Ej Knapp

Secrets of the Golden Gate Bridge Ej Knapp

From the gigantic shell mounds built by the earliest inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay area to the building of the 'bridge that couldn't be built' and the fifty years following its completion, Secrets of the Golden Gate Bridge is a humorous history lesson of one of the greatest wonders of the modern world. There is something magical about the Golden Gate Bridge, something that tugs at the impulsive spirit, giving birth to the hidden desire to do something weird. On May 27th, 1937, 18,000 people waited in the cool San Francisco morning for the bridge to officially open. By day's end, 200,000 had walked, crawled, run, danced, skipped, jumped, hopped, and sat on every square inch of the new bridge. And the weirdness didn't end that day. For the next 50 years, the bridge has seen all manner of stunt performed over its span. Parachuting off the towers, bungee jumping off the side, scaling the suspension cables dressed in monkey suits, and yes, ending one's life, the bridge has seen it all. It even has its own ghost. Enjoy facts, figures and comparisons? You'll find them here. If all the rivets needed for construction of the Golden Gate Bridge were placed head to toe, they would form an enormous serpent 37 miles in length. It would take 106 Bactrian camels, each standing upon the humps of the one below, to equal the height of one of the towers. And within those seemingly solid towers, the weight of which is equal to the weight of 114 747 jumbo jets, you would find 23 miles worth of ladders connecting you over 90 different routes. It required a 26-page manual just to navigate the maze.