Full disclosure: I’m a long time SF Bay area resident.
But, day-um if that ain’t one bee-yu-ti-ful bridge. Beautiful engineering and esthetics.
Let’s sing the praises of the GGB on it’s 75th birthday!
Fog draped, spanning from one of the most beautiful cities in the world (SF) to one of the most stunning hillside areas (Marin) the Golden Gate Bridge transcends every human discord. A technological marvel that stands the test of time. One of the modern wonders of the world.
I’ve driven across it hundreds of time, but it’s never just a bridge from here to there. It’s always a marvel. Always an uplifting experience. If you haven’t seen it, put it on your list.
It takes you from one of our greatest cities to one of our greatest wine growing regions. What’s not to love about that?
Nothing, really. It is just a spectacularly beautiful construction in a beautiful spot. From fishing for striped bass off the South Tower below to looking over my right shoulder at Baker Beach to looking over my left while in the Marin Headlands, it never fails to impress.
It was a clear beautiful day in SF today. Went out and took some pictures of that iconic bridge. Still looking great after all these years! It’s not just the bridge with its two towers and graceful span, but its setting in the Bay with the Marin hills in the background, windswept clouds overhead, boats below, just breathtaking.
Exactly. It’s the whole package, not just the bridge. But the bridge was designed around its environment. It’s a marvel, and compliments both sides of the bay-- city and hills.
Though it’s no longer the longest (it appears to be ninth on the list at the moment), it’s still by far the most beautiful suspension bridge I’ve ever seen. Part of that is the bridge itself, which is a work of art in its own right, but the setting is what puts it in a class by itself.
I’ve been over it and under it (sailing) many many times, but I never get tired of the sight. I am so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.
My favorite view of the bridge was several years ago when I did the doublehanded Farallons race. Coming back in to the Golden Gate and seeing that bridge ever so slowly getting bigger in the distance was a real experience.
For those of you who don’t know some of the “details” of the GGB, there are six lanes of traffic, but in order to get them to fit, they are only 10 feet wide. Also, in order to prevent complete gridlock during commutes, the middle two lanes can go in either direction depending on the time of day - and since the lanes are so narrow as it is, they can’t put any sort of divider between the different directions (never mind what you saw in Monsters vs. Aliens), unless you count posts that are about two feet tall that they stick between the lanes.
If you look closely, you will notice a “lower deck”; there has been talk of converting that deck to traffic for decades (50 years ago, they considered using it for the subway), but nothing has been done about it; I don’t know if it’s a question of cost, or that the winds coming off of the ocean going through the gaps between the girders would toss the cars around.
Most likely it’s that the bridge isn’t engineered to be able to handle the extra amount of weight that would come from adding a second deck of vehicle traffice. /WAG
It is a gorgeous bridge. I’ll never forget the first (and so far only) time I walked across it.
It’s definitely one of the most gorgeous structures on the planet, including its surroundings. It’s so much more elegant than the Bay Bridge (which is also beautiful, but not in the same league).
I’ve walked across it a few times, damn near froze my ass off. For some reason I love walking across bridges; hate the ones closed to pedestrians.
I am confused about this 75th birthday thing. We were in SF last summer celebrating my Dad’s 75th birthday. And they had signs up saying the bridge was 75 years old. Did they put them up a year early?
I was wondering, how many times in movies has the bridge been destroyed? It’s come down in earthquakes I think. And shot up in alien attacks. Once a giant shark bit into it.
BART’s unique gauge in fact results from plans to run the system to Marin across a lower deck on the bridge. The winds that whip through the Gate required a wide gauge, to give the trains greater stability.
