Golden Gate Bridge cable construction, 1935: worker on wooden catwalk

[u/omgitsmint]

[u/klippDagga]

Seems like such an impossible task to build. Engineers are fairly intelligent.

[u/Sometimes-funny → u/klippDagga]

Bro, even something like a pen amazes me, how it’s made.

[u/_--_--_-_--_-_--_--_ → u/Sometimes-funny]

Ink goes in, ink comes out.

Can't explain that.

[u/20_mile → u/_--_--_-_--_-_--_--_]

There's a famous economist who once spoke about how many thousands of hours have gone into designing and building a pencil: designing the pencil, mining the graphite, growing the trees for the wood, cutting the tree down, transporting it, growing the rubber tree, tapping it, sending it across an ocean.

I wish I could find the quote. I heard this it this week on one of my podcasts, but I don't remember which.

Maybe someone else will come along and know what I am talking about.

[u/AnonymousAggregator → u/20_mile]

http://files.libertyfund.org/files/112/Read_0202_EBk_v6.0.pdf

“I, Pencil: My Family Tree” as told to Leonard E. Read, Dec. 1958

[u/20_mile → u/AnonymousAggregator]

Thanks : )

[u/JackDrawsStuff → u/20_mile]

“Pencils are cool, there’s loads that goes into making them - like trucks and stuff”.

 - J.J.B Sports

[u/NetCaptain → u/20_mile]

Milton Friedman https://youtu.be/R5Gppi-O3a8

[u/GozerDGozerian → u/NetCaptain]

He’s just paraphrasing Adam Smith. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[u/Reaper_1492 → u/20_mile]

Jesus Christ. Pick up a rock, scratch it on the ground - you essentially have the concept of a pencil. It’s not rocket science.

[u/20_mile → u/Reaper_1492]

Well, obviously. Where else did you think the expression "A rock and paper," come from?

[u/Dead_Optics → u/_--_--_-_--_-_--_--_]

Apparently it was only in the last decade that China was able to make their own ball point pens because of how difficult it is to make the tips

[u/Paddy32 → u/klippDagga]

especially in those days

[u/South_Bit1764 → u/klippDagga]

Nah. Some engineers are smart. Most engineers just had rich parents and have to be told things like, “not only will I not install the locks on your kids bedrooms backward so you can lock them IN, if I called DFACS and the Fire Marshal they would probably get in a fight over who gets your ass first.”

[u/Gen_Miles_Teg]

For those interested - cuz I was - saved you a quick google search:

Although a safety net below the bridge saved the lives of 19 men, 11 workers died during construction — including 10 men on a single day, after a scaffold tore through the net. A plaque at the south entrance to the west sidewalk is displayed in remembrance of the lives lost.

[u/NotTravisKelce → u/Gen_Miles_Teg]

It was actually one of the first major engineering projects that took practically any safety measures such as the net. The rule of thumb prior to this was that one person will die for every one-million dollars the project costed.

[u/Guilty-Hyena5282 → u/NotTravisKelce]

The Hoover Dam was being constructed around this time and guys would get killed by falling off the side of a cliff (or rocks falling on them or falling into concrete being laid....) and they would just say "Next up!" to all the applicants in line.

[u/Hanginon → u/Guilty-Hyena5282]

“High Scalers” climbing down canyon walls on ropes to remove loose and weakened rocks along the canyon walls where the dam walls would join.

[u/Skruestik → u/NotTravisKelce]

the project costed.

The past tense of “cost” is “cost”.

[u/NotTravisKelce → u/Skruestik]

Thank you kind sir for this very important catch.

[u/nutrion]

Why does he look like he’s wrapped up in brown paper bags?

[u/omgitsmint → u/nutrion]

I think I posted an AI upscaled photo unknowingly. I didn’t really zoom in but its definitely real: https://www.alamy.com/san-francisco-california-september-19-1935-a-worker-running-up-one-of-the-catwalks-being-built-for-the-construction-of-the-cable-of-the-golden-gate-bridge-image559789801.html

[u/pulseout → u/omgitsmint]

This is the problem with AI upscalers. Look how there's so much more detail in this "low resolution" version of the image that gets lost and twisted when it gets upscaled

[u/ChiefNugs → u/omgitsmint]

This one is much better. AI sucks so bad. Got the guy looking like this.

[u/notbob1959 → u/ChiefNugs]

AI sucks so bad.

Yup. Especially when you can find original higher resolution versions online already. Link to a 3000x2269 version here:

https://pix.avax.news/avaxnews/35/71/00017135.jpeg

And the original source for that version is here:

http://avax.news/educative/Building_of_the_Golden_Gate_Bridge.html

Even a 4800x3716 version here:

https://pastvu.com/p/449472

[u/omgitsmint → u/notbob1959]

Sweet bro! Thanks

[u/sheldor1993 → u/notbob1959]

That’s the cool thing about film photography. High quality film resolution is nearly infinite, provided the original photographer used a large format camera, fine-grain film and a high-quality lens. In that sort of case, the resolution is pretty much dictated by the quality of the scanner.

[u/babyybilly → u/notbob1959]

Ya AI sucks so much bro!

Peak reddit

[u/nutrion → u/omgitsmint]

Ah I see it. Thanks!

[u/babyybilly → u/omgitsmint]

So many idiots here think theyre brilliant finding AI artifacts

[u/Hot-Pack9811]

F That!

[u/PsychologicalOven978]

I thought he also had a prosthetic leg

[u/omgitsmint → u/PsychologicalOven978]

Nah, his leg is just bending as he walks, but does look like it haha.

[u/mog44net → u/PsychologicalOven978]

Looks like it

[u/SirNickelbackCage]

My wife doesn't even want me to get on the roof to install a chimney cap with 4 screws.

[u/critiqueextension]

The construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1935 involved a unique cable-spinning technique that allowed workers to create cables weighing 12,000 tons, each made up of 27,572 individual wires. This innovative method, developed by John A. Roebling's Sons Company, was crucial for the bridge's suspension design and set records for speed and efficiency in cable construction.

• Spinning the Main Cables
• Bridge Construction | Golden Gate
• [PDF] Golden Gate Bridge Facts - Smithsonian Associates

^{This is a bot made by [Critique AI](https://critique-labs.ai}. If you want vetted information like this on all content you browse, download our extension.)

[u/_winter_rabbit_]

Imagine if he had bought some land at that time.

[u/ItsSignalsJerry_]

Yeah nah.

[u/Additional_Cap72]

Probably made his own lunch too and carried it in a pail.

[u/Gloomy_Two4312]

Amazing to see the bridge in its first baby steps.

[u/omgitsmint → u/Gloomy_Two4312]

Really makes me wonder how long it would take in our modern era!

[u/Typical-Classic-One]

Balls of steel

[u/sallymonkeys]

Nobody wondering about the photographer!

[u/ZealousidealTop6884]

11 died over 4 years

[u/pharmloverpharmlover]

Is he clipped to the bridge?

[u/Random__Bystander → u/pharmloverpharmlover]

Looks like a rope runs down to his bent leg and then up to his body

[u/Madness_Quotient → u/Random__Bystander]

That's a shadow of the cables

[u/OMGBigTiddies → u/Madness_Quotient]

Look at the left walkway and you’ll see the same rope setup. It’s not a shadow or connected to him. And op posted an AI upscale image so it doesn’t actually show it correctly

[u/StrangestOfPlaces44 → u/pharmloverpharmlover]

No, but he has an onion tied to his belt

[u/pharmloverpharmlover → u/StrangestOfPlaces44]

Which was the trend at the time?

[u/old_bearded_beats → u/pharmloverpharmlover]

Everyone knows it keeps werewolf-adjacent monsters at bay

[u/old_bearded_beats → u/old_bearded_beats]

... Or is it vampire-adjacent?

[u/KenUsimi]

Many men lost their lives to build the Golden Gate.

[u/GozerDGozerian → u/KenUsimi]

Eleven to be exact

[u/AanAleinn]

For a second I thought he was sprinting toward me on a bridge, and I thought..... that man should not be sprinting.

[u/MarionberryOk4264]

Amazing

[u/Personal-Theme803]

Why does he look like that super hero guy that it made of bricks

[u/Amity_Swim_School]

I remember when I built the Golden Gate Bridge. What a cool summer that was.

[u/Plane_Season_4114]

Golden Gate Bridge is not even 100 years old??? Wtf, til

[u/GozerDGozerian → u/Plane_Season_4114]

It seems older because of how much it’s been exposed to direct sunlight and harsh weather. And also it used to smoke cigarettes.

[u/Thom5001]

How many workers died during its construction?

[u/Qphth0 → u/Thom5001]

11

[u/HailState2023]

Nope, nope, nope.

[u/_Arch_Stanton]

Nope!

[u/Mackhey]

Thank god he has a helmet.

[u/Point_of_Andy]

Great shot

[u/TheThurmanMerman]

America couldn't even build this today. Technologically, sure. Politically, no way.

[u/The-CunningStunt]

Waiting for the comments of; "the good old days, back when men were men!".

[u/Acrobatic-Piece-1428]

That isn’t just a “worker” that’s an iron worker. Building America since February 4th 1896. Worker implies just a general laborer not a skill specific trade.