By Jamir Coker

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

• The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge

spanning the golden gate the opening of the San

Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean.

• It was officially built in 1937, and took four years to

build.

WHAT IS IT?

• There was a ferry used to cross the San Francisco Bay that began in the

1820’s.

• Named the Golden Gate Ferry Company in 1867.

• The proposal was finally an made in the late 1920’s San Francisco was the

largest American city still served primarily by ferry boats

HISTORY

• The weight of the roadway is hung from two cables that pass through the

two main towers and are fixed in concrete at each end.

• Each cable is made of 27,572 strands of wire.

• There are 80,000 miles of wire in the main cables.

STRUCTURE

• More people die by suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge

than at any other site in the world.

• Most jumpers die from impact trauma on contact with

the water. It is approximately 245 feet above the water

• By 2005, this count exceeded 1,200 and new suicides

were occurring about once every two weeks.

• It was reported as the second most popular place to

commit suicide behind the Aokigahara Forest in

Japan.

ISSUES

• The effect of earthquakes on structures led to a program to retrofit the Golden Gate to better resist

seismic events.

• The proximity of the bridge to the San Andreas fault places it at risk for a significant earthquake.

• A $392 million program was initiated to improve the structure's ability to withstand such an event with only

minimal damage.

ISSUES PT. 2

• Seismic events are occurrences in which energy is

briefly released in the Earth's crust, resulting in a

series of seismic waves which move through the crust.

• In some cases, the energy can be intense enough that

it is felt in the form of an earthquake

• In other seismic events, the energy is so mild that it

can only be identified with specialized equipment.

WHAT ARE SEISMIC EVENTS

• In November 2006, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and

Transportation District recommended a sponsorship program

for the bridge to address its operating deficit.

• It projected at $80 million over five years. The District

promised that the proposal for the defecit in operation

• In October 2007, the Board unanimously voted to discontinue

the proposal and seek additional revenue through other means,

most likely a toll increase.

ECONOMICS

• The bridge is fitted with suicide hotline telephones,

and staff patrol the bridge in carts, looking for people

who appear to be planning to jump.

.

• The bridge is now closed to pedestrians at night.

• Cyclists are still permitted across at night, but can

buzz themselves in and out through the remotely

controlled security gates.

HANDLING SUICIDAL PROBLEMS

• In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge had the longest suspension bridge main span in

the world, at 4,200 feet.

• Since 1964, its main span length has been surpassed by nine other bridges.

• Longest main span in the US, after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in NYC.

ABOUT THE BRIDGE

• ^ "Golden Gate Transportation District".

• Goldengate.org. Retrieved June 20, 2010. ^ Golden Gate Bridge at

Structurae ^ a b Denton, Harry et al. (2004) "Lonely Planet San Francisco"

Lonely Planet, United States. 352 pp.

• ISBN 1-74104-154-6 ^

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/saferesr/trafdata/truck2006final.pdf

Annual Average Daily Truck Traffic on the California State Highway

System, 2006, p.169 ^ "Golden Gate Bridge". Office of Historical

Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-08.

• ^ "City of San Francisco Designated Landmarks". City of San Francisco.

Retrieved 2012-10-21. ^ "American Society of Civil Engineers Seven

Wonders". Asce.org. July 19, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2010.

REFERENCES