How long did it take to build the Golden Gate Bridge?
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is one of the world’s most famous bridges. When it was completed in 1937, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and was considered an engineering marvel. How long did it take to build this iconic bridge? You might be surprised to learn it took four years to build the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a massive and expensive project, which led to the deaths of some of its builders. Read on to learn more about this San Francisco landmark!
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Why did it take so long to build?
For years, building the Golden Gate Bridge seemed impossible. In fact, it was known as “the bridge that couldn’t be built.” The Golden Gate Strait presented a lot of challenges due to strong tides, wind and fog, not to mention its proximity to the San Andreas Fault.
Many estimated the project would cost over $100 million. That changed when Structural Engineer Joseph Strauss took on the project. As chief engineer, he was able to build the Golden Gate Bridge for between $27 to $35 million (depending on the source). That’s a lot less than others had originally projected, but in today’s dollars, that would be a whopping $1.5 billion!
The Golden Gate Bridge spans 1.7 miles and connects San Francisco to Marin County. Construction began in January of 1933 and was open to automobile traffic in May of 1937. Today, the Golden Gate Bridge is known worldwide. It is a symbol of San Francisco, the City by the Bay. About 112,000 cars pass over the bridge every day!
Why is it called the Golden Gate Bridge?
Despite its orange color, the structure was named the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s named for the Golden Gate Strait, the stretch of water below the bridge that links the Pacific Ocean to the San Francisco Bay.
Why is the Golden Gate Bridge orange instead of gold?
Even though the bridge was named for the strait and not its color, it would make sense to paint it gold, right? Gold would be pretty, but not practical.
Originally the creators intended to paint the bridge blue and yellow so that it would be easily visible in the San Francisco fog. When the Golden Gate Bridge was painted orange with primer paint, however, it was decided that orange was even easier to see and more attractive. So, the orange stuck. The bridge’s official color is international orange.
How many people died building the Golden Gate Bridge?
Building the Golden Gate Bridge was no small feat. Fog and slippery steel beams made building the bridge particularly dangerous. A safety net was installed below the bridge, which saved the lives of 19 workers, who became known as the Half Way to Hell Club. Despite this safety precaution, sadly 11 builders were not so lucky and died during the construction of the landmark bridge.
Learn More About San Francisco
Now that you’ve learned how long it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge, I bet you want to see it in-person in San Francisco!
Beyond the bridge, San Francisco boasts some of the world’s best restaurants and the biggest Chinatown on the planet. From the massive Golden Gate Park and the world’s crookedest street, to the famous Pier 39 and Alcatraz Island, there’s much to explore in San Francisco.
Got a Star Wars fan or comics lover in the family? Then you’ll want to read our geek’s guide to San Francisco before you go!
A great hotel is a must for your San Francisco vacation! For a charming hotel with a French accent in the heart of San Francisco, read our review of Hotel de Cornell.
San Francisco is one of the best destinations in California. Discover other fabulous California vacation destinations now!
More Travel Trivia
Do you love learning facts about the world? Then, you’ll love checking out more of our travel trivia questions! Test your global knowledge with the questions below.
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Have you ever seen the Golden Gate Bridge in person? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!
Such a fun fact about the bridge color. I’m a native to CA and didn’t know this about the color choice for the bridge.
I love finding out these little tidbits about destinations!
I had no idea of this extensive history of the Golden Gate Bridge and I have traveled to San Francisco several times. I can’t wait to travel again!
I hope you can return to San Francisco when it’s safer to travel again!
This was a cool post! I guessed 12 years, lol. And now I want to know why the Golden Gate Strait is so named, lol. I end up going down these rabbit holes all the time!
According to Wikipedia, “In his memoirs, John C. Frémont wrote, “To this Gate I gave the name of ‘Chrysopylae’, or ‘Golden Gate’; for the same reasons that the harbor of Byzantium was called Chrysoceras, or Golden Horn.”[6] He went on to comment that the strait was “a golden gate to trade with the Orient.” So there you have it! 🙂
Yellow and blue would have looked so strange! Maybe because we are so used to the orange. Much classier this way, I say! I’m imagining trying to navigate my car down that street, wow. Thanks for the good read.
Ha! If you ever go to San Francisco, you must drive down Lombard Street! We did it when our kids were little and we had to go twice in a row because they thought it was so fun!
This architecture is so stunning we absolutely love it and it was so fun learning about it more through this post! And gosh that crooked street in San Fran, truly a phenomena!
So much character in San Francisco – truly a unique U.S. city!
san fran is amazing. i thought it would have taken longer to build that. such a beautiful bridge.
People always seem to think the Golden Gate Bridge took much longer to build!
Great tidbits on the bridge. I didn’t know people lost their lives building this and I never thought about why it was called The Golden Gate Bridge but it’s orange.
I love learning these interesting little tidbits about our world!
Such great trivia for one of my favorite bridges in the world. Love driving across this bridge when I visit San Francisco
Crossing this bridge always feels special to me, too!
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge is something I haven’t seen yet. I hope to see it soon. It looks so nice!
So amazing to see in-person!
Very interesting, thank you!
Its such a beautiful bridge and one of my favorite! I love the color and am glad they stuck with orange. It truly is an interesting history and I’m so glad you shared it because I didn’t know any of that!
Kileen
I love the orange color, too!
what a fun post. i visited san francisco when i was in middle school. it’s amazing to think of how the bridge was built across water.
Quite the difficult endeavor, for sure!
This was such a great read! I’ve always loved the sheer scope of that bridge. I never really knew anything about it, though.
I grew up in San Jose, so I went to San Fran many times. The Golden Gate bridge is pretty spectacular!! It is so fun driving across or walking across it.
Agreed! I have driven across the Golden Gate Bridge several times and it always feel like a “pinch me” moment!
Such fun trivia! I never knew any of this information, great post!
My whole family is filled with trivia nuts so I love researching and writing these trivia questions. Glad you enjoyed!