THE SPAN T
o truly experience the bridge, you need to walk across it,” says Paint Super- intendent Rocky Dellarocca. “It’s in
constant motion.” Hear it rumble and feel it bounce in response to changes in weather, tem- perature, and load. The span was built to with- stand a 27-foot side-to-side sway and to move up and down by as much as 16 feet. Ambient temperature alone stretches and shortens the cables, moving the roadway up and down by at least several feet over the course of each day. Seismic retrofitting, still under way, aims to help the bridge survive an 8.3 quake. During the span’s 50th anniversary celebration on May 24, 1987, the arch in the roadway fl attened under the weight of 300,000 pedestrians. For- tunately, the bridge held.
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T
VISTA POINT
he best reason to stop at the northeast turnout is not to see the bridge or San Francisco’s cityscape across the bay, but to take in the moving Lone Sailor Memorial. This larger-than-life bronze statue portrays a wist-
ful young seaman standing alongside his duffel bag as he gazes out over San Francisco and the bridge. A small plaque describes the monument: dedicated to the ordinary sailors and marines who sailed from this place and did their duty. The statue is a copy of one at the U.S.
Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., but it seems equally fitting on this bluff. During World War II alone, more than 1.5 million men and women shipped out to sea through the Golden Gate. And when they returned, the Golden Gate Bridge was their fi rst sign of home. ●
deborah franklin also writes and edits for National Public Radio.
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