Golden Gate Bridge Timeline

Construction began on January 5, 1933, during the Great Depression. The project ultimately cost more than $35 million ($630 million in 2024 dollars) and was completed ahead of schedule and $1.3 million under budget (equivalent to $30.5 million in 2024).

Eleven men were killed in falls during construction, ten of them on February 17, 1937, when a scaffold secured by undersized bolts fell into and broke through the safety net with twelve men on it; two of the twelve survived the 200-foot fall into the water.

The bridge opened to the public on May 27, 1937, with the celebration beginning at 6:00 a.m. At the time of its opening, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 4,200 feet (1,280 m) and towers rising 746 feet (227 m) above the water.

The Round House Café, an Art Deco design by Alfred Finnila completed in 1938, has been popular throughout the years as a starting point for various commercial tours of the bridge and an unofficial gift shop. It was renovated in 2012, after which the gift shop was removed in favor of an official gift shop in the adjacent plaza.

On December 1, 1951, a windstorm revealed swaying and rolling instabilities of the bridge, resulting in its closure. In 1953 and 1954, the bridge was retrofitted with lateral and diagonal bracing connecting the lower chords of the two side trusses, stiffening the deck in torsion so it would better resist the twisting that destroyed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940.

In June 1961, consultants hired by BART determined the bridge's suspension section could support rail service on a new lower deck, but consulting engineer Clifford Paine disagreed in July 1961. After conflicting reports, a review board's report released in April 1962 concluded that running BART on the bridge was not advisable.

Until 1964, the Golden Gate Bridge had the longest suspension bridge main span in the world at 4,200 feet (1,280 m). Since then its span has been surpassed by twenty bridges, though it retains the second-longest main span in the Americas. Its towers were the world's tallest on a suspension bridge until surpassed by Mexico's Mezcala Bridge in 1993.

From 1982 to 1986, the original bridge deck, in 747 sections, was systematically replaced with a 40% lighter and stronger steel orthotropic deck, over 401 nights without closing the roadway completely to traffic.

Since 1990, acrylic topcoats have been used instead of lead paint for air-quality reasons. The repainting program was completed in 1995, and the bridge is now maintained by 38 painters who touch up the paintwork where it becomes seriously corroded.

Although there had been discussion concerning the installation of a movable barrier since the 1980s, only in March 2005 did the Bridge Board of Directors commit to finding funding to complete the $2 million study required prior to installation of a movable median barrier.

The former elevated approach through the San Francisco Presidio, Doyle Drive, dated to 1933. Construction on the $1 billion replacement, temporarily known as the Presidio Parkway, began in December 2009. Doyle Drive was demolished April 27–30, 2012, and traffic switched onto the finished parkway July 9–12, 2015.

Image source: Golden Gate Bridge

Installation of the movable median barrier was completed on January 11, 2015, following a closure of 45.5 hours to private vehicle traffic, the longest in the bridge's history. From 1968 to 2015, opposing traffic had been separated only by small plastic pylons, during which there were 16 fatalities from 128 head-on collisions.

After years of debate and more than 2,000 deaths, implementation of suicide prevention barriers began in April 2017. Originally estimated at four years and over $200 million, installation of the nets was not completed until January 2024 and exceeded the budget by $17 million. As of November 21, 2024, suicides year-to-date were eight, down from an average of 33.5, and thwarted attempts were down from about 200 to 106 annually.

New, more flexible slats installed starting in 2019 on the west side railing—chosen to improve aerodynamic tolerance of high winds to 100 mph—caused a humming noise noticed by residents beginning in June 2020. An independent analysis found the noise comprises Aeolian tones from wind blowing across the metal slats. On December 16, 2021, the District approved installing 12,000 U-shaped clips with rubber dampers at a cost of $450,000, expected to be completed in 2025.

A statue of chief engineer Joseph Strauss was moved in 1955 to a site near the bridge, honoring his role in bringing the project to completion.

As part of the fiftieth anniversary celebration in 1987, the Golden Gate Bridge district closed the bridge to automobile traffic and allowed pedestrians to cross it on May 24. The crowd flattened the roadway's camber, though officials estimated the cables did not exceed 40% of their yielding stress.

On November 24, 1996, actor Woody Harrelson joined local environmentalists who draped a large banner above the roadway deck protesting CEO Charles Hurwitz over his aggressive logging advances. In response, legislation authored by State Senator Quentin Kopp and signed by Governor Pete Wilson in 1997 stiffened penalties for trespassing on the bridge.

In 1999, the Golden Gate Bridge was ranked fifth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects, reflecting its enduring status as an iconic American landmark.

A system of five foghorns set up on the bridge in 1937 remains operational to this day. When the Queen Mary 2 passed under the bridge during her 2007 visit to San Francisco, the foghorns blared wildly in greeting.

For the 75th anniversary on Sunday, May 27, 2012, uncontrolled pedestrian access was not considered due to additional law enforcement costs 'since 9/11.' To commemorate the milestone, automated user-controlled solar beacons were temporarily installed atop the towers.

As of 2017, three species of cetaceans (whales) that had been absent in the area for many years showed recoveries and recolonizations in the vicinity of the bridge. Researchers encouraged stronger protections and recommended the public watch them from the bridge or land, or use a local whale watching operator.

On June 6, 2020, protestors occupied the bridge as part of a nationwide denunciation of police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's murder. In November 2021, two California Highway Patrol officers and three bridge employees were injured in a vehicular chain-reaction crash during a protest against government-mandated COVID-19 vaccinations.

In February 2024 and again in April, pro-Palestinian protestors stopped traffic in both directions on the Golden Gate Bridge to protest the Gaza war.

To improve safety, the speed limit on the Golden Gate Bridge was reduced from 50 to 45 mph (80 to 72 km/h) on October 1, 1983.

The bridge began accepting tolls via the FasTrak electronic toll collection system in 2002, with $4 tolls for FasTrak users and $5 for those paying cash (equivalent to $7.16 and $8.95 respectively in 2025).

In November 2006, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District recommended a corporate sponsorship program to address a projected operating deficit of $80 million over five years. In October 2007, the Board unanimously voted to discontinue the proposal and seek additional revenue through other means, most likely a toll increase.

In March 2008, the District board approved congestion pricing at the bridge, charging higher tolls during peak hours, with the toll required by September 2009 as a condition of a grant. In August 2008, transportation officials ended the program in favor of varying rates for metered parking along the route, including Lombard Street and Van Ness Avenue.

To save $19.2 million over ten years, the District voted in January 2011 to eliminate all toll takers by 2012. After delays, toll taker elimination occurred in March 2013, and all-electronic tolling has been in effect since, via FasTrak or license plate tolling.

On April 7, 2014, FasTrak tolls rose from $5 to $6 while license plate tolls rose from $6 to $7. The District raised tolls by 25 cents in July 2015 and each of the next three years, approved 35-cent annual increases through 2023 in March 2019, and in March 2024 approved 50-cent annual increases through 2028. Effective July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027, license plate accounts pay $10.50 and FasTrak users pay $10.25.

On October 18, 2013, at around 2:00 a.m., one foghorn emitted a perpetually-sustained sound for nearly an hour due to a malfunctioning relay. Dating back to 1985, midspan foghorns had replaced original horns that partly failed in the late 1970s, causing them to sound with only a single tone.

For the 2017 marathon, the bridge was closed to all northbound traffic during the race, but in 2018 authorities refused to shut down northbound traffic out of security concerns, limiting the race to the bridge's sidewalks. As of 2025, only the sidewalks are used for the marathon.

Bicycle Route 95 was designated in 2021, incorporating the Golden Gate Bridge into the national bicycle route network. Railings between the walkways and traffic lanes had been added in 2003 primarily to prevent bicyclists from falling into the roadway.