Bridging the Gate
A Bronco remembers 75 years of an icon.
 |
|
Bill Adams '37. 1937 Redwood |
The thick suspension cables of the Golden Gate bridge were already draped across the entrance to San Francisco Bay and the road sections were about to be connected mid-span when Bill Adams '37 got an opportunity to tour the construction site.
It was October 1936 and SCU School of Engineering dean George L. Sullivan, who served as a personnel consultant on the bridge, arranged the trip for the Engineering Society. The “blue shirts,” as the student society was called, examined the concrete fenders around the base of the towers as well as the equipment used to make the giant suspension cables. Adams remembers being introduced by Sullivan to chief bridge engineer Joseph Strauss. After explaining the cable construction process to the students, Strauss gave each of them a strand of the wire being used.
It was an exciting time to be an engineer, recalls Adams. Hoover Dam had been dedicated the previous year and, in San Francisco, construction was wrapping up on both the Bay Bridge and one of the largest steam power plants in the world.
 |
|
Program for the 1937 bridge opening. |
The Golden Gate bridge presented a variety of design challenges: it had to span a 6,700 foot strait subject to strong tides and winds, it had to be high enough not to interfere with shipping traffic, and it needed to be able to withstand strong earthquakes. In addition, there were daunting construction logistics. Sullivan found these problems to “very much appeal to the imagination” and discussed them in a 1934 article. Adams remembers how impressive it was to see the whole project being carried forward to completion.
At the time, few realized how iconic the bridge would become. Since it's dedication in May 1937, it has come to be recognized as a landmark for both the city of San Francisco as well as the United States. On May 27, 2012, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, along with the city of San Francisco, staged a massive celebration marking the 75th anniversary of its own engineering marvel. As California historian Kevin Starr wrote, "The Golden Gate Bridge ... offers enduring proof that human beings can alter the planet with reverence."
Spring/Summer 2013
Table of contents
Features
Walk Across California
An epic journey whereby one foot is put in front of the other to discover, up close and personal, who and what and where is the Golden State.
Miller's Tale
To tell the story of Bob Miller ’67 is to tell the coming-of-age tale of Las Vegas itself. And it’s the chronicle of a man who served a decade as governor of Nevada. Quite a journey for the son of an illegal bookie from Chicago.
Blood. Sweat. Tears. Repeat.
Nina Acosta '82 was a tough enough cop to pass the test for the LAPD’s SWAT team. Then she learned the hard way about gender discrimination. So how did she do on Survivor?
Mission Matters
When justice is kidnapped
The 2013 Alexander Law Prize honors Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese civil-rights activist and attorney who protested government abuses—including excessive enforcement of the one-child policy—then escaped house arrest to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
Double trouble
Growing up tennis with Kelly Lamble ’13 and John Lamble ’13. And Bronco teams that are a force to be reckoned with nationally.
Keep the door open
For teaching and advising and a ministry that’s blessed this place for 48 years—paying tribute to Charles Phipps, S.J.
Impressed ... !