"More than 2,000 lawsuits were filed to stop the project," says a monument on the San Francisco side of the bridge. "Strauss persevered and in 1930 at last won approval for a bond issue."
With the Great Depression on, however, the initial $6 million in bonds could not be sold. "Finally, Strauss went to A.P. Giannini, founder of Bank of America," says the monument. "Giannini also had a vision -- of serving fully California's growth. Giannini asked one question: 'How long will this bridge last?' Strauss replied: 'Forever. If cared for, it should have life without end.'" Giannini bought the bonds.
Construction began in 1933 and was completed in 1937. The bonds were paid off in 1971 -- entirely by bridge tolls.
Eleven men fell to their death building the bridge, but 19 more were saved by netting Strauss built from one end to the other. They called themselves the "Halfway to Hell Club."
In 1989, when a 7.1 earthquake hit, the badly damaged federal-and-state-funded Bay Bridge shut for repairs. The undamaged Golden Gate handled record traffic.
This Labor Day Weekend, the Bay Bridge will close again for three days so 350 feet of new roadway can be installed.
In seven decades, by contrast, the Golden Gate Bridge has never closed for more than a few hours. Steelworkers and painters labor constantly to preserve it against corrosion caused by fog and salty air, and a major retrofitting is underway to ensure it can survive an 8.3 earthquake, the magnitude that struck in 1906.
Looking back through history at the Golden Gate Bridge, it can be seen as a monumental marker demonstratively placed at the far edge of a continent by an energetic people who had turned a wilderness into a wonderland. When engineer Strauss told banker Giannini the bridge would last forever, he was not putting his faith in perishable concrete and steel, but in the imperishable spirit of the people who built it.
So far, Americans have proved Strauss right.