Opened in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge spans the mile-wide strait between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. When it opened, it was the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 4,200 feet and towers rising 746 feet.
Joseph Strauss led the project as chief engineer. Leon Moisseiff developed the structural design, which let a slender roadway flex in the wind, and Charles Ellis did much of the engineering. The architect Irving Morrow shaped its Art Deco towers, streetlights and railings, and chose its famous International Orange color. The Navy had suggested black and yellow stripes.
Frommer's travel guide calls it "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." People can walk or bike across it on its sidewalks.
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