Facts & Figures About the Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge was built in just over four years, with construction beginning on January 5, 1933, and the bridge opening to vehicular traffic on May 29, 1937. It cost $35 million in the 1930s, about $1.5 billion in 2016 dollars. Its name comes not from its color but from the Golden Gate Strait, the entrance to San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. When completed in 1937, it held world records for the longest bridge span at 4,200 feet and for the tallest towers. The towers rise 746 feet above the water and 500 feet above the roadway. The suspension span, including the main and side spans, is 1.2 miles long, and the total length including approaches is 1.7 miles. The bridge is 90 feet wide and weighs 840 million pounds without its concrete anchorages, making it heavier than the Empire State Building. Each main cable is 36 3/8 inches in diameter and 7,650 feet long, and each contains 27,572 wires; if joined into one continuous length, the wires could wrap around the earth more than three times. Traffic jams are rare because the Bridge District added ferry service in 1970 and bus service in 1972. Each year, 40 million vehicles cross the bridge, two-and-one-half million passengers travel by ferry, and over 6 million ride the buses.

San Francisco, California · United States