MIT ALPHA PHI OMEGA delta Overseas: The Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge was opened to vehicular traffic on this day in 1937 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington DC. Construction on the bridge began on January 5, 1933 and lasted a little more than four years, costing more than $35 million. The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed the bridge by foot. May 24, 2013 marked the 76th anniversary of the opening of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Before 1937, the city's growth was hampered by a reliance on ferry traffic. The 8,981 ft (2,737 m) suspension bridge changed that, creating a link between San Francisco to Marin County. Its construction was completed under budget, but at the cost of 11 workers' lives. Collected here are images from the building of this iconic bridge, as well as scenes from its 76 years of service and from Sunday's celebration.

High-power lights illuminate the Golden Gate Bridge as part of the span's 75th anniversary celebration in San Francisco, on May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Before the bridge -- Fort Point in the foreground, looking across the Golden gate (the strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean), toward Marin County to the north, in 1910. (National Park Service) #

Construction underway on a pylon on the south shore of the Golden Gate Bridge project, ca 1933. (Library of Congress) #

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, ca. 1933. A trestle reaches out from the San Francisco shore to the foundation of the north tower. (Library of Congress) #

Work progresses on the Golden Gate Bridge, as seen in 1934. (AP Photo/Redwood Empire Association) #

Workers complete the catwalks for the Golden Gate Bridge, hundreds of feet above the strait below, prior to spinning the bridge cables during construction on October 25, 1935. (AP Photo) #

The Golden Gate bridge, during its construction in May of 1936. (OFF/AFP/Getty Images) #

The Golden Gate Bridge, nearly complete on November 12, 1936. The warship seen passing under the bridge was on its way to attend the opening of the Oakland Bay Bridge. (AP Photo) #

Opening day -- the Golden Gate Bridge was opened to pedestrians on May 27, 1937. The next day it officially opened to vehicular traffic. (AP Photo/Redwood Empire Association) #

Traffic from Marin County en route to San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ernest K. Bennett) #

Military biplanes fly between the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge as pedestrians walk across the span during opening ceremonies in San Francisco ,on May 27, 1937. (AP Photo) #

View of Marin County, from the top of the southern tower, prior to 1968. (Library of Congress) #

Motor traffic crosses the Golden Gate Bridge, ~~on November 20, 1940~~ (date appears to be in error, AP now looking into it -ed) . (AP Photo) #

Original caption: "Baghdad-by-the-bay 'a city you can almost cup in your hands and admire as your own personal jewel'. Through its narrow Golden Gate (top, right) it welcomes the world to San Francisco, June 23, 1960". (AP Photo) #

One of the cable seats, atop the south tower, prior to 1968. (Library of Congress) #

As thousands of people jam the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge during a bridge walk, one person walks across the span 220 feet above the San Francisco Bay, on May 24, 1987. An estimated 350,000 people turned out for the bridge walk, which kicked off the Golden Gate Bridge 50th anniversary celebration. (AP Photo/Doug Atkins) #

A crowd estimated at 800,000 jams the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, on May 24, 1987, part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the bridge. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) #

A dreary day view of the Golden Gate Bridge, on February 16, 2009. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images) #

Traffic came to a halt on the Golden Bate Bridge as a deer ambled across the entire span on May 18, 2004, making its way from the Marin headlands to the Presidio in San Francisco, seen in this video frame grab. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District) #

The Golden Gate Bridge, as the sun rises over San Francisco, on January 27, 2005. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

California Air National Guard pararescuemen of the 129th Rescue Wing, Moffett Federal Airfield climb up a moving rope ladder, from the chilly waters outside the Golden Gate Bridge, up to a HH-60G Pave Hawk. Tech. Sgt. Mike Sampognaro, flight engineer, monitors the training mission from the troop door. Hovering only six feet above the waves, Lt. Col. Thomas Laut must fly with extreme care as he deals with gusting winds, sea spray, sun glare, and sea swells, as he maintains a "low-and-slow" flight. (Some may recognize this photo as the basis for the Helicopter Shark hoax photograph.) (Lance Cheung/US Air Force via Getty Images) #

A man takes in the view of the fog-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands in Sausalito, California, on September 24, 2008. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

Cars drive northbound on the Golden Gate Bridge, on May, 8, 2008. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

The towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, above waves in the Pacific Ocean, viewed on October 24, 2008. (Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images) #

"International Orange" paint coats suspender cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, on May 24, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

Rusted rivets on the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge, seen on on May 24, 2012. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

A cargo ship passes through San Francisco Bay at sunrise. (Kike Calvo via AP Images) #

A man looks over the railing of the Golden Gate Bridge, on January 27, 2005. A controversial film made by moviemaker Eric Steel documenting people committing suicide off of the Golden Gate Bridge opened a debate about why there isn't a suicide barrier on the famous landmark. In 2005, more than 1,300 people were known to have jumped to their death from the span since it opened in 1937. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

A suicide prevention message on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco California, 2006. More people die by suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge than at any other site in the world. (CC BY SA David Allen Corby) #

An exhibit of shoes in remembrance of people who have jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge is displayed during a commemoration of the bridge's 75th anniversary on May 27, 2012, in San Francisco. The Bridge Rail Foundation, which advocates for a safety net along the span to prevent suicides, estimates approximately 1,558 people have died after jumping since the bridge opened. A marine-grade stainless steel net is planned, but progress on the project has been slow, and it remains unfunded. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) #

The Collaborators, a group of aerobatic airplanes from Team Oracle and Team Fusion, perform maneuvers above the Golden Gate Bridge ahead of Fleet Week, in San Francisco, California, on October 9, 2008. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

A view of hanger cables on the Golden Gate Bridge, and the bridge deck seen from a car on a rainy day, on May 2, 2012. Images made with an iPhone 4s with Instagram's "LoFi" filter. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

A surfer rides a wave churned by a winter storm underneath the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, on January 4, 2008, in the San Francisco Bay. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) #

The Russian tall ship Pallada sails under the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco Bay, during the opening of the Sail San Francisco 2005 International Maritime Festival, on July 28, 2005. (AP Photo/John M. Harris) #

The Golden Gate Bridge, seen from the third tee of the Lake Course at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, on March 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) #

The Queen Mary 2 sails beneath the Golden Gate Bridge as it enters the harbor in San Francisco, on February 4, 2007. The ship, currently on an 81-day voyage around the world, is the largest vessel to ever sail into the San Francisco Bay. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

Ironworker Kerry Davis, who has worked on the Golden Gate Bridge for the past 28 years, stands at the entrance to the South Tower, on May 25, 2012. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) #

San Francisco, the bay, and the Golden Gate Bridge, seen from orbit aboard the International Space Station, on November 6, 2010. (NASA) #

The Golden Gate Bridge, lit at dusk, seen from at Fort Point in San Francisco, on February 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, file) #

Fireworks erupt from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, on May 27, 2012. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) #

Fireworks explode over the Golden Gate Bridge during the 75th anniversary celebration of the iconic span in San Francisco, California, on May 27, 2012. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith)

The north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge is blanketed by fog as the sun rises October 8, 2007 in Sausalito, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

View of the San Francisco Bay before the Golden Gate Bridge was built with sun shining through clouds on water, c1902. (Library of Congress)#

President Franklin Roosevelt pressing the button which set off a charge of dynamite, starting construction work on the bridge over San Francisco Bay, connecting the Golden Gate City with Oakland and Berkeley. The bridge would be 7 1/2 miles long, 5 miles of it over water. Photo taken on July 9, 1933 in Washington. (AP Photo) #

An aerial view with the Golden Gate Bridge under construction, c1934. (Photo by Chas. M. Hiller, Library of Congress) #

High in the fog, structural steel workers staged the traditional ceremony of raising flags when the structural steel work on the Marin County Towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco was completed, May 4, 1934. Group of steel workers atop one of the two towers which rise 734 feet above the water. (AP Photo) #

The Golden Gate Bridge under construction, c1934. (Photo by Chas. M. Hiller, Library of Congress) #

The construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, which would link Fort Point, bottom, with Marin County, Calif., top, is seen as work progressed, 1934. (AP Photo/Redwood Empire Association) #

U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, center, wears a steel helmet during an inspection tour of the San Francisco tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, Ca., March 25, 1935. Perkins, who is the first female cabinet officer in American history, talks with G.A. McClain, bridge superintendent, left, and S.E. Stanley, rivet foreman. (AP Photo) #

Workers install the first section of a huge safety net, at a cost of $98,000, that will extend from shore to shore beneath the Golden Gate Bridge span during construction of the bridge in San Francisco, Ca., Sept. 2, 1935. (AP Photo) #

Workmen wearing steel helmets lay the catwalks for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Ca., Sept. 19, 1935. Spinning of the big suspension cables will start after the two catwalks are laid high above the Golden Gate Strait. (AP Photo) #

Preparations for spinning the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge between Marin Country and San Francisco occupied crews October 10, 1935. They were busy erecting storm cable system, telephone system and various units of the spinning equipment for the $35,000,000 structure. The cable, stretching from the tower in the foreground to the Marin Country or North side, will be 36 1/2 inches in diameter. The Catwalks with some of the storm cables is shown. (AP Photo) #

Workers at the top of the tower, which will support the $35,000,000 suspension bridge, are shown during construction of one of the catwalks for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Ca., Oct. 17, 1935. Below in background is the Marin County shore, which will be connected to San Francisco by the bridge. (AP Photo) #

Workers complete the catwalks for the Golden Gate Bridge, spanning the Golden Gate Strait, prior to spinning the bridge cables during construction in San Francisco, Ca., Oct. 25, 1935. (AP Photo) #

The USS New Jersey BB-62 battleship, carrying Gen. Walter Krueger and crew aboard, glides under the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco, Ca. on Feb. 10, 1946. The United States Navy battleship is a veteran of Pacific Warfare. (AP Photo) #

Picture dated May 1936 of the Golden Gate Bridge, in the San Francisco Bay, during its construction. (OFF/AFP/Getty Images) #

A view of the Golden Gate Bridge, while under construction, with a warship seen passing underneath on its way to the opening of the Oakland Bay Bridge, on Nov. 12, 1936. (AP Photo) #

This is a close up of one of the nearly completed cables which will hold up the floor of the $32,500,000 Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Ca., May 4, 1936. Approximately 27,500 steel wires are in each cable, which are 36 1/2 inches in diameter and 7,700 feet long. The bridge spans the entrance to San Francisco harbor and joins the city with Marin County. (AP Photo) #

Workmen with an intricate mechanism swung high above the rocky shores of San Francisco's Golden Gate on June 6,1936. The workmen are typing together the myriad strands of the 36 1/2 inch cables that will support the Golden Gate Bridge. (AP Photo) #

Workmen assist the derrick operator, chief engineer Joseph Strauss, in joining the center of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Ca., Nov. 18, 1936. The bridge has a main span of 4,200 feet, 1,280 meters, making it the world's longest suspension structure. (AP Photo) #

Ed Stanley drives the golden rivet to mark the completion of the $35,000,000 Golden Gate Bridge spanning the entrance to San Francisco Bay, Ca., April 29, 1937. Holding the rivet is Ed Murphy and leaning over them is Joseph B. Strauss, chief engineer of the project. The bridge will be opened to the public May 27. (AP Photo) #

Military biplanes fly between the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge as pedestrians walk across the span during opening ceremonies in San Francisco on May 27, 1937. (AP Photo) #

This is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, linking San Francisco's Fort Point to Marin County, as it looked when it opened to pedestrians, May 27, 1937. The next day it officially opened to vehicular traffic. (AP Photo/Redwood Empire Association) #

The U.S. Navy joined with San Francisco in celebration of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, May 30, 1937. A naval vessel had just passed under the world's longest suspension span, which crosses the famed entrance to San Francisco Bay. (AP Photo) #

Motor traffic crosses the Golden Gate Bridge, Nov. 20, 1940, in San Francisco. (AP Photo) #

Two armed guards patrol along the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, as a precaution against possible sabotage acts, December 10, 1941. (AP Photo) #

San Francisco is resting comfortable on June 5, 1949 after a hot 4th of July holiday. With the Marin County hills in the background, the Golden Gate Bridge is partially obscured by the fog blanket. The incoming fog lowered the temperature by 23 degrees to a comfortable 69. (AP Photo) #

Picture dated 1950's of the Golden Gate bridge, in the San Francisco Bay. (OFF/AFP/Getty Images) #

General viewed of the over-crowded Mission district of San Francisco April 27, 1950. (Mission Street runs diagonally across the foreground from lower left to right center.) The building with a long row of vertical windows at upper right is the U.S. Mint, and upper left are the towers of the Golden Gate bridge. The highest point of Mt. Tamalpias across the Golden Gate in Marin County is just above the left tower. (AP Photo/EK Bennett) #

Bill Gaure, maintenance worker on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, nears the top of the north tower after nearly a half-mile uphill hike from the center of the span, May 15, 1952. In the background, at center, is a residential area of San Francisco, and at upper left is part of the Presidio. The bridge was built right where the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay meet. (AP Photo/Ernest K. Bennett) #

The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Boxer creeps through the fog under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as it arrives from Korean waters, Sept. 25, 1952. It was the Boxer from which the Navy launched drone aircraft for an attack on Communist concentrations in Korea. Aboard the ship were more than 2,500 men of Air group two. She will later go to Hunter's Point, a South San Francisco Naval Base for complete overhaul. (AP Photo) #

Morning commute traffic from Marin County enroute to San Francisco is seen, July 1, 1952. The bridge was then carrying approximately 11 million vehicles a year. (AP Photo/Ernest K. Bennett) #

The battleship "Missouri" creeps under a fog enshrouded Golden Gate Bridge on Sept. 10, 1954, to begin a three day open house visit to his port city. The 58,000-ton vessel, aboard which the Japanese surrender was signed Sept. 2, 1945, was heading for the mothball fleet at Bremerton, Wash. (AP-Photo/U.S. Navy) #

The Golden Gate Bridge, with Fort Point at bottom left, is seen Dec. 15, 1958. (AP Photo/Ernest K. Bennett) #

Golden Gate bridge March 31, 1960, in San Francisco. (AP Photo) #

A view of a portion of the Golden Gate Bridge was photographed from a Navy helicopter while covering the departure of the atomic powered submarine Woodrow Wilson on January 6, 1964. Beyond strands of bridge, is the Russian Hill and Pacific Heights apartment house skyline of San Francisco. (AP Photo / Robert Houston) #

The scenic view at Ford Point was a wet one after a Pacific storm with winds gusting to more than 55 mph whipped through the Golden Gate in San Francisco, California, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1982. The storm toppled trees and left many Bay Area residents without power. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) #

An air-to-air front view of a C-5A Galaxy aircraft, in a camouflage paint scheme, as it flies over the San Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate Bridge can be seen in the background. (Photo by USAF, Getty Images) #

The Golden Gate Bridge spans the bay in San Francisco, California. (Photo By Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

A detail view of a tower on the Golden Gate Bridge, looking up from the bridge deck, 1984. (Photo by Jet Lowe, Library of Congress) #

Looking north from the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge, 1984. (Photo by Jet Lowe, Library of Congress) #

Looking south at the Golden Gate Bridge, spanning the mouth of San Francisco Bay, 1984. (Photo by Jet Lowe, Library of Congress) #

Detail view of the cable seat on top of the southern tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, 1984. (Photo by Jet Lowe, Library of Congress) #

General view from the south tower looking north on the Golden Gate Bridge, 1984. (Photo by Jet Lowe, Library of Congress) #

The Californian, a revenue cutter replica, sails under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Calif., on May 24, 1987, as a parade of classic ships is kicked off to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bridge. (AP Photo/Sal Veder) #

A crowd estimated at 800,000 jams the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Calif., on May 24, 1987, as a walk is kicked off to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bridge that spans the San Francisco Bay. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) #

The Golden Gate Bridge, the famous structure that spans the San Francisco Bay, is seen at dusk on May 21, 1987. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) #

General view of the Southern footing of the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point, San Francisco on November 17, 2002. Surfers congregate daily to surf at Fort Point and battle the harsh and dangerous conditions. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

The Golden Gate Bridge is seen as the sun rises on January 27, 2005 in San Francisco. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

The Golden Gate Bridge is pictured December 20, 2006 in San Francisco, California. The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening into San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. It connects the city of San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County as part of US Highway 101 and California State Highway 1. The largest suspension bridge in the world when it was completed in 1937, it has become an internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco and America. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)#

The Golden Gate Bridge is visible through the fence and barbed wire surrounding the prison recreation yard as the sun sets on Alcatraz Island, 14 June 2007 in San Francisco Bay of California. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images) #

People line up to see Cunard's Queen Mary 2, the largest ocean liner in the world, as it sails under the Golden Gate Bridge into the San Francisco Bay February 4, 2007 in San Francisco, California. The Queen Mary 2 made her maiden port call after sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. The ship would dock in San Francisco overnight before continuing on her first world cruise. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

An employee of The Marine Spill Response Corporation waits on a beach near the Golden Gate Bridge to put down a boon to protect from oil contamination November 8, 2007 in San Francisco, California. A container ship bumped into the San Francisco Bay Bridge November 7, 2007 spilling approximately 58,000 gallons of oil into bay waters. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images) #

People take part in an AIDS Lifecycle 27-mile bike ride from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge to Mill Valley on December 1, 2007 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images) #

The Golden Gate Bridge is pictured from the Pacific Ocean on October 24, 2008. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images) #

A fisherman stands on a pier as a bird lands near the Golden Gate Bridge May, 8, 2008 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

Tourists take photos from a vantage point on the span of the Golden Gate Bridge October 10, 2008 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

The Airship Ventures Zeppelin Eureka flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) #

Boats sail past the Golden Gate Bridge during the Spinnaker Cup on May 22, 2009 in San Francisco, California. The Spinnaker Cup, which is one of six regattas in the San Francisco 2009 IRC Championship Series, is a distance race that starts in San Francisco and finishes in Monterey, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) #

A span of the Golden Gate Bridge is seen through fog from Land's End in San Francisco, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) #

Athletes sail near the Golden Gate Bridge during day 1 of the US Windsurfing National Championships hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club on July 20, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) #

A couple looks toward the Golden Gate Bridge from a vista point in Marin County, Calif., Monday, June 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) #

The Golden Gate Bridge is seen at sunset in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) #

A view of suspender ropes and the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge on May 24, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District was preparing for the 75th anniversary of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. The 1.7 mile steel suspension bridge, one of the modern Wonders of the World, opened to traffic on May 28, 1937. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

Fireworks explode over the Golden Gate Bridge on May 27, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The Golden Gate Bridge celebrated its 75th anniversary. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) #

A spectator takes a photo of the Space Shuttle Endeavor as it flies on top of a modified 747 jumbo jet over the Golden Gate Bridge while traveling to Los Angeles on September 21, 2012 in Sausalito, California. The Space Shuttle Endeavor did a 4-1/2 hour tour over California landmarks before heading to Los Angeles International Airport where it would be prepared to be moved to its new permanent home at the California Science Center in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) #

The peloton makes its way over the Golden Gate bridge as they leave the start of Stage Eight of the 2013 Amgen Tour of California from San Francisco to Santa Rosa on May 19, 2013 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)