How the Golden Gate Bridge cables were built in midair, one pencil-thin wire at a time

One cable on the Golden Gate Bridge weighs more than the Eiffel Tower, yet no ship could carry it and nothing could lift it over 4,000 feet of open water. In 1935, two steel towers stood waiting with nothing between them. The crews never lifted the cable at all. They spun it in midair, one pencil-thin wire at a time, until 27,572 wires became a single cable nearly three feet thick — and finished in just over six months instead of fourteen. Sources: • Design & Construction Stats — goldengate.org — https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-research/statistics-data/design-construction-stats/ • Spinning the Main Cables — goldengate.org — https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/spinning-the-main-cables/ • Cross-section — https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/cross-section-of-a-main-cable/