The Golden Gate: San Francisco's Iconic Bridge 

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Fun Fact: The Golden Gate Bridge has it's own police force. They are public officers pursuant to California Penal Code Section 836.5. While not peace officers, they do have the authority to enforce laws that are classified as infractions and misdemeanors on bridge property while on duty. Additionally, they may detain arrested person for the California Highway Patrol or local law enforcment with the immunity of a public officer. They also have the authority to operate vehicles with red emergency lights pursuant to the Vehcile Code. While not full peace officers they do posses more authority than a private security officer or a private person (citizen arrest Penal Code Section 837). They are armed and must complete California Penal Code Section 832 training (arrest, search and seizure) and related firearm training.

There's a clever traffic management system on this bridge that extends onto the roads at either end, they rearrange the direction of the lanes at rush hour so there's four lanes going with the commute and two going against it, separated by a row of concrete dividers. Which means they need to move the dividers twice a day. There's a specialist vehicle that does this, it rolls along like a zipper moving the lane dividers over as it drives.

I was in San Francisco in 1984 and it’s one of my favourite cities. I haven’t driven over the Golden Gate but have sailed underneath it on a cruise of the bay. It’s a magnificent bridge and expansive.

Hello Simon, 50 seconds into the video you have the wrong footage, it is the '25 de Abril' bridge in Lisbon, Portugal, not the Golden Gate bridge! Believe me, I live near Lisbon and have been across hundreds of times. Cheers

Continuing S.F. Bay Area connection; how about cable powered street railroads(cable cars) as a mega or side project. Other GG trivia: BART's original plan was to put tracks under the deck to reach Marin. The bridge killed the Marin ferries and commuter trains, only to bring back the ferries in the 70/80's due to the traffic problems on the Bridge. And now a rail connection to the ferries is being built!

New York City aqueduct system!! The original Croton Aqueduct and all of the update reservoirs that are integral in supplying water to NYC.

So, this guy is a live version of Wikipedia.

I have travelled under that bridge several times still amazing every time.

The one megaproject I've been asking for. This is exciting! Thanks Simon!

Simon mentioned concern about the GG bridge rippling in high winds, as the Tacoma Narrow bridge did. I can attest that was NOT an issue in 1983, when the bridge was closed due to 75 mph (120 kph) winds. I lived in S.F. at the time. While the bridge was closed to vehicles, they didn't think to close the pedestrian gates. With some effort, I walked on (bicycle in tow) to the west (upwind) side, close to the south (S.F.) tower. From there, I looked at the span - YAY! - NO VISIBLE SWAYING!!! Also, one of the CalTrans trucks drove across without any 'squirrelly' motions. Upon walking back off, I finally heard through the roar a speaker on a light post "You with the bicycle, for the last time, get off of the bridge". I waved towards the station to acknowledge receipt. One saving grace for 'walking' was that the wind was constant - no gusting at varying speeds or changing direction.

Nice to see several clips of the "25 de Abril" bridge in Lisbon (Portugal) which is similar to the Golden Gate (check it at 8:37), but the towers are different :-)

You keep showing another orange bridge that ain’t the GGB.

0:52 oh I love this. That's the 25th of April bridge in Lisbon!! 😂 Although it was built by the same company if I'm not mistaken. That's why they took so similar

8:38 is not the golden gate, and it appeared before in the video

Your next bridge video should be “Big Mac” (the Mackinac bridge in Michigan).

After a 13 hour flight across the Pacific, it's always nice to see the Golden Gate come into sight

The biggest problem was actually getting the support columns built. The wooden coffer dams that were put in place to help keep things dry would be eaten through, then rotted through, by bugs and the extreme salinity of the water. Not to mention the extreme speed of the water at all times. But they obviously figured that out. The other thing that you didn't mention was that the bridge has been profitable since opening. The original building cost and the cost of all renovations has been covered by the tolls required to use the bridge. It has never stayed in debt. Which is pretty awesome!

While on the subject of bridges, have you considered doing the Mackinaw Bridge connecting the lower and upper peninsula of Michigan?

On the west coast you should do the Los Angeles river. I find the manmade channels fascinating, and it certainly was a huge undertaking.

Are we sure that's the Golden Gate? Isn't it supposed to be getting destroyed by monsters, mutants, armies of apes, or aliens? I can't recognize it!

Thanks Simon for this episode. I'm a local and this bridge takes my breath away every time I see it.

You forgot to mention how it was redesigned once just to avoid having to demolish the old military base below it on the San Francisco side of the bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is an architectural icon of the Western United States. You should consider doing a piece on the Grand Coulee Dam and associated irrigation systems! It makes Hoover look like a toy! And they have a laser light show on the side of the dam every night during the summer months!

I've crossed the Golden Gate bridge three times in my life time. June 2017, I drove my Convertible Mustang Gt from Toledo to Big Basin state park. And in January 2020, I drove a rented 2019 Mustang Gt premium and went to Alcatraz island and dinner at Pier 39 with my mom and uncle. Plus it was my mom's 70th birthday and as we were there in California, we stopped at Lake Tahoe, Muir woods, California state railroad museum in Sacramento and Yosemite national park. Plus she reconnected with her 2 brothers and met 2 nieces and a great niece the she never met before. Also,the picture next to my comments is me at a Metallica show in Denver a week before I went to San Francisco in June of 2017.

Great video. Thanks for doing this 👍🏿

When I was a kid, I got to go over the Golden Gate a few times in the family car. I always loved when we did. The bridge is beautiful, and the view from the bridge is fantastic.

Been asking for this for months. Thank you so much!

No mention of the Humber Bridge?.. Time for a whole video on it!

I love my city! San Francisco definitely has it's challenges, but it's a wonderful place to live.

I have actually met someone who tried to kill himself by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. You should have also made mention of the fact that so many pedestrians walked on the bridge during the 50th anniversary that the arch of the deck flattened out.

The documentary "The Bridge" is both haunting and fascinating.

The walk across the bridge is a really nice thing to do while visiting SF, as long as the weather doesn’t suck.

Very interesting! As always!

I live in Marin..... Totally glad to see this video. Simon, only you can do justice to things like this.. Some sad stuff to it, some inspirational stuff.. Just an all around well put together presentation. Thank you for covering our beloved icon of The Golden Land. 💛

Mega project idea. The mackinac bridge. For those who don't know. It links Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas and marks the divide between lakes Michigan and Huron. No other bridge can be mistaken for it. Unlike the two different bridges featured in this video.

Hey Simon, a video about the standard model would be awesome and very interesting! It might not be an insane structure or cold war project, but it sure is a mega project!

There used to be an officer who ttried preventing suicides by talking to people, and he saved lives on this bridge. He's retired, but I like to think until the prevention net goes up there'sd another cop, a successor, who talks to people and helps them decide to live.

As a side project episode, could you perhaps cover the efforts made to preserve Fort Point? It’s the old civil war fort located underneath The Golden Gate Bridge, and is the oldest stone and brick fortification on the western half of the US. Or perhaps as a mega projects episode, you could cover the San Francisco fortification network, first US city to receive 16in artillery for harbor defense in the late 1930s

One drawback of building the bridge was the electric suburban railway in Marin closed. Only recently was the section north of central Marin rebuilt but they run diesel trains from Japan. A design flaw with the GGB was no center divider. I hydroplaned into oncoming traffic and was ejected into the center closed lane and skidded down the road after busting out the door and driver window. The metal connector under the tower started the slide and the roadway is wide and flat with lousy drainage.

Great video about a beautiful structure.

It’s been a long time coming for this project to get its well deserved video cause I always adored this fine piece of human project

Awesome video about a really fantastic place!!! always loved the bridge since seeing it in James Bond 'a view to a kill' - was lucky enough to visit the bridge back in 2016 and again in 2019! Great stuff

"ma-RIN" county. not "mare in".

I’ve crossed the Golden Gate Bridge over 30 times as I used to have relatives who lived in Sausalito but have now moved to other parts of the US. I also went to San Francisco on recreational visits to see the San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants play. The GG is an absolutely spectacular piece of engineering and to cross it when thick fog covers it is always creepy but fun.

You kept showing the 25th of April bridge in Lisbon and the golden gate bridge interchangeably, what the hell Simon?

Please do a video on the interstate highways

Thanks Simon

Excellent video. Very well done. Could you do a video on the Brooklyn Bridge?

As already some people realised, there are some false pictures in this video. You should do better research with your picture material. Sometimes the bridge shown is not the Golden Gate. It's a bridge in Lisbon, Portugal.

The San Francisco Bridge truly is a work of art. It also feels alive when you walk across it.

Thank you simon!

I suggested this Megaproject months ago.. and here it is, you rock!

Surely the Sydney Harbour bridge or the Sydney opera house is next! Both megaprojects marvels!!

another great mega projects video, would love to see an episode on the confederation bridge connecting PEI and NB canada

On holiday in the US back in the early 90's, driving over the Golden Gate Bridge during sunset, is one of those images you never forget.

Subjects for videos on MegaProjects or SideProjects : Québec City's Château Frontenac, bled as the world's most photographed hotel. Québec bridge. Completed in 1917, it's STILL the longest cantilever bridge. It collapsed twice during construction. Montréal's Olympic stadium, with its inclined tower at a 45° angle. Québec's hydroelectric power system. Almost 100% of our power comes from dams. In Summer, we even sell electricity to Ontario and Northern New-England.

Excellent, now I have to visit

Yo, y'all showed Lisbon a bunch of times already ahah

Simon, how about another Cold War weapon project idea: The Peacekeeper Rail Garrison (could even touch on the Soviet counterpart).

well done

Simon another bridge that might be worth looking at is the bridge across the mouth of the Columbia River between State of Washington and Oregon. I can attest to the hair-raising nature of going across it in storm conditions.

My wife and I were born and live in Marin. We never heard the humming sound, during periods of high wind, until recently. Thank you for solving the mysterious sounds we heard from the Marin Headlands.

I would love to see a video about the Royal Gorge Bridge, a suspension bridge just outside of Canon City, Colorado. It is the highest suspension bridge in the United States. It may not count for a mega project, but definitely a side project.

0:49 this is the 25th of April bridge in Lisbon. was inspired by the Golden Gate. when it opened, it was called Salazar bridge (the Portuguese dictator).

G'day Simon, love your work. Any chance of a mega or side project on the "West gate bridge" in Melbourne Australia? Its massive and collapsed during construction 50 odd years ago. Still got finished and is used every day.

The Mackinac Bridge is another large bridge that took the engineering of the time to the next level.

Awesome beautiful bridge. Can you do the Mackinaw bridge?

When the bridge was closed to traffic in 1982 because of winds of 115 km/hr (71mph), I snuck on to the bridge via. the western pedestrian footpath. I reached the tower on the S.F. side, explicitly to see if it was swaying in any manner resembling the Tacoma Narrows bridge. It was rock solid - no visible swaying. On leaving the bridge, I passed a speaker. The bridge control station had probably been telling me to get off the bridge for quite some time. But it was only when next to the pole with the speaker that I heard them and gestured a 'thumbs up'. The traffic was closed in part because there would have been a MESS of accidents, especially because at the time, there were no dividers between oncoming traffic.

@12:42 Leon Moisseiff designed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (a.k.a. Galloping Gertie). Joseph Strauss was only a consultant.

The St Louis arch, gotta cover the center of the US

Thanks

Another very interesting topic is the military fort that sits under the bridge Fort Point. It has a very interesting history and is impressively massive in person it looks small next to the bridge but very easy to get lost in there.

I'm Just commenting to support Simon in the algorithm.

Nice video, have not visited the "City" in decades. Glad they decided to paint it orange, aesthetically pleasing and probably better all around visibility (when that fog and mist, blankets the bay) . The safety nets to prevent suicides are long over due. A somewhat morbid psychological study was done on whether jumpers face towards the city or away (back turned) from the city when they take that jump. Although some jumpers have survived , the fall on impact and the extremely cold water are a deadly combination. I think much of the painting and maintenance of the the bridge is a ongoing perpetual project. It use to be people could walk/bicycle across the bridge (for free, using the pedestrian walkway) , but motor vehicles were charged a toll fee (not sure how it is today).

Do the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere, the Mackinac Bridge!

I was born and raised in Roebling, NJ. USA.. That town was the home of the steel mill of John A. Roebling, the engineer who designed braided cables that built 49 major suspension bridges in the United States.. I think he should get some of the credit here.. (I guess coming from that town with a steel mill in my backyard makes me opinionated) :)

Walking or cycling across the GGB is one of life's sublime pleasures. It is utterly, thrillingly gorgeous.

You should do a video on the lake tyee - swan lake transmission line in Alaska, incredibly impressive and mind blowing

Simon, look into the Machinac Bridge in Michigan. If it’s not Mega enough it’s definitely side project material

Well according to the most recent star trek series the bridge is still standing strong in the 32th century

One of my favorite memories is being on the bridge at its 50th anniversary celehration in 1987. I plan to be back at its centenary in 2037.

Good video 👍

At 00:50 you included a picture of the 25 de Avril Bridge which is on the other side of the planet, in Portugal.

Simon how about doing a megaproject on nuclear fusion and the unbelievably long time its taken to get even the prototype nuclear fusion reactor that is ITER working?

this guy has more channels than strands of hair on his head

Depending on how you categorize the venues, the GGB is second in the world for overall suicides. Nevertheless, it is a tragic venue, and the efforts of people trying to intervene in suspected suicide attempts is an amazing and moving story. One of the most famous people doing this was retired CHP officer Kevin Briggs. He is often called the Guardian of the Golden Gate. His story and the resulting development of suicide prevention efforts on the bridge that grew out of his efforts would be a good video for one of Simon's other channels.

Great shirt Simon. I think I have one like it but it has pearl snaps.

It’s beautiful and it does blend in with the natural beauty of the strait btw SF and The Marin Headlands. And sometimes the fog floats in under the roadways.

The Astoria and Mackinaw bridges are amazing too.

I found a YT video a few years ago that showed the construction done by Bethlehem Steel. The video (movie, then) was produced by Bethlehem for PR. Every piece in that bridge was made in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and transported by ship through the Panama Canal to San Francisco.

Please make videos on the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridge!

Marin = Mah-WREN, say the "wren" like a bird. One of my personal bests was riding my bike from my house in the Richmond District over the GG Bridge to Sausalito and taking the Ferry Home. I did this at 55, and rode my bike from the Ferry in SF home. It took me 5 hours. I also was on the GG Bridge for it's 50th year celebration. That was scary, I don't know how many people were there, thousand and thousand. Everybody stayed pretty calm. Oh and I was driving across the GG Bridge in the 1989 quake.. true story. A car behind me rear ended me because of the wobble. We didn't know until we got to the Toll booths what was happening.

I think the Royal Gorge bridge would make a great Megaproject!! I live in Colorado and have been there many times with visiting relatives. It's the highest suspension bridge in the world.

Love the Megaprojects channel. Can you do an episode about Georges-Eugène Haussmann who designed the massive urban renovation program in Paris.

Count the number of shots that are actually the 25 de Abril bridge :) It is easy to identify: the Golden Gate bridge connects the columns with an H, the 25 de Abril bridge does an X.

Kudos, atlast a mega project on megaprojects!

OMG the echooooo!

Mackinac Bridge - we need one one this!

Fun fact: the foghorn at center span draws ships to the center, rather that telling ships to stay away... and its MA-RIN... my old home county!! Good stuff!!