Bay Bridge - Bridge between San Francisco and Auckland

The bridge between San Francisco and Auckland (pictured below) is rightly considered a miracle of construction. In the US, it is better known as the Bay Bridge. It is not as popular with tourists as the Golden Gate, but it is also of great importance for the region.

Prerequisites for construction

In 1869 the US territory was connected by a transcontinental railway. At that time, San Francisco was considered the largest megapolis on the Pacific coast. From the constructed highway its inhabitants were separated by the Bay of St. Francis. Almost immediately after that, the city authorities began to promote the idea that it was necessary to build a bridge between San Francisco and Oakland. San Francisco could otherwise lose its influence and status. Very quickly, an ad hoc committee was set up, whose members began to develop and discuss the plan for building the steel main. Before the start of the work there was still a lot of time, but the beginning was still laid.

Design

After a long debate and debate, a plan was prepared for the construction of the facility, according to which, the construction was to begin with Auckland. On its way, the construction had to go through the so-called Goat Island, which was to break through the tunnel. This idea was immediately criticized. The point is that in this place the bay was unpredictable and quite deep. In this regard, the project, which was planned to build the bridge of San Francisco-Oakland, was postponed for a long time.

The city authorities returned to this idea only in the twenties of the last century. It was at this time that the beginning of the car boom in the United States fell. The level of development of engineering already allowed the use of a suspension structure, and not supports, so it was decided to use the old project with appropriate changes. However, this time there was another problem. It was associated with the location on the Kozlin Island base of the US Navy. Only after the painful promotion of this issue in Congress, in early 1931, permission was received to begin construction. It should be noted that the base continued to operate on the island until 1977.

Construction

The bridge between San Francisco and Auckland was started on July 9, 1933. Construction work was led by the then famous architect Ralph Modzeski. The contractor was the American Bridge Company. During the construction of the Bay Bridge, all advanced and most well-known construction technologies were applied. In order to ensure the possibility of reliable installation of the support span, the engineers developed a whole technological system. Its feature was that it took into account the type of soil at the bottom of the bay and the depth. In parallel, the builders began the creation on the island of a tunnel, the length of which was 160 meters, and the diameter - 23 meters. Thus, a world record was set at that time.

Opening

Construction work lasted more than three years. For their implementation, a record amount of concrete and steel was spent. On November 12, 1936, a solemn ceremony took place, on which the bridge between San Francisco and Auckland was opened. She was visited by Governor Frank Mariam. After the introductory speech, he with gas welding cut the "ribbon", which was a gilded chain. Over the first day of operation of the structure, it was crossed by more than 120,000 cars. In honor of the opening of the facility, the ships of the naval forces in the bay even arranged a light show.

Since the first days of the Bay Bridge, the cost of traveling through it was 65 cents. This was considered a very high amount, and after many critical reviews, the city authorities reduced the price to 25 cents.

Today's state

The bridge between San Francisco and Oakland is a two-tier building with a length of 7.2 kilometers. It consists of two spans. The first of them connects San Francisco with the Goat Island, the movement of cars on which occurs through a 160-meter tunnel. The second part is thrown between the island and Auckland. The fare is paid. Its cost is 7 dollars. It is paid for only when moving from east to west. Both levels have five lanes for cars. Their total width is 17.5 m. It should be noted that earlier the lower part was used for the movement of railway trains, but the rails were dismantled in 1963. Since that time, in each tier cars move in different directions.

An interesting feature

Height "Bay Bridge" at the highest point is 57 meters. Moreover, in the place of its location there are often strong storms. When the weather rages, the visibility here deteriorates significantly, so, after reaching the central part of the structure, the land can not be seen. Not surprisingly, some drivers are afraid to travel on it. Especially for such people, the administration of the bridge offers an original service. It consists in the fact that for a small amount of the order of several tens of dollars a professional driver drives the car across the bridge between San Francisco and Auckland in any direction. The owner of the vehicle at this time simply transplanted to the passenger seat.