Characteristics

• Connects San Francisco and Marin County
• Built during the Great Depression
• Before being built it was thought to be impossible to build
• Commonly know as the "Bridge that couldn't be built"
• Construction began on January 5, 1933
• Took about four years to build
• Completed on May 27, 1937
• Total cost: $35 million
• Length of bridge is 1.2 miles
• Takes about an hour to walk across
• Eleven men died during construction
• The two towers are 746 feet tall
• Distance between the two towers is 4200 feet

Technology

• Thought to be impossible to build because of 60 mile-per-hour winds, strong ocean currents, and foggy weather
• Able to sway 27 feet to hold up against winds of up to 100 miles per hour
• The two cables have 80,000 miles of steel wire; enough to circle the equator three times
• The amount of concrete used for the deck is enough to pave a five foot sidewalk from New York to San Francisco
• The two cables of the bridge are the largest ever made (over 361 feet in diameter)

Wonder Qualities

• Longest suspension bridge in the world
• Once thought to be impossible

• Had to overcome harsh natural elements to build