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So San Francisco is one of the two of the most impressive bridges in the entire United States, if not the entire world
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One, you undoubtedly have heard of. And the other, well, maybe not so much
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This behind me is the Bay Bridge. And this is the Golden Gate Bridge
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Both are massive suspension bridges. Both were built at the exact same time
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Both are here in San Francisco and both are super impressive feats of modern engineering
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Yet one is on the list of the world's top seven wonders of the modern world
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and the other is kind of an afterthought. But why? Why is the Golden Gate Bridge so famous
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And the Bay Bridge, not so much. An amazing example of coordinated engineering, manufacturing, fabrication, and transportation
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So because of where I'm staying, I run or walk past the Bay Bridge almost every single day
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And to me, it's just crazy impressive, especially when you get up close like this
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You just can't help but look up and think, whoa. the bay bridge was built in 1936 and it was the solution to a growing population that needed to
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commute into the city the san francisco oakland bay bridge is completed the largest engineering
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structure ever conceived and built by men it spans 4 miles across the san francisco bay with four main towers that are around 450 feet tall each In total it took three years to build and today around 260 cars commute over it every single day
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This bridge is a monster. It's the third most used bridge in the entire United States
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90 to 95 million cars go over it every single year. And in any other city, this would be the star of the show. No questions asked
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But unfortunately for the Bay Bridge, it's not the only bridge in town
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So having seen the Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge up close, I have to say there is something special about the Golden Gate
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There is an it factor to it. And part of that is because of the color
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It's painted this color called International Orange and the builders of the bridge decided to paint it that more or less because they thought it would look cool
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And it does. And it's just one of the many interesting pieces of history surrounding the Golden Gate which by the way is almost 100 years old
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Today, the Golden Gate Bridge spans 1.7 miles across the Golden Gate
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which is the waterway entrance to San Francisco and connects the ocean with the San Francisco Bay
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But before it was there, the only way to get across was by ferry, which was great until two things happened
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First, the population exploded from 300,000 in 1900 to over 600,000 by 1930, putting a huge stress on the current ferry system
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And then the second is the invention of the automobile which brought a whole new way of transportation to the city Suddenly there was a need for a more efficient and large way to bridge this gap
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Pun intended. So construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge, which at the time would be the tallest and longest suspension bridge in the world
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Its towers are 746 feet tall, with steel cables that are 3 feet thick and span 4,200 feet from tower to tower
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The work is completed. The bridge the pessimists said could not be built has been built
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Taking four years to build, the bridge was pretty much an instant icon within San Francisco
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200,000 people showed up for opening day. And today, it is the most photographed bridge in the entire world
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So we just finished walking the Golden Gate, it's right there. And I think that at 1.7 miles, it's kind of the perfect distance to walk
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Unlike the Bay Bridge, which is significantly longer and significantly more of a commitment
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if you wanted to walk it or bike it. Which by the way, you can't because there is no walking or biking path on the Bay Bridge
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Now before you bridge nerds roast me in the comments and say something like, well technically
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you can cross the Bay Bridge. You're right, you can cross this portion of the Bay Bridge
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And I spent three and a half hours and I did that, I walked it. But that only gets you to Treasure Island
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It doesn take you across this portion of the bridge though which I would consider is the cool portion of the bridge The cool portion doesn have a walking or biking path Which kind of plays into the fact that the bay bridge was designed from the ground up to be a commuter bridge whereas the golden gate
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it was designed to have people walk across it bike across it get up close touch it and have it be a
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tourist attraction. Okay, so you made it to the end of the video here. You're probably kind of
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coming to the same conclusion I am, but let's answer the question. Why is the Golden Gate Bridge
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so fast? The Golden Gate from the beginning was designed to be the star of the show
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it's at the perfect location right at the entrance of the city it's painted this really vibrant
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international orange which pops off the background and looks great in photos then you can get up
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close to it as a tourist you can walk it bike it feel like you're a part of the experience
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and then when you do get up close dang it the bridge is impressive and all those factors come
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together and it's why the golden gate bridge is one if not the most famous bridge in the entire
