March 12, 2010

Right there in my face


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

One of the great things I found about exploring Fort Point is that the Golden Gate Bridge was right there in my face.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Now, these are bolts -- and a lot of bolts indeed -- but mostly they used rivets in assembling the bridge.

Bridge facts:

Number of rivets used in each tower = 600,000.

Total length of bridge = 1.7 miles (8,981 feet).

Middle span = 4,200 feet.

Width = 90 feet.

Clearance above high water = 220 feet.

Tower height = 746 feet.

Steel Facts:   Made in New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania and shipped through the Panama Canal.   Total weight of steel: 83,000 tons.

Cable Facts:   Two main cables pass over the tops of the main towers and are secured in concrete anchorages at each end. Each cable is made of 27,572 strands of wire. There are 80,000 miles of wire in the two main cables, and it took over six months to spin them.

Cable diameter (including wrapping) = 36 3/8 inches.

Cable length (one) = 7,260 feet.




click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

I imagine the draftsman who drew up the bolt hold patterns went home cross-eyed at the end of the day...


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3 comments:

photowannabe said...

My Hubby's Dad collected several footlockers full of rivets that were dropped into the Fort when they were being replaced many, many years ago. It was before the Fort was opened to the public and was still under Army care.
Now some of those are in our possession. They were the original rivets from the construction of the Bridge.

AphotoAday said...

HI PH-WANNABE SUE,
What a treasure the rivets must be... Hope your Father-In-Law was wearing a hard-hat...

Tomate Farcie said...

wow.. FRESH PAINT!!! Amazing color and not even a drop of fog!

 
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