Technical Description (Assignment)

Rene Cuadrado

 Title: “The Golden Gate Bridge”

             Subtitle: “How Civil Engineers Were Involved”

Introduction:

Civil Engineering is a professional engineering career that designs, build, and maintain the foundation for our modern society. The types of designs are roads, buildings, bridges, drinking water and energy systems, seaports and airports, and the infrastructure for a cleaner environment. Well, what I am going to be talking to you about is how the civil engineers designed their famous bridge project, The Golden Gate Bridge.

  Picture: Golden Gate Bridge

About:                                                  

The Golden Gate Bridge is a bridge that connects the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

Facts:

• Located in San Francisco, CA
• Built: January 5th, 1933
• Completed: May 27th, 1937
• Made of concrete
• Total Length: 8,981’
• Height: 746’
• Took four years to build
• Named after a strait
• Once a longest suspension bridge in the world

Figure 1 –  

Example of the design of for the Golden Gate Bridge.

https://commons.bcit.ca/civil/edufacts/golden_gate.html

 

Information:

Back then, in the 1930s, many civil engineers stated that this bridge would have been too expensive and unfeasible to build. They said that the channel was too deep; the tides and winds too strong; the span too long. Out of 11 proposals from bridge engineering firms across the country, Joseph Baermann Strauss, a bridge designer who believed that the  bridge was not only feasible but could be built for just $25 to $30 million, was selected as a Chief Engineer For this design. Shown in Figure 1, the weight of the bridge deck and vehicles is transferred up through the suspender rods or cables to the main suspension cable, which, in turn, transfers forces to the bridge towers and the anchor blocks. Final engineering plans were submitted on August 27, 1930, construction began on November 1932, and was completed on May 27th, 1937. In what would become one of the safest construction job sites in its time, Strauss and his team of engineers, consultants, builders and workers, built one of the boldest, most spectacular bridges ever.

 

References:

https://www.asce.org/about_civil_engineering/

https://www.asce.org/project/golden-gate-bridge/

https://www.asce.org/uploadedImages/About_Civil_Engineering/Projects/Bridges/golden-gate-bridge.jpg

https://www.gocartours.com/5-fun-facts-golden-gate-bridge/

http://goldengatebridge.org/research/facts.php

https://commons.bcit.ca/civil/edufacts/golden_gate.html

https://www.history.com/topics/landmarks/golden-gate-bridge

Technical Communication by Mike Markel, 11^th edition, Bedford/Saint Martin’s