The Golden Gate Bridge |San Francisco Best Attractions

The Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco Sightseeing Attraction

The Golden Gate Bridge is perhaps San Francisco’s most easily recognizable feature. Completed in 1937 and painted the distinctive International Orange. Part of both Highway 101 and State Route 1, the Golden Gate Bridge is an integral part of California, connecting San Francisco to Marin, circumventing hundreds of miles and rocky harbors. It is the second longest suspension bridge in the US.

The Golden Gate Bridge was designed by Irving Strauss and erected by Irving Morrow. Morrow was the source of the Golden Gate Bridge’s bridge towers, lighting scheme, and the Art Deco aspects of the Bridge like the streetlights, railing and walkways. The basic structural design is a “deflection” theory, in which a thin, flexible roadway flexes in the wind. This reduces stress by transmitting force through the suspension cables to the bridge towers. Strauss tried to take much of the credit due to his colleagues.

The six lanes of the Golden Gate Bridge see a massive amount of vehicular traffic. On an average day, 100,000 cars, trucks, and vans will cross the bridge. The median is moved depending on traffic patterns, and the speed limit is 55 mph. The eastern walkway of the span is open to pedestrians and cyclists during daylight hours, and the western walkway is open to cyclists on weekends, weekday afternoons, and holidays. The Golden Gate Bridge’s orange color goes well with its surroundings, and also allows visibility of the Bridge through the fog.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most photographed and filmed structures in America, if not the world. The Bridge is beautiful at most times of day, and from every angle. It is an impressive testament to the integration of beauty and function that the Bridge connects hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis and is a gorgeous sight to behold at any time of day or night.

The Golden Gate Bridge is fairly easy to get to. If taking Public Transportation, several line run to or near the Bridge, including the 28/19 and the 43. Driving is also easy, because parking is offered near the viewing point of Bridge. There is a scenic route to the Golden Gate Bridge through Park Presidio, leading through the National Recreation Area of Park Presidio, which overlooks the ocean.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a great route for joggers, cyclists, and walkers looking for a straightforward route with a beautiful panoramic view. On the San Francisco side of the Golden Gate Bridge is a small cafe serving those hungry and thirsty visitors to the bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge is also fairly close to a number of restaurants in the Marina, which makes the Golden Gate Bridge an ideal place to visit after a nice lunch in the Marina, or even a walk after brunch.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a beautiful monument to San Francisco’s poetic spirit and vibrant nature. Both the ability to appreciate nature and stand out as a testament to man’s ability to build immense and elegant structure that dominate nature are central to San Francisco’s history and essence. The Golden Gate Bridge is the embodiment of this ideal and fills every visitor with a sense of awe. It’s such an integral part of San Francisco’s history and future, that to go to San Francisco without going to the Golden Gate Bridge is an incomplete visit.

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