The Golden Gate Cables Were Too Heavy to Lift, So They Did This

The Golden Gate Bridge’s finished cables were too heavy to lift into place. So how did workers build them high above open water? Discover the construction method that turned individual wires into the cables holding up the road. Follow the construction from the seafloor to the sky: the giant “bathtub” around the south tower, cables assembled above the strait, and steel roadway sections lifted into place. Archival opening-day film and engineering reconstructions reveal the sequence behind the bridge that opened in 1937. CHAPTERS 00:00 The cables were too heavy to lift 00:26 Building the foundation underwater 01:45 The crane that climbed the tower 02:11 How the main cables were spun 03:15 Lifting the roadway into place 04:11 The workers and the safety net 04:27 Why the bridge is orange 04:43 Opening the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 04:58 The complete construction sequence 05:26 What surprised you most? Which surprised you most: the underwater bathtub or the cables made in the sky? Tell us in the comments. Subscribe to World Rebuilt for the construction stories behind the world's landmarks. RESEARCH SOURCES Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District: https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/spinni... https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/a-bath... https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/workin... https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/worlds... https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/how-th... https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/bridge... https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-... https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-... https://www.goldengate.org/faq/ https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-... FOOTAGE CREDITS Archival footage supplied by Internet Archive in association with Prelinger Archives. Public-domain dedication on the source item: https://archive.org/details/GoldenGa1936 Modern footage: Frederick Tschernutter, “Golden Gate Bridge - 4K - FREE HD FOOTAGE,” CC BY 4.0. Excerpts edited, cropped and color adjusted; original audio replaced. https://archive.org/details/Golden_Gate_01... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Construction photograph: National Park Service, Mildred Lewis Collection, GOGA-1766; public domain, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ph... Reconstructions illustrate engineering principles and construction order; they are not archival footage. #GoldenGateBridge #Engineering #BridgeConstruction