To start the paint job, fixed scaffolding was erected along a 400 foot-long portion of the west side main cable.
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE stands at the entrance to San Francisco Bay in California as a symbol of American ingenuity and resolve, having been constructed during the era of the Great Depression. A beloved international icon, once the longest suspension bridge ever built, it serves the City of San Francisco as a vital transportation link with 40 million crossings annually. Tis engineering marvel and architectural wonder is also a major tourist destination serving as an engine of economic vitality visited by millions each year from around the globe.
©Golden Gate Bridge, used with permission,
www.goldengate.org CABLES GET A NEW PAINT JOB ©Golden Gate Bridge, used with permission,
www.goldengate.org Over the past seven decades, a number of complex and first-ever capital improvement
projects have been accomplished at the Golden Gate Bridge. Notably, the vertical suspender rope replacement in the 1970s and the deck replacement in the 1980s — have never been undertaken before, these projects pioneered the way for other suspension bridges around the world to follow. Te largest capital project on the Golden Gate Bridge since original construction is the multi-phased seismic retrofit of the entire structure now estimated for completion in 2016. Tis enormously intricate project will allow the span to withstand an 8.3 Richter magnitude quake. Other notable projects include the addition of a lower lateral bracing system in the 1950s, modernization of the toll plaza in the 1980s, and the addition of a safety railing between the bridge roadway lanes and sidewalks in the 1990s. Paramount to the many capital projects designed to preserve the longevity of the Golden
Gate Bridge for generations to come is its on-going maintenance program. Today, the bridge workforce is comprised of about 200 employees, with about half in operations and half in maintenance. Te maintenance crews include everything from ironworkers, to painters, electricians, operating engineers, groundskeepers, mechanics, and general laborers. With an eye toward modernization of equipment and maintenance techniques, crews move throughout the span working on a wide range of maintenance projects based, in part, on where the corrosion is advancing on the bridge’s precious steel.
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 19
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