They Did It During The Great Depression, They Did It Without Computers, They Did It Without AutoCad

[WillyT]

they did it in mist and fog and wind and rain... and they did it in 4 years and 4 months.



Man, we were good back then.

[cantbeserious]

1. Skilled Tradesman, Dedicated Engineers, And Focused Goal - Works Every Time

eom

[WillyT]

3. Word !!!

[TomClash]

13. +1

[malaise]

2. Who?

The aliens?

Seriously back then rational people believed in science and scientists.

[WillyT]

4. Well... It IS San Francisco... So Ya Never Know...

BTW - I ABSOLUTELY LOVE that city!!!

[malaise]

8. LOL

[hlthe2b]

5. Yes... so much of the most amazing engineering would seem impossible today without all these tools

Happy 75th to the Golden Gate. It really is fantastic.

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. And even before that and with less sophistication, this was accomplished

But...but we make stuff these days, don't we?....we trade things like derivities....we make up lies in the news....

[malaise]

9. Isn't that the truth

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. right back at ya!

[frazzled]

31. Self-deleted

[freshwest]

48. No way. The inter-tubes told me those were definitely the product of extra-terrestrial technology.

[Brigid]

64. That's right.

This guy with the unspellable -- and unpronouncable -- last name says so.

[NickB79]

71. Does he intentionally try to look like a Centauri from Babylon 5?

Is that part of his shtick?

[freshwest]

76. Yes! LOL! 'This is part where my brain went on strike.'

[Mass]

63. well, given that the pyramides were build by slaves, I am not sure it is a good example.

Certainly a technological prowess, but sadly, those who worked on it have been forgotten a long time ago.

Who built the seven towers of Thebes?
The books are filled with the names of kings.
Was it kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?
In the evening when the Chinese wall was finished
Where did the masons go?

- Bertolt Brecht

[tclambert]

69. A newer theory is that free men, skilled workers for pay, built the Great Pyramid.

Someone even suggested it was a giant jobs program which stimulated the economy.

[Surya Gayatri]

89. So were the Capitol and the White House.

That doesn't make them any less stunning or symbolic.

On the contrary, we should remember those who suffered and toiled to make something so beautiful.

[Odin2005]

91. They were built by well-paid conscripted labor, not slaves.

It was basically what many workers did during the half of the year they were not farming.

[nxylas]

68. Probably not the best example, given that it was built by slaves

The Pyramids are an example of what can be accomplished when the entire population of a country is the legal property of the Pharaoh. Don't give them ideas.

[4th law of robotics]

77. Also they were completely useless

I don't think we'd be ok with a jobs program that dedicated vast sums of our GDP towards toys exclusively for the rich.

No matter how quickly they were built.

I'd have gone with the Hoover dam. That was a bit more useful.

[Surya Gayatri]

90. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever..."-John Keats

Pity to approach everything from a prosaic, utilitarian point of view.

[4th law of robotics]

110. I'm sure all the starving slaves were very happy they could

look up at the splendor they helped created by giving up their youth, health, sometimes lives for someone else.

Sure they would have been better off building canals or dams or granaries or public housing or . . .

But them pyramids sure were purdy.

[Surya Gayatri]

115. They weren't starving--in fact they were quite well

housed and well-fed because their labor was prized.

The skilled artisans, who did the cutting, carving and decorating, were especially well-treated.

In fact, the "slave" laborers were materially better-off than some average Egyptians.

Certain of them were so handsomely rewarded that they were able in turn to have tombs built for themselves.

Political "freedom" as we know it today was an unknown concept in Egyptian society.

[fujiyama]

109. Not just the rich

but the religious crazies. Religious nuts like very shiny objects too.

I was watching that show 'Tanked' on Animal Planet about these guys that build fancy aquariums (usually for very rich people). One of their customers was a mega church in Texas. The aquarium they built for the church looked better than some major city aquariums.

[Surya Gayatri]

116. But, will these ostentatious creations

stand the test of time and remain "a joy forever"?

[CreekDog]

7. they did it remarkably safely

use of safety nets were innovative and very effective.

[Bluenorthwest]

56. Well eleven men died in constructing the bridge...

Remarkable for the number of deaths, for sure.

[tclambert]

70. I was just about to look that up.

I was pretty sure people used to die on such large projects.

[Bluenorthwest]

72. Yes, 11 died, and yet I agree with the poster who said innovative safety precautions

were used, because they were. More workers were saved by the nets and other precautions than died, and 10 of the 11 died when the safety nets themselves failed when scaffolding and rigging collapsed. 19 men were caught in the nets and saved from death during the building, 11 lives lost. Without the nets it would have been 30 dead at least.
I just don't like to forget those who did in fact die.
Editing to add that the Brooklyn Bridge, 1872 or so, took the lives of 27 workers, including the chief designer Roeeling. The son of Roebling took over the work and he suffered permanent and paralyzing injuries as a result of getting the bends during the underwater construction phase. So the progress in safety methods and the lessons learned with each large project are evident in the lesser numbers killed constructing the Golden Gate and subsequent projects.

[DavidDvorkin]

10. They would have jumped at the chance to use computers and AutoCad

had those been available.

[WillyT]

15. Sure... And The Wright Brothers Would Have Preferred A 747... But It Doesn't Quite Work That Way...

[Confusious]

36. Kind of a BS comparsion

You're comparing a tool to a finished product.

Design these days is a lot more complicated then it was back then.

Sure you can build huge structures, we could probably build the same bridge in the same amount of time, or less even. It's taken seven years to build the freedom tower in New York, something many more times more complicated then the Golden Gate bridge. Built in 150% of the time. Thanks to our fancy "tools."

[WillyT]

37. And Yet... A Marvel Of Depression Era Technology Still Stands, And Is Functional... 75 Years Later...

They don't call 'em the Greatest Generation for nothing.

[Confusious]

39. Another bogus comparsion

A lot of Model T's are on the road, along with a bunch of other cars from different decades. My car is 30 years old and still runs like a champ.

Take care of something, it lasts. I'm sure, barring any "outside" disturbances, buildings and bridges being built now will still stand in 75 years. (Boston bridge, Freedom tower, example of)

Probably longer, since the designer had more time to spend on "design" and selection of materials, due, in part, to autocad and technology. It also probably allowed less materials to be used per foot of bridge and building, since you had all of the data right at hand.

Today, they could build a building a mile high with less weight per square inch then the empire state building due to things like autocad.

[WillyT]

41. And You... Don't Have A Clue... Or An Appreciation Of History...

[Confusious]

95. I have an appreciation of history

I just don't make bogus comparisons.

[Heywood J]

75. And have it collapse due to the use of cheap Chinese materials too. (NT)

[Surya Gayatri]

85. Damn, lighten up Francis. Nothing like taking

a mundane, prosaic attitude to something so poetically splendid.

You'd probably prefer to give us an endless computer spreadsheet of the building stats than to show us one breathtaking picture of the finished marvel.

[Confusious]

112. So your one of the people

Who thinks we shouldn't understand it, just appreciate it?

Sorry to tell you this, but understanding gives you MORE appreciation, not less.

looking at it as just "something so poetically splendid" is a superficial view.

PS. Without understanding, it couldn't have been built in the first place.

[Surya Gayatri]

113. Sorry, but you don't seem bent on genuinely helping

anyone better understand the technology.

IMHO, you're using a pedant's tools to beat others over the head with your eruditon.

Must make sure no-one actually enjoys the flight of imagination WillyT tried to take us on.

Ground that sucker at all costs. Wouldn't want to be on your exploratory team!

There's an appropriate time and place for both pure science and creative imagination. Good to know which is which.

[Confusious]

117. Helping you understand in a post is impossible

If I could, I would be the greatest teacher in the world.

I would suggest you take some science and math classes at your local community college if you really want to. It will add greatly to your appreciation.

I would also expect that you don't really care, since you seem to think any sort of understanding along that line "Grounds that sucker at all costs."

"There's an appropriate time and place for both pure science and creative imagination"

You can look at it one way, I can look at it another. When the original OP states with snark " And they didn't use computers or autocad," it seems appropriate to me. Pumping up one set of people and insulting another is extremly lame attempt at a "flight of imagination."

Oh, I'm not the one using words such as "pedant's tools" and "eruditon" to try and hide the attempt at insulting someone. Just M"H"O.

(If it was really humble, you probably wouldn't give it unless asked, would you?)

[Surya Gayatri]

118. If I had your acumen, which I sadly don't,

I might aspire to be "the greatest teacher in the world", too.

Thanks so much for the advice on "adding greatly to (my) appreciation". I wonder how I didn't think of it?

[Confusious]

119. False humility is also pretty lame too

I have great respect for teachers, especially those that explain difficult concepts in simple language, and don't bump their egos up making novices look stupid.

Explaining difficult concepts in simple language is something I've never been able to do, which is why, even with your insults, I won't waste your time trying.

[alittlelark]

43. Do you not understand the point of the post?

possibly ??

[fascisthunter]

12. were it Union Workers who did this?

Too bad the "New Dems" could give two shits about the concept not now.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

19. Yes, it was constructed with union workers. FDR was the first president to support unions.

Under FDR's leadership, the right to collective bargaining was enacted into law when he signed the National Industrial Recovery Act. San Francisco also had unions before he did so.

The Golden Gate Bridge employed union workers, because construction began after the New Deal had begun to offer such protection. But legislation tells only part of the story; locale was also significant. San Francisco was already a union town in the mid-thirties, and longshoremen in particular wielded power.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/goldengate-engineering/

[freshwest]

49. My dad was a union machinist in S.F. in the 30's and walked across the bridge for the opening.

So I've always felt a connection with it and S.F.

[CreekDog]

14. I was there on the 50th birthday

In the middle of that crowd, getting crushed as everyone tried to get onto the bridge, even though, there wasn't room for anyone else.

Us in the middle were literally squeezed as people from Marin and SF continued to try to push their way onto the bridge. It was actually scary at several points, jammed up against the side railing, facing the ocean to the west. Hoping the railing would hold.

At one point, our section of the bridge would yell, in unison, "go back!", "go back", etc. Begging the people we could see a mile away to stop trying to get on the bridge, as we were stuck and crushed.

Unforgettable day.

[lunatica]

17. It was the first and only time the arch of the bridge was actually flat.

I remember that.

[WillyT]

21. I Was At Chrissy Field... But You Must Have Enjoyed This...

The day the Golden Gate Bridge flattened
By Stephen Tung [e-mail]
Posted: 05/23/2012 08:24:38 PM PDT
Updated: 05/24/2012 06:28:26 AM PDT



<snip>

Picture this: Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed shoulder to shoulder on the Golden Gate Bridge when suddenly the bridge's gentle arch begins to flatten out. A metal groan then echoes across San Francisco Bay as the majestic towers begin tilting toward each other.
As the towers hit their breaking point, the 3-foot-thick main suspension cables slacken and the roadway splits open, dropping waves of pedestrians more than 200 feet to their deaths.

That almost happened 25 years ago today, at least according to urban legend.

On May 24, 1987, 300,000 people were stuck in human gridlock for hours while getting a rare chance to cross the 1.7-mile bridge en masse on foot to celebrate the bridge's golden anniversary. Officials quickly closed the bridge, so a half-million other people waiting to cross never got the chance. Still, the enormous, unprecedented weight caused the middle of the bridge to sag 7 feet.

"I'm grateful because if the others had gotten out there, maybe the bridge would have fallen down," Gary Giacomini, then president of the bridge district's board, told The Associated Press at the time.

But engineers said afterward that the bridge was never in danger of collapsing. And bridge officials insist that the reason the bridge district isn't permitting pedestrians to swarm over the Golden Gate for the 75th anniversary Sunday has nothing to do with the threat of collapse and everything to do with the threats of overcrowding and terrorism in a post-9/11 world.

"It's just not wise," said Ewa Bauer, chief engineer of the bridge district.

Independent engineers agree with Bauer that structurally the bridge was safe during the Golden Gate's last big celebration.

"It was probably the biggest load the bridge had ever seen," said Mark Ketchum, a San Francisco bridge engineer who studied the Golden Gate Bridge from 1989 to 1991. "But it did not exceed the design load capacity of the bridge."

On fully loaded suspension bridges the size of the Golden Gate, it's normal to have "deflections" of up to 10 feet, said Greg Deierlein, a Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering.

<snip>

More: http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_20695953/day-golden-gate-bridge-flattened

[CreekDog]

32. cool article, and cool that they explained what those of us in the middle of the bridge experienced

i mean, it wasn't what we were expecting to happen --but it was more memorable because it was a bit of a surprise to get stuck there and just wait and wait and wait for hours.


they are saying the crowds near Golden Gate Bridge are light today, and i'm wondering if lots of people like me, who went there 25 years ago, were avoiding it because of memories of the crowds back then.

[CreekDog]

33. it was awesome to be walking on the roadway, amazing, not even crowded...UNTIL...

so we get to about the middle of the bridge, I was in high school...and we're having a good time on the bridge, no fog to speak of and at the middle, between the two towers, we suddenly see a wall of people from Marin approaching. our reaction was, "wow, um...let's turn around." so, we turn around and then, a wall of people maybe 100 feet away, so we darted to the side.

being first on the bridge was really, really cool, because we got to walk most of it without any crowds --paradise.

the problem was it was in the absolute middle of the crushing crowds --and when they came together, those crowds crushed. i have never felt so squeezed by a crowd --not even two different New Year's on the Las Vegas strip (a comparable crowd size though).

[left on green only]

51. I knew there was a reason why I stayed home on that day....

after having seriously considered "taking part" in the celebration. Just think, 300K people at one time who had absolutely no access to restroom facilities. Have you ever wondered how many people must have peed themselves, or worse, simply because for hours and hours there was no way to avail themselves of an accommodation?

Just sayin

[Surya Gayatri]

93. Fascinating stuff, WillyT. Thanks so much for this thread.

I never heard about the bridge flattening in 1987. How much is the total weight load of all those people, I wonder?

[WillyT]

122. You Are Quite Welcome !!!

[BlueJazz]

16. Somewhere around 10 years ago a poll was taken> How long did it take...

...to build the Empire state building?. Most people said 5-7 years.

It took 1 year and 45 days.

[xchrom]

18. A Marvel. A breathtaking, beautiful marvel.

Withe none of the sections, or cables, etc exported from china and assembled here.

[madamesilverspurs]

20. Imagine all the things we could accomplish

were it not for the likes of Boehner and McConnell. Had they been around way back when, there would be no Golden Gate Bridge, no Empire State Building, no interstate highway system, no moon landings . . .


=

[awoke_in_2003]

22. Hoover Dam. nt

[PavePusher]

23. And to be complete....

no OSHA, far less regulation in many areas, including safety, worker rights, litigation over both trivial and non-trivial stuff....

Just food for thought.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

25. Food for thought if you're anti-union?

[sabrina 1]

46. Only if you think that was a good thing. Fortunately we have advanced and made progress since

then. How many people died building all these structures? Or does that matter? We could the same things today, even more as we know more, and add to that, workers would be safe. How cool is that? Thanks mostly to Democrats. Republicans don't care about human life, unless it's their own.

[PavePusher]

120. Fortunately, I do not think (nor do I think I implied) that it was a good thing.

Just making the point that they had far fewer rules to follow.

Sometimes that is good, sometimes it's bad.

[sabrina 1]

129. Well, in this case, as shown somewhere else in this thread, they had unions, which probably

accounted for the safety measures (see my post below) taken that saved the lives of at least 19 other men during the building of the bridge. Unions are necessary as we have learned from the history of Labor. And the Dem Party is the party of Labor so I can't imagine any Dem not supporting Unions.

[sabrina 1]

47. Names of the 11 men who died while building the bridge:

Frequently Asked Questions About The Golden Gate Bridge

How many men died during construction? 11

February 17, 1937: O.A. Anderson; Chris Anderson; William Bass; O. Desper; Fred Dümmatzen; Terence Hallinan; Eldridge Hillen; Charles Lindros; Jack Norman; and Louis Russell.

19 others were saved from death by a net suspended under the bridge.

The most conspicuous precaution was the safety net, suspended under the floor of the Bridge from end to end. During construction, the net saved the lives of 19 men who became known as the "Halfway-to-Hell Club."

Regulations are necessary because often in order to save money, safety precautions were not taken.

[Bluenorthwest]

57. Thanks Sabrina...

some on this thread, by way of criticizing our own era, are promoting the idea that the bridge was built without deaths. Sad.

[Bluenorthwest]

66. The Golden Gate Bridge was built by Union workers, SF was a strong Union city then.

So of course worker's rights and wages were collectively bargained agreements. Safety was not what it is today but much effort was placed towrad safety in the bridge project. More lives were saved by the precautions taken than were lost overall, 19 saved by the nets along, 11 died during the project, 10 of those when the safety nets failed.
It might interest you to know that there was rather large opposition to the bridge from DC, the War Department was afraid it would hinder naval access to the Bay, and they fought it for years. For the sake of 'defense' they wanted no bridge, wanted a draw bridge, and that delayed the project for some time.
Additionally it took years and years to make the political path to construction, various county, city and State interests on top of the Federal interest. There were votes, bonds, meetings, compromises. It was in fact, just like today.

[freshwest]

50. +1,000

[bupkus]

60. Imagine what we were going to accompligh were it not for the likes of Chris Christie

The ARC Tunnel.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/gov_christie_cancels_arc_tunne.html

Gov. Chris Christie today terminated the over-budget Hudson River commuter train tunnel, America’s largest public works project, ending for now the two-decade-old quest to expand rail capacity between New Jersey and midtown Manhattan.

As it turned out, the cost overruns Christie cited were wildly overblown and Christie has since stolen the ARC money for New Jersey's depleted transportation fund which he is now using to plug a budget gap created by his again wildly overblown revenue estimates so he can give millionaires another break on their state income taxes.

[Surya Gayatri]

98. Another retrograde Repuke mistake. Christie

will ultimately be judged harshly for his stupidity.

[Surya Gayatri]

96. +1,000 ! n/t

[Yavin4]

24. They Did It Without Calculators

In fact, we put a man on the moon without a calculator.

[baldguy]

58. .

You don't know what this is, do you?

[FogerRox]

79. Slide rule, helped put men on the Moon.

[DavidDvorkin]

81. We did that with computers

Big, powerful ones (by the standard of the times) on the ground, small ones on the Lunar Module and Command Module.

I never saw anyone at NASA use a slide rule to do their work. We all had them, but if anyone used them for work, I never saw it. I can't imagine why anyone there would have done so.

[FogerRox]

84. Neil Armstrongs slide rule

Sliderules flew on 5 Apollo missions
http://historical.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=669&lotNo=25368

[DavidDvorkin]

102. Yes, everyone likes to talk about the slide rules that astronauts had with them. However

those instruments did not send men to the moon. That work was done by a large number of men on the ground using computers.

[IDemo]

26. Designed 50 years ago without computers or AutoCad (try slide-rules):

Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird

[curlyred]

27. Autocad is just a tool-it cannot replace imagination and focus

No amount of software can replace that drive and determination that creates design.

[bupkus]

62. Stradivarius built the most prized violins every creatred by hand

Today, just about anyone with a CNC machine can create a Stradivarius copy.

[Surya Gayatri]

100. Ask any musician worthy of the name which they'd rather

play on...

[Surya Gayatri]

99. +1,000 ! n/t

[OffWithTheirHeads]

28. But the real question from those of us who grew up in THE CITY is...

If you were going to jump, which side would you jump from? The ocean side or the city side?

[thelordofhell]

29. The Golden Gate Bridge Suicides.........

[WillyT]

30. And What ???

It should never have been built ???

Seriously ???

[thelordofhell]

52. They can stop this

But the cost analysis is that it's too much money to do it

[Surya Gayatri]

101. And the safety devices would likely destroy some of

the Golden Gate's aesthetic appeal.

edit: silly spelling

[Surya Gayatri]

87. What's your point? Is the bridge any less

breathtaking because some have used it for darker purposes?

It is still stunningly beautiful and a monument to human endeavor.

[johnd83]

34. We still are good

We have a hell of a lot more like this in us as a country, we just need to remember and work as a team again.

[gratuitous]

35. Red-headed step-child

And a pale imitation of the original:



Heh, heh, heh.

[happerbolic]

38. oooo...Green with Envy

so wanna' be in Portland some day! St. John's Bridge and all the rest of the bridges nearby are such a wonder to behold up there. The river walk has so much atmosphere.

[gratuitous]

73. When I first moved to Portland . . .

I was in a crummy house in North Portland, several blocks away from the St. John's Bridge. I decided to walk across it one fine winter's day, and as I was coming back, I met an old guy who was out at the north end of the bridge. We exchanged greetings, and he observed as how "they finally built this bridge." We parted ways, and I passed by the plaque that said the bridge had been built in 1931. I've thought from time to time that I should have gone back and asked the guy about the time before the bridge was built.

Bridge Pedal in a little more than two months!

[classof56]

74. What a great view of the St. Johns Bridge!

I remember when the Fremont Bridge was built in 1973. We lived on the coast, and watched on TV as it was floated on a barge to where it now spans the Willamette. My daughter, then 5, was quite fascinated with the whole thing. A few months later, on a trip to Portland, she saw the bridge, whereupon she exclaimed, "What's that doing in the real world?" Gave us a chuckle!

Portland--City of Bridges and Roses. I love it!

[cherokeeprogressive]

40. And they did it for one reason...

To promote and foster the car culture. In fact, the fledgling auto industry was one of the bridge's biggest supporters and it was funded in large part by Bank of America.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

54. Funded by the B of A? How did you come to that conclusion?

There was a bank in California at the time known as the Bank of Italy.

It engaged in so many abusive practices, that the State of California adopted statutes to prohibit some of them.

The Bank of Italy later became the Bank of America.

[Brother Buzz]

106. Bank of Italy was renamed Band Of America one day before $35 million bond issue passed

Coincidence?

[Bluenorthwest]

61. That's absurd. The 'fledgling auto industry' was 30 years old when the bridge opened

The automobile had already taken the nation, had in fact carried most of California's population to the State, many in autos so old they famously broke down stranding hundreds of Dust Bowl refugees, poor people with cars.
Prior to the bridge opening, people used ferry services across the bay, including, wait for it, overburdened auto ferries taking cars across at a buck a pop, that's a 1935 buck, and it took about half an hour. Until the Golden Gate opened, San Francisco was the only major city in America with only ferry service and no bridges. The only city without.
The funding came from a bond issue by the counties involved including Sonoma and Marin. The city of Santa Rosa had much to do with the process as well. The stock market crash left the bonds without buyers, which is why Giannini of BofA bought the entire issue.
The planning for the bridge took more than a decade, and the project was designed and named before B of A bought the bonds. The auto industry really did not need to lobby for that which people and governments were calling for year after year. The Golden Gate connected Highway 1 and 101 north to south. The impact was not just local and was wider than regional, as the NW also benefited from opening transportation options.
History is there to read.

[Surya Gayatri]

105. Thanks for putting the record straight, Blue...

[Art_from_Ark]

123. Actually, the Bay Bridge opened in 1936

So San Francisco had a bridge connection a year before the Golden Gate Bridge opened.

http://baybridgeinfo.org/history

[WillyT]

124. True... East/West... But Not North/South...

That was still one hell of a drive from San Fransisco to Sausilito without the Golden Gate, as there was no Richmond Bridge yet.

[Art_from_Ark]

125. I was commenting on this statement by the other poster:

"Until the Golden Gate opened, San Francisco was the only major city in America with only ferry service and no bridges."

[WillyT]

126. Ah... Gotcha...

[Surya Gayatri]

103. Even if we were still in the horse and buggy era,

that's one hell of a human accomplishment.

And they built jets after prop planes to "promote and foster" the culture of flight.

And they built electrically powered trains after steam engines to "promote and foster" the culture of rail.

So freaking what?

[lumberjack_jeff]

42. And 11 of those men died. n/t

[Bolo Boffin]

92. Even that is an amazing low number for this kind of dangerous project.

There was a safety net strung under the building project.

10 of those 11 died when the net failed after a scaffolding collapse. Nineteen others fell but were rescued by the net. They called themselves the Halfway to Hell Club.

[Archae]

44. Yeah, they sure were geniuses...

[Surya Gayatri]

86. Shit happens...back to the drawing board!

[NBachers]

45. I walked across it Friday- I took my sister & her husband down there this evening for the events

She said they had fireworks arranged on the bridge that made it look like a waterfall coming down. I could hear the booms all the way over by my place in The Mission.

We also explored the old concrete fortifications that surround the area. I wish some of those great big guns were still in place. I wish I could explore some of those locked-up underground catacombs. What a dynamic area.

I can't imagine how cold it must've been in those cliffside concrete and metal pillboxes in the middle of a cold, windy night.

[DCKit]

55. Looks photoshopped. nt

[Brigid]

59. What is wrong with some of you?

WillyT started a thread about a marvel of engineering, a tribute to what we can do if we put our minds to it, and some of you want to start a fight about it? What's up with that?

[Mass]

65. It was a great prowess,

but would it not be nice if we remembered the name of those who built it. Sadly, it is probably long forgotten.

[Bluenorthwest]

67. Many of the names of workers on the bridge are remembered...

This documentary is called 'The Bridge Builders' from 1962 a Peabody Award winner, for that matter.
https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/191374

[Mass]

80. Thanks. Bluenorthwest.

I'm going to save this movie to watch later.

[PatSeg]

78. We used to do the impossible

Golden Gate Bridge, Panama Canal (totally amazing), Empire State Building, Mount Rushmore, Hoover Damn, Interstate Highways, 7-mile Bridge to the Florida Keys, etc. There are so many remarkable accomplishments in our past and now just maintaining them is deemed impossible.

The only thing this country seems to make anymore is money for a select few.

[Odin2005]

97. The Greatest Generation got shit done!

From the Depression-era public works projects to the Apollo Program. it was back when everything was thought possible. Then selfishness and greed took over.

I think the Vietnam War killed the faith in society doing great things, and thus triggered out descent into where we are now.

[PatSeg]

104. I was amazed at how quickly

our military upgraded from World War I arms and machinery to a world class military power. Our converted factories were putting out planes and aircraft carriers at a pace that is still mind-boggling today. Now we can't find the will or money to repair bridges or build schools. Only profit matters.

When I was a kid, they were always building - Schools, post offices, bridges, highways, parks. No one thought twice about it, that was what we did.

I saw the biggest change in the eighties. It felt like people were more materialistic and less compassionate, but that could be a reflection of my own experiences.

[Surya Gayatri]

108. No surprise there, PatSeg...the disappearance of the public consensus

necessary for the building of public works corresponds directly with the Reagan era and Reaganomics of the 80s.

[PatSeg]

121. The one thing a remember the most about

the Reagan years was the rampant homelessness. For all the people who did very well, there were so many more who fell into poverty. It wasn't a particularly hopeful time.

[Surya Gayatri]

107. Well said, Odin! +1000!

Can you imagine any of the Repuke presidents since Ray-Gun launching the kind of challenge that JFK did in 1960?

"We will have a man on the moon by the end of the decade." Today? No way!

[Odin2005]

111. Hell, we have DUers who are anti-NASA.

[LongTomH]

82. A big K&R for American workers and American ingenuity!

[Surya Gayatri]

83. Wonder of the world...like Rachel says

in her MSNBC ad: "Where are these kinds of great undertakings today?"

It's so symbolically beautiful that it takes your breath away. Here, in honor of 75 years:

[Odin2005]

88. Big Gummit WORKS!

[ThoughtCriminal]

94. A Bridge to Somewhere!

Awesome!

[VPStoltz]

114. This is where I find corporate America has no faith in our capability.

All CorpAm does in complain about regulation and how EXPENSIVE it will be do implement this and that?
We have a highly capable and creative workforce that could develop all manner of tools to clean the environment, etc.
They are delusional, selfish, greedy and just plain hate the American worker.

[pansypoo53219]

127. expendable workers.

nt
tho less deadly than the hoover dam + panama canal.

[WillyT]

128. Are There Any Large Scale Projects That Are Death Free.. I Seriously Would Like To Know...

or was that the point?


World Trade Center under construction in 1971

In all, 60 workers were killed in construction accidents while the World Trade Center was being built.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_of_the_World_Trade_Center