Probing the Golden Gate

by Mark A. Ketchum, Sr. Bridge Engr.; T. Y. Lin International, San Francisco, CA,
Al Heldermon, Proj. Engr.; T. Y. Lin International, San Francisco, CA,


Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1991, Vol. 61, Issue 6, Pg. 42-45


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

The Golden Gate Bridge has just come through the most detailed analysis ever attempted in its 53-year-old history. This analysis was squeezed into a desktop computer that calculates twice as fast with 10 times the memory of the mainframe used a decade ago for a previous seismic study. Analyses under dead load, live load of highway, rail and pedestrian traffic, plus effects of wind and earthquake helped determine if the bridge could carry a rail transit deck. The study showed that the Golden Gate is a remarkable structure which has reserve strength for carrying additional vertical loads.

Subject Headings: Vertical loads | Railroad bridges | Rail transportation | Live loads | Dead loads | Wind loads | Traffic analysis

Services: Buy this book/Buy this article

 

Return to search