The Golden Gate Bridge was designed to be anything but International Orange as its color is known. There were options and black and gold was a strong candidate. Irving Morrow, a consulting architect saw the bridge in the orange-red primer and that became the color. The bridge was built in 1937 after taking 4 years to build. At 4200 feet and using 600,000 rivets in each of the bridge’s towers, it was the world’s longest bridge span at the time. The Golden Gate Bridge held the longest bridge record until 1964 and it’s the world’s most photographed bridge.
Although built in the mid 1930’s the project was authorized in 1928. The Wall Street Crash in 1929 delayed the project. In November of 1930, $30 Million in bonds (over ½ billion today) were issued. The bonds didn’t sell no doubt the lingering effect of the depression. In 1932, Amadeo Giannini and his bank the San Francisco based Bank of America bought the entire issue as an investment in the San Francisco economy. January 1933 construction began. That’s the same Bank of America that’s the 2nd largest US bank today.
In addition to being the most photographed bridge the Golden Gate has been in its share of movies. Interview with a Vampire, Dirty Harry, Superman, Star Trek IV, A View to a Kill and many more. For those who have seen James Bond’s A View to a Kill it should be noted much of the filming was in a studio in London. Apparently local authorities were not happy with the idea of someone falling off the bridge.
If you visit San Francisco take a walk or bike ride across the bridge. Six-lanes for traffic, the bridge was built with walkways on either side and separated from traffic with metal curbs and railings. Side to side, the total length of the bridge is 1.7 miles each way. The view is spectacular looking at Sausalito on one side, San Francisco on the other. Alcatraz, the ocean, and the bay. Very nice.
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