What I saw:
The Golden Gate Bridge is a breathtaking marvel of modern
ingenuity. The tall dual towers that
create the suspension bridge were elaborately detailed in geometric
shapes. The sweeping cables that create
the suspension appeared more massive than I had anticipated from the
photo’s. The larger upper cable was
almost 3 feet in diameter. The massive
towers were supported by intermediate braces that were proportioned with a
larger gap towards the bottom, and a smaller gap towards the top. This helped reinforce a sense of height when
viewed from below.
What I learned:
Though I had previously researched the golden gate bridge,
there were a few points that I learned while on the tour. First, I hadn’t realized the immense
opposition the building of the bridge faced when originally proposed to the
people of San Francisco. The bridge took
over 10 years to plan, due to political scandals and high opposition from skeptics. The bridge was completed regardless, and
resulted in the towers being (at the time) the highest structure in San
Francisco.
What I appreciated most:
After hearing the tour, I found that I had a new found
appreciation for the amount of engineering and planning that went into building
this bridge. The massive undertaking to
create this bridge was revolutionary for the time. Plus the amount of resistance the bridge
received from politicians was also surprising.
I didn’t realize the immense effort that went into creating this unique
feature.
Teachers note for future trip:
The parking was atrocious (as the website stated prior to
coming). Public transportation was not
actually helpful, as coming in across BART it required 3 additional transfers
to reach the welcome center. However,
there were these bus tours that had convenient pick-up locations just off of
BART, and went to not only the Golden Gate Bridge, but many of the other sites
that were listed on the site visit. For
future tours, I plan to book a Bus tour, which gave not only a lot of the same
architectural/background information on the tours, but required no transfers,
tolls, or finding parking/navigating the city.
Images:
Overall View:
This is a view from the far end of the bridge before we began our tour. You can see the shadow of the bridge and the shape of the towers.
Picture #1
This photo shows an enlarged detail of the corner cross braces on the towers. The tiered braces are an example of Art Deco style detailing as well as the pyramid shape protrusions across the horizontal members of the towers.
Picture #2
Here is another view of those same pyramid shapes (I realized that there are only so many photo's and sketches you can include of such a simple structure).
Picture #3
I thought this photo was interesting because it showed the wear and tear on a bridge due to the weathering of the environment. You can see the slight oxidation on the corner, as well as dark lines where the paint is wearing and chipping.
Picture #4
This is a view of the bridge midway across the span. I enjoy this photo because it shows the scale of the suspension cables in comparison with the people below them. Also, you can see the city scape in the background, and Alcatraz to the far left.
Picture #5
This photo also shows the weathering along the backside of the cross members. Also due to the lighting on the photo, it emphasizes the shape of the tower and the detailing on the support members.
This is a view from the far end of the bridge before we began our tour. You can see the shadow of the bridge and the shape of the towers.
Picture #1
This photo shows an enlarged detail of the corner cross braces on the towers. The tiered braces are an example of Art Deco style detailing as well as the pyramid shape protrusions across the horizontal members of the towers.
Picture #2
Here is another view of those same pyramid shapes (I realized that there are only so many photo's and sketches you can include of such a simple structure).
Picture #3
I thought this photo was interesting because it showed the wear and tear on a bridge due to the weathering of the environment. You can see the slight oxidation on the corner, as well as dark lines where the paint is wearing and chipping.
Picture #4
This is a view of the bridge midway across the span. I enjoy this photo because it shows the scale of the suspension cables in comparison with the people below them. Also, you can see the city scape in the background, and Alcatraz to the far left.
Picture #5
This photo also shows the weathering along the backside of the cross members. Also due to the lighting on the photo, it emphasizes the shape of the tower and the detailing on the support members.
Sketches:
Sketch #1
This is a quick sketch a side view of the bridge from the walking side. You can see how massive the cable is in relation to everything else.
Sketch #2
This sketch is of the bridge from further away.
Sketch #3
This sketch is a close up detail of the bridge tower
Sketch #4
And another view of the tower (I realized there really isn't a lot of different views you can get of this bridge).
Handouts and Flyers:
Because this was a free tour offered by San Francisco City Guide there were no flyers or handouts provided.
