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Golden Gate Celebrates 75th With Help Of Engineers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden Gate Bridge was heralded as an engineering marvel when it opened in 1937.

The span will turn 75 over Memorial Day weekend, and the generations of engineers who have overseen it all these years say keeping it up and open has been something of a marvel unto itself.

Crews had to install a bracing system after high winds lashed and twisted the span in the 1950s, raising fears it would collapse. Years later, they had to replace vertical cables when they were found to have corroded in the bridge's damp, foggy climate.

The bridge is currently in the midst of a seismic upgrade that has seen many of its key structures replaced or modified.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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