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9 Golden Gate Bridge Facts For Kids

navajocodetalkersadmin on December 9, 2014 - 8:01 pm in Fun Facts for Kids

1. The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. It was open in 1937 after it took 100 years of planning. It connects the southern tip of San Francisco to the rest of Marin County. Prior to the building of this suspension bridge the only way to cross the bay was by boat.

2. It is THE most photographed bridge in the world! It is in fact not “gold” in color but orange. The way the sun hits the bridge makes it seemingly Golden. The orange color for the bridge was chosen because the designers thought it would blend more naturally with the surroundings and it would make it easier for boats to spot the bridge in the dense San Francisco fog.

3. Eleven men died during the construction of the bridge. The bridge is over 8,000 feet long, actually closer to 9,000 feet and spans 416 feet above the water.

4. The bridge is held up by two cables that contain over 25000 wires each. To build the bridge today it would cost over 2 billion dollars. It was the longest suspension bridge in the world until the nineteen sixties when the Verranzano Narrows bridge was constructed in NYC.

5. For many years engineers advised against the bridge because of the high winds and strong tidal currents of the bay but construction went ahead anyway. The bridge has stood without a problem for almost 100 years!

6. It has had over 2 billion passengers cross the bridge since it was built! It has 6 lanes on either side including walkways on both sides. It has the unfortunate recognition of being the second leading suicide spot in the world. It is second only to a bridge in Japan when it comes to the number of people that jump off the bridge.

7. A camera was set up as part of a documentary project and it caught 10 people trying to make the jump in a little less than a month. It is estimated that hundreds of people have jumped to their death from the bridge during its course of history. Sadly most people are never recovered.

8. This bridge has appeared on more magazine covers than any other bridge in the world including Rolling Stone magazine.

9. The bridge that could not be built has stood tall and proud and has become a symbol around the world of he west coast of America!

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