Introduction
The present is, by definition, a consequence of the past. An event takes place, opening a door for a succeeding event that could only take place after the previous because it has been molded by it. Like ghosts, events that have long ago taken place can still reverberate today. Bethlehem Steel is a ghost, for though it’s been over 10 years since its bankruptcy and demise, its legacy, good and bad, carries on in every city, and every place where you can find a former Bethlehem Steel worker or building. But whilst people will come and go, our interaction with our natural surroundings can supersede generations in a way that human interaction can’t. The Golden Gate Bridge is one such imprint, and though a corporation has risen and fallen in its lifetime, the bridge still stands tall, bearing with it part of its history and legacy.
Before the Bridge Was Built
At the turn of the 20th century, as San Francisco’s population grew, a bridge connecting it to the land across the bay became an increasingly pressing need. For many years, however, it was questioned whether such a project was indeed feasible. A proposition was put forward in 1916, but at the then very elevated cost of $100 million. In addition, its executability was contentious. Soon after, however, another proposal was put forward, this one by Joseph Strauss, a reputed bridge designer, at the comparatively reasonable cost of $17 million. Originally planning to build a cantilevered bridge, he convened with project experts, and it was ultimately decided that a suspension bridge, made possible by recent advances in metallurgy, was the best option. The years leading up to the laying of the first brick were spent rallying Northern Californians’ support for the bridge. This effort culminated with the passage of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District Act, which assured the provision of land, funding, and legal support for this priority initiative. Having put forward the successful proposal, Strauss was assigned chief engineer for the endeavor.
A Showcase of Industrial Might
Bethlehem Steel was awarded contracts for the fabrication of the bridge, as well as its erection, through its construction branch, McClintic-Marshall. This burden of responsibilities lends testimony to Bethlehem’s paramount role in the bridge’s completion and showcases the corporation’s power and scale at its apex.
The Golden Gate Bridge featured strongly in Bethlehem Steel publications and advertisements during the construction and for many years after it. The corporation took a special interest in this endeavor for a multitude of reasons. The first I enumerate is the bridge’s singularity for its characteristic design and the unique way in which it imprints itself onto the landscape. By all counts, steel was the main resource used in the bridge’s fabrication, in volume, mass, and labor. Furthermore, unlike in skyscrapers or dams, which Bethlehem had also built (Chrysler Building, Hoover Dam, to name only two), the steel structure is fully visible, subtly reminding passers-by of the importance of steel. The time of construction also plays a big factor in determining the bridge’s importance to Bethlehem Steel: built during the depression, it showcases the might of the company, so immense that even in times of great hardship it can still carry out great orders and turn profits. To this, we can add the compelling detail that Bethlehem Steel was particularly involved in this endeavor. Bethlehem Steel companies provided laborers for the bridge’s assembly and boats for the steel’s shipment to the West Coast. The summation of all these factors made it the perfect corporate poster boy for Bethlehem Steel, and was in fact used as one, both in advertisements and a self-produced documentary film, “Building the Golden Gate Bridge”. Three still images from the documentary’s archival footage can be found below.
With the exception of electrical installation, suspension cables and tarmacking, Bethlehem Steel essentially singlehandedly build the Golden Gate Bridge: It fabricated the steel superstructure, shipped it, and assembled it.
Images are stills from Bethlehem Steel’s “Building the Golden Gate Bridge” film
Golden Gate Bridge: A Bethlehem Steel Legacy
Leap back into the present, and head back from San Francisco to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Though it was here that it all started, Bethlehem Steel is now no more than a brownfield paved in the ruins of a fallen empire. The chief ruin is the Steel Stacks, the post-apocalyptic looking skeleton of Bethlehem Steel’s long gone cold blast furnaces. A colossal mass of steel that dominates the landscape; it wasn’t here that the Bridge was built, but it certainly could have been. Perhaps because of their majesty and their shared genes of steel, bridge and blast furnace are not so different: one gives birth to the other. Like the Golden Gate Bridge, the blast furnace draws people together. In the summer, it beckons thousands to come under its protective arm while they celebrate music, while thousands more drive through its cousin every day, on their work and leisure commutes. And in passing either one by, they can’t help but be admired. And in that admiration is a hint of nostalgia. In Bethlehem or San Francisco, the legacy carries on.
Golden Gate Bridge: A Bethlehem Steel Legacy was written by Salvador Silva. His and his fellow authors’ biographies can be found here.