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N0KFQ > TODAY 05.01.12 18:40l 55 Lines 2405 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 15949_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 5
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<F6CDD<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120105/1627Z 15949@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Jan 5, 1933:
Golden Gate Bridge is born
On January 5, 1933, construction begins on the Golden Gate
Bridge, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of
dirt for the structure's huge anchorages.
Following the Gold Rush boom that began in 1849, speculators
realized the land north of San Francisco Bay would increase in
value in direct proportion to its accessibility to the city.
Soon, a plan was hatched to build a bridge that would span the
Golden Gate, a narrow, 400-foot deep strait that serves as the
mouth of the San Francisco Bay, connecting the San Francisco
Peninsula with the southern end of Marin County.
Although the idea went back as far as 1869, the proposal took
root in 1916. A former engineering student, James Wilkins,
working as a journalist with the San Francisco Bulletin, called
for a suspension bridge with a center span of 3,000 feet, nearly
twice the length of any in existence. Wilkins' idea was estimated
to cost an astounding $100 million. So, San Francisco's city
engineer, Michael M. O'Shaughnessy (he's also credited with
coming up with the name Golden Gate Bridge), began asking bridge
engineers whether they could do it for less.
Engineer and poet Joseph Strauss, a 5-foot tall Cincinnati-born
Chicagoan, said he could.
Eventually, O'Shaughnessy and Strauss concluded they could build
a pure suspension bridge within a practical range of $25-30
million with a main span at least 4,000 feet. The construction
plan still faced opposition, including litigation, from many
sources. By the time most of the obstacles were cleared, the
Great Depression of 1929 had begun, limiting financing options,
so officials convinced voters to support $35 million in bonded
indebtedness, citing the jobs that would be created for the
project. However, the bonds couldn't be sold until 1932, when
San-Francisco based Bank of America agreed to buy the entire
project in order to help the local economy.
The Golden Gate Bridge officially opened on May 27, 1937, the
longest bridge span in the world at the time. The first public
crossing had taken place the day before, when 200,000 people
walked, ran and even roller skated over the new bridge.
With its tall towers and famous red paint job, the bridge quickly
became a famous American landmark, and a symbol of San Francisco.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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