Golden Gate Bridge: The Epic Tale of One of the World’s Famous Suspension Bridge

«Its titanic towers grip the ocean floor. Its great steel arms stretch from one shore to the other. The monumental task is done!». Joseph B. Strauss had the whole world against him. Today – 88 years later – those words spoken by the engineer, the “father” of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, at the inauguration of one of the world’s most ​​famous suspension bridges, resound like an anthem to courage and vision.

When in 1930 Strauss presented the project for the suspension bridge that would connect San Francisco to Marin County, it was met with scepticism, mockery and open hostility. They told him it was impossible, that the winds and currents of the Pacific Ocean would tear down any structure, that the cost was too high, that it would be pointless. From the very outset the engineer seemed to have everyone against him – citizens, institutions, and vested interests alike.

Criticism of the San Francisco bridge’s project was fierce.

The ferry companies, which controlled transport across the bay, feared losing their monopoly and did everything possible to block the scheme. At first, they launched anti-bridge advertising campaigns, raising doubts about its safety. Then – failing to halt the project’s progress – they waged a long legal battle with 2,307 complaints and appeals, culminating in an appeal to the Supreme Court.

In the end, however, the judges sided with the designers, and the Southern Pacific-Golden Gate Ferries (the company that controlled ferry transit across the bay) had no choice but to back down.

This entrenched hostility was not the only obstacle the bridge’s supporters had to overcome. Many argued that the work was technically unbuildable, especially given the area’s harsh weather conditions.

To the sceptics were added the environmental groups, who denounced the impact on the landscape, marine ecosystems and bird flight paths. Even the military opposed it, convinced that the bridge could become a prime target in the event of war.

In short, many kept repeating the same line: «It will never happen!».

The Golden Gate Bridge project seemed destined to remain the wild idea of a builder and a tiny group of backers. Not least because America was in the depths of the Great Depression and it was certainly not easy to find the 35 million dollars with which Strauss promised to build the bridge, against opposing estimates that topped 100 million.

Yet, true to the unwritten rules that fuelled the American dream – and despite fierce opposition – the banks announced they were willing to finance the project, on one condition: citizens would have to subscribe to a bond that in practice meant putting their houses, workshops and farms on the line.

At that point, all the forces opposed to the scheme joined together in the “Taxpayers Committee against the Golden Gate”, and the city authorities decided that the only solution was to let the people have the final say.

A referendum was therefore called, and on 4 November 1930 the voters of the six counties affected by the bridge were asked whether they were willing to mortgage their homes to build the infrastructure. When the votes were counted, the “yes” side won with 145,000 votes against 46,000 “no”. The famous bridge would be built with private funds, guaranteed by the citizens through bonds that were not paid off until 1971.

Work began on 5 January 1933, following a project that broke one record after another.

The longest suspension bridge in the world, with a total length of 2,737 metres and a central span of 1,280 metres. Not to mention the unprecedented height of its towers (227 metres above the water), the width of 27 metres, its weight (382 million kilos, excluding the concrete anchorages, heavier than the Empire State Building).

And still, the length of the main cable (2,332 metres) and the make-up of each cable, consisting of 27,572 wires which, if laid end to end, would wrap around the Earth more than three times.

The gigantic structure, painted “International Orange” – the Golden Gate Bridge color inspired by the first anti-rust primer used to protect the steel plates – has become an icon. According to the 2024 report of the National Park Service, the San Francisco bridge was visited by 15 million people, generating revenues of 1.5 billion dollars, supporting 13,150 jobs in the area, and producing economic benefits worth 2 billion for the local communities. To these figures must be added more than 150 million dollars from the tolls of the 40 million vehicles that cross the bridge every year, more than 110,000 a day.

The entire area around the Golden Gate – the old name of the bay spanned by the suspension bridge – has grown over the years with tourism that now places it among the world’s top destinations, and the leading tourist attraction in California.

According to data from the “Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District”, in addition to vehicle traffic on the famous bridge, ferries carried more than two and a half million passengers in 2024, while another 6 million passengers used buses to reach the bridge.

Today no one doubts that the structure once written off as impossible has turned out to be one of the best infrastructure investments in American history. Looking back at the story of the Golden Gate Bridge construction, it is impossible not to draw a parallel with the Strait of Messina and the bridge that Webuild is preparing to build.

Faced with the design of major, complex works, the instinct is always to hesitate – unless courage and vision prevail – and in the case of the Golden Gate, the example shows how building the impossible means turning scepticism into progress, limits into opportunities, and a dream into lasting benefit.