they said it was an impossible project, skeptical engineers and geologists said it would end up as an abandoned wreck. a monument to man's folly. every year thousands of people cross the nation to see it. the most visible manmade structure. but only a lucky few get to go

to the top. tonight we'll tell you the history of the golden gate bridge along with those who build it. the bay area gathered to witness the opening of an architectural masterpiece. this month, the golden gate bridge marks it's 76th anniversary. they told their stories to reporter bob mackenzie on the 50th anniversary. >> long before there was a golden gate bridge there was a golden gate. a mountain range where the outflow of seven rivers emptied into the sea. where the sea roared into the bay. it was a boom to shipping it was also a natural obstacle cutting off san francisco from its next door neighbor marin. as the 1920s dawned, the city

was exploring a bridge. no bridge has ever been built across a mayor harbor. such bridge has to be tall enough that ships could go under it. that made a center pier impossible. the bridge would have to be based on solid rock at the other end. no bridge had ever spanned anything like that distance before. most engineered simply shook their head and said it counterbe done. everyone if such a structure could have been designed how could it be built. yet here the bridge stands, largely because of the determination and ambition of this man, joseph strauss.

in 1916, strauss designed this efficient bridge. shanausi asked strauss about the possibility of spanning the bridge. strauss said it could be done, and would cost $150 million. an unheard money heard about at that time. strauss said it could be done, for 20 million. although he had not built any bridges he had no degree in engineers. the design included two types

design. strauss was more a sales man than a designer. it was ellis that came up with the fluid design that would be adopted. finally in 1917 the work began. the first stack was to seek the anchorages that would tie down the cable. the enormous pulls means the anchorages would become an immovable as the anchors. it continued day and night,

hundreds of millions of the pounds of concrete. meanwhile a coffer dam was built. within it a massive concrete pier would be poured going down 23 feet into solid rock. the work was hard, the pay for many was more than $400 a game. but very few quit. and just outside the gate was a crowd of unemployed men waiting to take any open spot. the pier slowly rose. 4feet at a time until it stood 44 feet above the water. on this power would be erected the 44th tower. already story yards and alameda were filling up with storage

sections. the steel arrived from alameda by barge where iron workers began hoisting the sections into place. this was precarious work as the barges would roll and turn in 6- foot swells and the steel sections would swing ominously. ignoring danger was part of the job and also part of their style. >> we would show off to gain the guy's respect. you didn't know me, i have to trust my lock to you and i kind of look around show them what i can do and he would show me what he can do. i had a little more confidence. i would have to have confidence on the other men. >> so that means you would go out and risk your life. >> every day. you have to be in a hurry all the time there. you can't fool around. you have to hurry other wise like i said there's 150 minnesota town the towers waiting for you to fall off or

quit. they would stay there all day. >> waiting to get your job. >> yeah mine or somebody elses. >> reporter: slowly the tower rose. actually a pair of towers. the tower was cellular like a beehive. the tower would be to be built in 100 feet of tidal water. the construction trestle was itself a considerable feet of engineering but it would have bad luck. first the trestle would be built. to built the gigantic tower

would be built. to excavate the rock, pilot bombs were dropped. then larger bombs were dropped. it was something like bombing an underwater city. in one of the most hazardous jobs of all, divers and helmets would go down to explore the condition of the rock. coping with tides and currents that all but swept them away. gascon was resident engineer. as a boy, russ would go down to see the work. >> it was so dark and murky down there that, he couldn't see but the diver would go over the area that had been blasted with his bare hands and his job was simply to feel it and see if he detected crevices or lose material or anything unusual about the rock. just doing it with his bare

hands. >> greatest care is taken to protect the workman against injury. the divers are all important in this underwater construction. immediately upon coming to the surface, the attendants removed the divers helmets, his equipment and rubber suit. he then goes into the decompression chamber. when we come back the story of the laying of the great cable and the terrible accident that sent 10 men falling to their death.

the great achievement of the south tower was not the tower itself but the mighty pier that it would sit on. a respected geologist has said that a rock 100 feet below the surface was not solid enough to

support a massive weight. nevertheless the work went on. it took 20 months to finish the giant fender a concrete tube that could be emptied of water. when the tube at last was pumped dry, engineered went down and checked the bottom, it was solid bedrock. the south tower rose quickly. the twin towers faced each other. now the really dangerous work would begin. no one had ever done it in practice. it began as a wire rope. a barge crossed the gate playing out 5,000 feet more of the rope which was connected to the san francisco side. derecks at the top of the tower connected lines hoisting it up. this is the first strand of a support cable one of 25 cables

that would support 2-foot bridges. one on each side from which men could assemble the foot cables. working on foot cables swaying in the wind sometimes in freezing weather, iron would reach a yard across and contain thousands of strands totalling thousands of miles in lenght. >> you had to have a couple of shots before you go up there. we had two days to think it over whether we would go back. they paid us in full every week thinking we would not go back up there. the men who built the bridge

were the high wire artists. tough, drinking men who risked their lives for $25 a week. it's been said that men died for the bridge. that may be putting it too dramatically nobody willingly gave their life for the bridge. but in a job as huge and hazardous as this, there had to be injuries and deaths. one man tried to slide down the wrong cable. >> 5/8 at a cable that was greased went up. he slipped, could not hang on. killed himself. >> he just fell off? >> no he did not fall off. his hands were gone you might say. the grease, he could not act as a break. his gloves were not good. if your scale went up, and you

went down your whole belly would be burned. you would get burned all the way to the chins trying to get rid of the hot stuff. >> reporter: 250 clamps were wrapped around them. these would carry the weight of the roadway. now the barges came again, the posts cross panes and tresses that would stretch horizontally this time. as the structure grew outward in four directions from the pier, a huge safety net was strung. 19 men would fall into it and female in. >> it happened so quick and so sudden and so unexpectedly. of course it impressed me because i think when i fell i don't know, with what i hit, i didn't know where i was. i thought, you can make it. you can make it. finally i crawled out.

i was shaking all over. i was really shaking. >> they would jump, get clear and take their chances on a free fall. they were all pretty sharp. >> you're talking about guys who risk their lives every day. what kind of a guy was that take. >> he doesn't worry about that part of it. he has a job to do out here. and he does it. if he were to worry about it, he would not be right for the job. >> when the scaffold fell, it tore the net down from the center of the bridge, the net is joined at the center. one came to the san francisco tower and one to the marin tower. that net was tearing down and rolling down. but the scaffold weighed so much that i did not see a lot

just a big splash. then i raised up and looked, two men were hanging with their fingers swinging. one of them i know i was close to him, because he said for god sake get a rope. i don't forget that one. we could hear the fellows hollering in the water that it went down some of them. they got two out alive. there was no boats in the immediate area right then. finally one of the little crab boats come by and picked up these two fellows. and one of the fellows the foremen flame was lambert he bright him out with him. the fellow was dead but he brought him out with him. >> reporter: the net was repaired and the work went on. >> and so the span progresses, moving out, trust by trust in four directions to maintain equal loading on the cables and towers.

at last in april 27, the sections came together. the golden gate had been bridged. san francisco was ready for the golden gate bridge. cars had already been ferried, but imagine being able to drive across? a handsome new road was ready to connect the marina district to the bridge. and when the bridge opened at last on may 27th, 1937 the excitement was electric. thousands of bay area citizens dressed up and swarmed on to this technological wonder to have a first walk across. a battleship crowded with fancy folks sailed below it to see and be seen followed by an aircraft carrier bristling with state of the art fighter

planes. a parade that seemed endless brought out lavish floats and bands. the automobile at last had its turn. a stream of cars began that day that has never stop then. amidst all the speeches, there was no mention of charles ellis. for most of the men who had worked on the bridge, no adventure of their lives would match this one. >> just to step back and look at it, i was a part of it. a little bitty part of all the thousands that worked on it. over a four year span, why it was, i don't know if it's a good feeling. it is to me. >> i feel butterflies sometimes, i feel proud just going over it. geez, imagine me going up there. i wonder if i could do it again and go with it. if this traffic is slow once in a while it's slow. just moving easily, i can see

myself up there. >> in the early 1980s, elane coral had a chance to admire the view from the top tower. a rare opportunity she had to be persuaded to take. to get a full appreciation of the bridge and the work these men did, i decided to get to the top. i wasn't thinking today of the great view i was going to see, my main concern was basic, how to keep from hyper ventilating before i got to the top.

>> i can't do it. >> you're fine. you have to strap your equipment. you have to straddle it. >> reporter: the ride to the top seemed to take forever. at the very least feels like the longest five minutes of your life. i'm convinced that anyone that doesn't admit to being afraid is under heavy medication or is extremely near sided. after the elevator ride, you have to climb two ladders to make your way to the top. and then there's only one direction to go in.

at 754 feet above the water you gain a whole new respect for the men who climbed up here in its state a half a century ago. and you have to wonder how the men had the courage to climb back up to do their work. your tendency is to stick close to the railing. >> we had an individual up here he grabbed the rail so tight, it took three people to get him off the rail and back in the elevator the get down. >> without a doubt dangerous looking, it's the kind of place that's nice to visit once but i

wouldn't want to work here. when we come back, we'll look at the celebration that marked the 50th anniversary of the bridge. i hate getting less. but i love getting more. i'd trade a lot less for a little more. or a little less for a lot more. either way, when it comes to having more, i want a lot more of more and a little less of less. ♪ and that's exactly what you'll get at embassy suites. more free breakfast, more for my money, more deliciousness, more hearty guffaws... [ guffaws ] because more than enough more is never enough more. more coffee? what do you think? [ female announcer ] free breakfast. more room. complimentary drinks.

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in may of 1987, officials closed the bridge to vehicles and 150,000 people walked across it to mark the bridge's 50th birthday. it was so crowded as the bridge blew and the cables swayed the bridge actually flattened out. here is harry causs report. on they came, swarmed, poured, by sunrise there were hundreds of thousands. >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday. >> it never let up at 6:30, you could hardly move. the bring walked had become a bridge stand and you could

really feel the bridge's eerie sway. how many actually walked was anybody's guess. enough to flatten out part of the bridge. enough to send some clowns over the side as a prank or just trying to find a quicker way out. enough to overwhelming bridge officials and law enforcement watching from headquarters. >> i don't think that anyone anticipated that heavy a crowd that early this morning. people thought we just had too many bodies. i don't think people expected half a million people to show up for a party at 5:00 in the morning. >> reporter: the san francisco mayor showed up. she took one look and turned back. >> unbelievable. >> reporter: real traffic didn't flow until 12:30 more than three hours late. happy 50th golden gate. and that's it for this

week's second look. i'm julie haener, thank you for watching.