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Antioch Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge header

It is possible to bridge San Francisco Bay at various points. But at only one point can such an enterprise be of universal advantage -- at the water gap, the Golden Gate, giving a continuous dry-shod passage around the entire circuit of our inland sea. 
-- James Wilkins San Francisco Bulletin, 1916.
When it opened, the Golden Gate Bridge was lauded as having the longest single clear span in the world. At four-fifths of a mile it was three times longer than the Brooklyn Bridge and 700 feet longer than the newly opened George Washington Bridge. The 4,200-foot center span is sandwiched between two side spans of 1,125 feet. The bridge is 90 feet wide. The towers are 121 feet wide at the bottom and rise to a height of 750 feet above the swirling waters of San Francisco Bay. 

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Copyright © 1999 UC Berkeley Library
Data owner: R. Brandt
Updated 12/21/99