Four U.S. Bridges

Half Way-to-Hell, that's what they called the club of nineteen men saved by the safety net while building the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, eleven men gave up their lives to the thirty-five million dollar steel harp, as the bridge was referred to by the San Francisco Chronicle. The Golden Gate Bridge is one the most famous bridges in the United States along with the Brooklyn Bridge, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the Royal Gorge Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge

In California, the three mile entrance from the Pacific Ocean into the Bay of San Fransisco is called the Golden Gate Strait, hence the name of the orange hued bridge. After four years, the bridge opened May 28, 1937 with the longest bridge suspension span, at the time, of 4,200 feet.

The orange color, called International Orange, was chosen in part because of it's visibility factor. Advection fog, a low ground hugging fog, is prevalent in the San Francisco bay. The bright bridge color helps drivers as well as ships see their way. The color was also chosen because of it's natural blend to the warm landscape of the area.

The bridge has appeared well known movies such as "X-Men: The Last Stand," "Star Trek IV and VI", "A View to a Kill," "Vertigo," "Interview with a Vampire," "Superman" (1978) as well as others. However, they say you're nobody until you're on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. Well, the Golden Gate Bridge reached it's pinnacle of popularity February 26, 1976 when it was pictured behind four San Francisco based rockers on the cover of that months issue.

The Brooklyn Bridge

The twenty minutes it takes to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, is worth the extra treat you'll give yourself in the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. It's directly under the bridge on the Brooklyn side. There are both motor vehicle entrances and separate pedestrian entrances at both ends, Brooklyn and Manhattan. New York has many bridges, but the Brooklyn Bridge is the most famous and known as the bridge to be sold to someone with a gullible nature. Actually, the phrase, "and if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you," was brought about when two con artists, Parker and McCloundy scammed by allegedly selling them parts of the bridge.

The German born, John Agustus Roebling was chosen as the bridges chief engineer. Roebling actually invented the twisted wire rope cable used in bridge supports. The Brooklyn Bridge was opened May 24, 1883 after thirteen years of construction. A stampede ensued a week after the opening, in which twelve people lost their live, because of a rumor that the bridge was about to collapse. Built of limestone, Rosendale cement and granite, the Gothic architectural towers of the bridge are flooded with light to show off it's beautiful features. During the attach of 911, the bridge was used by people in Manhattan to leave the city when the subway was closed down.

Cher's "Moonstruck" used the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop. In "The Siege" with Denzel Washington, we watch as American soldiers make the long walk over the bridge. Abbott and Costello fly under the bridge in a rocket ship in "Abbott and Costello go to Mars." In "I Am Legend" the government bombs the bridge and in "Deep Impact" the bridge is destroyed by a

meteor. Through all of this, the Brooklyn Bridge yet stands today.

The Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Before the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was built in 1964, the only way to reach Staten Island from New York City was by boat. There was a wide protest by residents of 65^th Street through 92^nd Street as well as 7^th Avenue as hundreds of their homes were to be torn down to make way for the wide bridge ramp. On a cold November 21^st in 1964 the bridge was completed. Still the longest suspension bridge in the U.S., this double deck bridge, with a center span of 4,260 feet, was named for an Italian explorer, Giovanni de Verrazzano. He was the first known navigator of European decent to steer into the New York harbor.

Known to residents as the Verrazano Bridge or the Verrazano Narrows, was the last great public works project overseen by the New York State Parks Commissioner, Robert Mosses, taking five years to complete. Motor vehicle occupants transporting over the bridge watched United Airlines Flight 175 fly overhead on it's way to the World Trade Center on September 11^th, 2001.

The annual, New York Marathon begins on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, on the Staten Island side. The largest cycling event in the United States, the 5 Boro Bike Tour, crosses this bridge on it's way to Staten Island every year.

The Royal Gorge Bridge

The highest suspension bridge in the world at 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River, the Royal Gorge Bridge in Canyon City, Colorado, isn't for the faint at heart. At 1260 feet long, the best advice is to look straight ahead until you get to the other side. However, the lion hearted may leap at the chance to ride the world's longest single-span aerial tram, the world's highest skycoaster or the world's steepest incline railroad. For them driving or walking across the bridge prove too tame This famous bridge, constructed in a mere six months back in 1929, took no lives.

Although the Royal Gorge Bridge is the main attraction, visitors won't want to miss the family theme park which includes an old time restored carousel, an ongoing theater which chronicles the bridges history as well as that of the railroad and aerial tram. I've even heard you can bungee jump or get married their, which ever seems more dangerous to the thrill seeker.

I wonder if the architects of bridges such as these started out as children with boxes of toothpicks or popsicle sticks trying to figure out how to make it all work. Scary thought, isn't it?