The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula—to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. It also carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and is designated as part of U.S. Bicycle Route 95. Recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Wonders of the Modern World, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and California.
View from the Presidio of San Francisco, 2017
South tower seen from walkway, with Art Deco elements
Below Golden Gate Bridge
Panorama of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset, as seen from just north of Alcatraz Island
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world.
The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge on the Dardanelles strait in Turkey, connecting Europe and Asia, is the longest suspension bridge in the world.
The double-decked George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City to Bergen County, New Jersey, is the world's busiest suspension bridge, carrying 106 million vehicles annually.
Chushul Chakzam, one of Thangtong Gyalpo's chain bridges, in 1904
The wooden 1808 Burr Suspension Bridge in Schenectady, NY, USA, during demolition in 1871, showing wooden cables. Spans of 160, 190, 180 and 157 feet on 3 piers began to sag, and 4 supporting piers were added in 1833 making 8 spans.
