Guide Research Guide Worksheet : CORRIGE

Bridge Research Guide Worksheet

Student’s names:

Bridge: Golden Gate Bridge

Use the questions below to guide your research on your bridge.

1. Where is the bridge located?

The Bridge is located in San Francisco, in California, in the United States.

2. What obstacle does the bridge cross?

The bridge had to cross “the Golden Gate” that is a strait connecting the San-Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

3. When was the bridge built?

The construction of the bridge starts on January, 1933 and end on April, 1937. In all, the construction spent 4 years.

4. What materials were used to construct the bridge?

The principal materials that were used to construct the bridge are steel for the structure and the cables (128,750 cables) and concrete for the highway.

5. Which of the five basic bridge types best describes the bridge?

The Suspension bridge.

6. What types of traffic use the bridge?

The types of traffic that use the bridge are cars (110,000 is the daily traffic), pedestrians and bicycles.

7. What is the name of the engineer/architect who designed this bridge?

The architect of the Golden Gate Bridge was Irving Morrow and it was engineering designed by Joseph Strauss and Charles Ellis.

Answer the following questions.

1. Why do you think the engineer built this type of bridge for this site

The engineers built this type of bridge for this site because of the large width of the strait which measure 1.6 kilometers. And this type of bridge is really adapted for long distances. In all, the bridge has a length of 8,981 feet (2,737 meters).

2. What were the special challenges that the architects and engineers faced while designing this bridge?

The long distance but also the wind power was special challenges for the architects and engineers. We can also notice the difficulty to build it: the height of the bridge was a real challenge and very dangerous for the builders. Finally, the depth of the strait was also a challenge to put the piers.

3. How did they overcome those challenges?

For the distance, they built a suspension bridge because it can span long distances. Indeed, with its cables and its two towers, the suspension bridge has the ability to have a long and high floor, allowing the passage of boats underneath it.

To protect the workers, the engineer spent thousands of dollars, especially by installing a movable net (However, 11 workers lost their lives during the 4 years of the construction).

And to build the first tower, they decided to construct a wooden jetty (of 330 meters), to succeed the construction despite the unleashed water. Divers also ventured blindly into

...