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KF5JRV > TODAY 05.01.19 13:43l 49 Lines 2353 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 28695_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 05
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<VE2PKT<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190105/1235Z 28695@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.17
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 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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