Building the impossible: Golden Gate Bridge - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Skye Zhang 校对人员: Helen Chang

In the mid-1930s, two familiar spires towered above the morning fog.

20世纪30年代中期，有两座 我们现在熟悉的尖塔耸立在晨雾中。

Stretching 227 meters into the sky,

这座高达227米、

these 22,000-ton towers would help support California’s Golden Gate Bridge.

重达22000吨的塔 将支撑加州的金门大桥。

But since they were currently in Pennsylvania,

但由于它们当时位于宾夕法尼亚州，

they first had to be dismantled, packaged, and shipped piece by piece

它们首先必须被拆卸、包装， 然后一块一块地运到

over 4,500 kilometers away.

超过4500公里之外。

Moving the bridge’s towers across a continent

将大桥的塔移过大陆

was just one of the challenges facing Charles Ellis and Joseph Strauss,

只是该项目首席工程师 查尔斯·埃利斯和约瑟夫·施特劳斯

the project's lead engineers.

面临的挑战之一。

Even before construction began, the pair faced all kinds of opposition.

甚至在施工开始前， 他们就面临着各种各样的困境。

The military feared the bridge would make the important harbor

军队害怕这座大桥将使重要的港口

an even more vulnerable target.

成为一个更加脆弱的目标。

Ferry companies claimed the bridge would steal their business,

渡轮公司声称这座大桥 将会抢走他们的生意，

and residents wanted to preserve the area's natural scenery.

而居民则希望保护该地区的自然景观。

Worse still, many engineers thought the project was impossible.

最糟糕的是，很多工程师认为 这是个根本不可能完成的任务。

The Golden Gate Strait was home to 96-kilometer-per-hour winds,

金门海峡的所在 有每小时96公里的大风、

swirling tides, an endless blanket of fog,

漩涡潮汐、无尽的雾层，

and the earthquake-prone San Andreas fault.

还是易发生地震的 圣安德烈亚斯断层的所在地。

But Strauss was convinced the bridge could be built;

但施特劳斯坚信这座桥是可以建成的;

and that it would provide San Francisco’s commuters

它将为旧金山的通勤者

more reliable passage to the city.

提供更可靠的去市里的通道。

He was, however, a bit out of his depth.

不过，他有点力不从心。

Strauss’s initial plans to span the strait used a cantilever bridge.

施特劳斯最初的计划 是用一座悬臂桥横跨狭窄的海峡。

This kind of bridge consists of a single beam anchored at one end

这种桥由一端固定的单梁组成，

and extended horizontally like a diving board.

并像跳水板一样水平延伸。

Since these bridges can only extend so far before collapsing under their own weight,

由于这些桥梁可延伸的长度有限， 超过就会因自身的重量而坍塌，

Strauss’s design used two cantilevers, linked by a structure in the middle.

施特劳斯的设计使用了 由中间的结构连接的两个悬臂。

But Ellis and his colleague Leon Moisseif convinced Strauss

但埃利斯和他的同事 莱昂·莫塞夫说服了施特劳斯

to pursue a different approach: the suspension bridge.

采用另一种方法:吊桥。

Where a cantilever bridge is supported from one end

在悬臂桥的一端受支撑的地方，

a suspension bridge suspends its deck from cables strung across the gap.

悬索桥的桥面由横跨桥缝的缆绳悬吊。

The result is a more flexible structure

这是一个更灵活的结构，

that’s resilient to winds and shifting loads.

可以适应风和变化的负载。

This kind of design had long been used for small rope bridges.

这种设计长期以来 一直用于小型索桥。

And in the 1930s, advanced steel manufacturing

在20世纪30年代， 先进的钢铁制造业

could create cables of bundled wire to act as strong steel rope

可以制造出捆扎成束的钢索， 这样的坚固钢索

for large-scale construction.

可以用于大型建筑。

At the time, the Golden Gate Bridge

在那个时代，金门大桥

was the longest and tallest suspension bridge ever attempted,

是人们尝试过的最长、最高的悬索桥，

and its design was only possible due to these innovations.

正是由于这些创新， 它的设计才成为可能。

But cables and towers of this size could only be built at large steelworks

但这种规模的电缆和塔只能在

东海岸的大型钢铁厂建造。

on the country’s east coast.

While the recently completed Panama Canal

虽然最近建成的巴拿马运河

made it possible to ship these components to California,

使这些部件能够运到加利福尼亚，

reassembling the towers on site didn’t go quite as smoothly.

但现场重新组装这些塔的过程 却不是那么顺利。

It was relatively easy to find a stable, shallow foundation for the north tower.

为北侧塔找到一个稳定、 浅的地基相对容易。

But building the south tower essentially required erecting

但建造南侧塔实际上需要在水下建造

a ten-story building underwater.

一座十层楼高的建筑。

Since the strait’s depth prevented them drilling or digging the foundations,

由于海峡的深度 阻止他们钻探或挖掘地基，

bombs were dropped on the ocean floor, creating openings for pouring concrete.

炸弹被投到海底， 为混凝土浇筑创造了开口。

A seawall was built to protect the site from powerful currents,

人们修建了防波堤， 以保护该地区不受强大水流的影响，

and workers operated in 20-minute shifts between tides.

工作人员在潮汐中轮班工作， 每轮班20分钟。

The towers had so many compartments that each worker carried a set of plans

双子塔有太多隔间， 每个工人都带着一套设计图纸

to prevent getting lost.

以防迷路。

And at one point, an earthquake rocked the south tower

有一次，地震使南塔

nearly 5 meters in each direction.

朝着两个方向摇晃了近5米远。

Strauss took worker safety very seriously, requiring hard hats at all times

施特劳斯非常重视工人的安全， 要求工人一直戴着安全帽，

and stretching a safety net below the towers.

并在塔下拉起安全网。

But not even these precautions could prevent

但即使是这些预防措施也不能防止

an entire scaffolding platform from falling in 1937,

整个脚手架平台在1937年倒塌，

carrying ten workers to their deaths.

导致10名工人死亡。

Once the towers were complete, workers spun the cables in place,

一旦双子塔完工， 工人们就把缆绳旋转到位，

hung suspenders at 50-foot intervals, and laid down the concrete roadway.

每隔50英尺悬挂吊杆， 然后铺设混凝土路面。

The bridge was finished, but there was still one more task ahead:

大桥完工了，但又一项任务出现了:

painting it.

粉刷。

After production, the steel had been coated with a reddish paint primer

在生产完成后， 钢被涂上了一层红色的底漆，

it maintained throughout construction.

它在整个施工过程中 一直保持着这种状态。

But the Navy had been pushing hard

但海军一直在施压

to paint the bridge a tactical black and yellow.

要将大桥涂成战术上的黑色和黄色。

Consulting architect Irving Morrow actually thought the primer itself

咨询建筑师欧文·莫罗 实际上认为底漆本身

paired nicely with the strait’s natural backdrop— and he wasn’t alone.

很好地搭配了海峡的自然背景， 而他也不是唯一这样认为的人。

Citing numerous letters from locals,

莫罗引用了许多当地人的来信，

Morrow’s 30-page pitch to paint the bridge “international orange”

用30页纸将大桥漆成 “国际橙色”的提议，

beat out the Navy’s plans.

击败了海军的计划。

And today, this iconic color still complements

直到今天，这个标志性的颜色依然

the strait’s blue water, green hills, and rolling fog.

和海峡蓝色的海水、绿色的山坡 和翻滚的云雾遥相呼应。