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The idea of a fixed link between San Francisco and Marin had gained increasing popularity during the late 19th century, but it was not until the early 20th century that such a link became feasible. Joseph Strauss served as chief engineer for the project, with Leon Moisseiff, Irving Morrow and Charles Ellis making significant contributions to its design. The bridge opened to the public on May 27, 1937, and has undergone various retrofits and other improvement projects in the decades since.
Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. A ferry service began as early as 1820, with a regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s for the purpose of transporting water to San Francisco.
In 1867, the Sausalito Land and Ferry Company opened. In 1920, the service was taken over by the Golden Gate Ferry Company, which merged in 1929 with the ferry system of the Southern Pacific Railroad, becoming the Southern Pacific-Golden Gate Ferries, Ltd., the largest ferry operation in the world. Once for railroad passengers and customers only, Southern Pacific's automobile ferries became very profitable and important to the regional economy.The ferry crossing between the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco and Sausalito Ferry Terminal in Marin County took approximately 20 minutes and cost $1.00 per vehicle prior to 1937, when the price was reduced to compete with the new bridge.The trip from the San Francisco Ferry Building took 27 minutes.
Many wanted to build a bridge to connect San Francisco to Marin County. San Francisco was the largest American city still served primarily by ferry boats. Because it did not have a permanent link with communities around the bay, the city's growth rate was below the national average. Many experts said that a bridge could not be built across the 6,700-foot (2,000-metre) strait, which had strong, swirling tides and currents, with water 372 ft (113 m) deep at the center of the channel, and frequent strong winds. Experts said that ferocious winds and blinding fogs would prevent construction and operation.
Conception
Golden Gate with Fort Point in foreground, c. 1891
Although the idea of a bridge spanning the Golden Gate was not new, the proposal that eventually took hold was made in a 1916 San Francisco Bulletin article by former engineering student James Wilkins. San Francisco's City Engineer estimated the cost at $100 million (equivalent to $2.8 billion in 2023), and impractical for the time. He asked bridge engineers whether it could be built for less.[12] One who responded, Joseph Strauss, was an ambitious engineer and poet who had, for his graduate thesis, designed a 55-mile-long (89 km) railroad bridge across the Bering Strait. At the time, Strauss had completed some 400 drawbridges—most of which were inland—and nothing on the scale of the new project.[Strauss's initial drawings were for a massive cantilever on each side of the strait, connected by a central suspension segment, which Strauss promised could be built for $17 million (equivalent to $476 million in 2023).
A suspension-bridge design was chosen, using recent advances in bridge design and metallurgy.[
Strauss spent more than a decade drumming up support in Northern California.[22] The bridge faced opposition, including litigation, from many sources. The Department of War was concerned that the bridge would interfere with ship traffic. The US Navy feared that a ship collision or sabotage to the bridge could block the entrance to one of its main harbors. Unions demanded guarantees that local workers would be favored for construction jobs. Southern Pacific Railroad, one of the most powerful business interests in California, opposed the bridge as competition to its ferry fleet and filed a lawsuit against the project, leading to a mass boycott of the ferry service.
In May 1924, Colonel Herbert Deakyne held the second hearing on the Bridge on behalf of the Secretary of War in a request to use federal land for construction. Deakyne, on behalf of the Secretary of War, approved the transfer of land needed for the bridge structure and leading roads to the "Bridging the Golden Gate Association" and both San Francisco County and Marin County, pending further bridge plans by Strauss.[23] Another ally was the fledgling automobile industry, which supported the development of roads and bridges to increase demand for automobiles.
The bridge's name was first used when the project was initially discussed in 1917 by M.M. O'Shaughnessy, city engineer of San Francisco, and Strauss. The name became official with the passage of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District Act by the state legislature in 1923, creating a special district to design, build and finance the bridge.San Francisco and most of the counties along the North Coast of California joined the Golden Gate Bridge District, with the exception being Humboldt County, whose residents opposed the bridge's construction and the traffic it would generate.
This giant engineer is made entirely of abandoned things. His motorized hand gently swings his red lantern to signal, "all-aboard!" Rusting, useless pieces, each with their own past, joined together to form something new, more than the sum of its parts. It is a gift to see more than bits and shapes, and to find a way to encourage new life out of the most forgotten things!
An engineers train (battery loco) passes through Euston Square Eastbound platform after the passage of the last passenger train.
Proclamation for Engineer's Week with Governor Kelly Armstrong in his office at the ND State Capitol Building
University of Florida Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering's graduate spring visit at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.
The Delaware Army National Guard's 160th Engineer Company hosted their annual training at Fort Drum, New York where they participated in weapon qualifications with both rifle marksmanship skills and crew-served weapons alongside their New Hampshire detachment. Following weapon qualifications the 160th left their mark by aiding in construction operations by creating a N.V.G. (Night Vision Goggle) training site that will aid units for future training at Fort Drum.
Alongside training in the field, the 160th left no time wasted by conducting physical training events between weapon qualifications and construction operations- hosted by SGT. Hobbs and aided by PFC. Delara.
(U.S. Delaware Army National Guard photos by SPC. Vincent Perry)
This is a picture of Engineer Mountain near Durango, Colorado. The picture is taken from the Cascade condos.
Several guests and members of 19th Engineer Battalion gathered at Tobacco Leaf Lake June 18, 2024, to observe Lt. Col. Todd Bradford hand the reins of the unit to Lt. Col. Derek Benz. (US Army photo by Eric Pilgrim, Fort Knox News)
For some reason, one of the elevators nozz has padding in it. The sad thing is, I'm starting to feel like I belong in a padded room.
Imagery from the 119th Engineer Company (SAPPER) rappel training at Camp Dawson, Kingwood, West Virginia, March 29, 2025. The 119th, headquartered in Moundsville, West Virginia, is the only combat engineer unit in the West Virginia National Guard, and serves as subject matter experts in explosives, demolitions, mobility, counter-mobility, and survivability operations. The unit is training to assume Search and Extraction missions for the West Virginia National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP), honing and enhancing readiness while adding to overall force response capabilities. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Edwin L. Wriston)
Photos from the inactivation ceremony for the 2nd Engineer Brigade, U.S. Army Alaska, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Alaska, Friday, May 15, 2015. This is the third time 2D Engineer Brigade has inactivated since World War II, and the brigade is inactivating as part of the U.S. Army's downsizing efforts to restructure into a leaner, more adaptable fighting force. (U.S. Air Force photo/Justin Connaher)