventually filling the expansion joints, causing damage during hot weather.



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July 26, 2018 Updated: July 27, 2018 4:47 p.m. Three months after engineers descended on rope from tower to tower on the Golden Gate Bridge as part of a federally regulated bridge biannual inspection, the inspection results are in: The bridge is structurally sound, but needs a paint job and cosmetic work.

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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.

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The zinc protects the steel, because zinc corrodes more easily than steel. Zinc serves as a sacrificial metal, so the steel does not rust when zinc is present. On top of that zinc primer is a top coat of paint in the Golden Gate Bridge's signature color called International Orange.

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Swaying in the wind The Golden Gate Bridge takes about 20 seconds to complete one back-and-forth swing.

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There are a couple of misconceptions about how often the Bridge is painted. Some say once every seven years, others say from end to end each year. The truth is that the Bridge is painted continuously. Painting the Bridge is an ongoing task and a primary maintenance job.

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Want to swim over the deepest part of the bay? Maybe you've already done it and had no idea - you'll find the deepest water in our Golden Gate Bridge race just under the bridge at over 370 feet.

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The bridge carries about 112,000 vehicles per day according to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District.

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It's free to walk or bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. The pedestrian walkway is the east sidewalk that runs along the east (bay) side of the bridge. Bikes ride on either side, according to the daily schedule. Drivers pay a toll ($9.40) but only coming into San Francisco.

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The Golden Gate Bridge's two supporting cables are about the only thing that has not been changed since the bridge was opened to traffic in 1937. Each main cable is formed by 27,572 steel wires with the approximate thickness of a pencil.

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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.


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Underneath the Golden Gate Bridge lies the wreck of the City of Chester, a steamboat that sank on August 22, 1890 at 10 a.m. The boat was impaled on the steamer Oceanic, arriving from Asia, and sunk in six minutes.

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The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District is a special-purpose district that owns and operates three regional transportation assets in the San Francisco Bay Area: the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the Golden Gate Ferry system and the Golden Gate Transit system.

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Average Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District Painter hourly pay in the United States is approximately $49.00, which is 166% above the national average.

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The reason why the Golden Gate bridge is red is because it was purposely painted red in the 1930s to increase safety and visibility of the structure. The name “golden” came from its yellowish-orange color when seen from a distance but this has faded over the years.

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With the earlier phases of the retrofit complete, the bridge can safely withstand an earthquake over 7.0 in magnitude, but it may experience damage that requires closure after a major seismic event.

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What is a weakness of the Golden Gate Bridge? They can be unstable in extremely turbulent conditions, requiring temporary closure of the bridge. Suspension bridges are built to move, and high wind can cause damage to the bridge.

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