PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE: “A BRIDGE WORTH CELEBRATING!”
By: Ron Woodrum
It was called “the bridge that could not be built”. It was first proposed in 1872 by Charles Crockett, railroad executive, 3 years after completing the Trans-continental Railroad. It was a bridge to span the strait that separated San Francisco from Marin County California, because of the California Peninsula. But the narrowest span was more than one mile of very turbulent current of ocean. Capt. John Freemont, in 1846, had named it Chrysophylae, Greek for “golden gate”…thus the proposed bridge would be called the “Golden Gate Bridge”. A study determined that a bridge could be built, but the cost would likely be 100 million dollars! It was decided that it would be built in 1916. All the various attempts met one obstacle after another even getting started. Finally, construction was begun on January 5, 1933, kicked off by a speech by President Herbert Hoover, a 21-gun salute, and a great celebration. The company that made the cables for Brooklyn Bridge was contracted to make cables for Golden Gate. Two cables were made that would be 7, 659 feet long each. Each would be constructed with 27, 572 parallel wires-enough to circle the globe at the equator 3 times! Construction was slowed due to the high wind and risky work. 20 men fell to their death in San Francisco Bay. More men were almost killed when an earthquake hit in June of 1935, almost collapsing the entire structure. In 1936 a safety net was hung below the bridge to keep the workers from plunging to their deaths. Still 19 men fell off the bridge but were saved by the net. They became part of an exclusive club-“THE HALF-WAY TO HELL CLUB!” The bridge was finally completed on April 19, 1937. It was opened with a week-long celebration on May 27-June 2 1937. It weighed a total of 894,500 tons. The architect was Irving Morrow. The Engineer was Joseph Strauss, (and Charles Ellis). Strauss was not only an Engineer but also a poet. He dedicated the bridge with a poem: THE MIGHY TASK DONE
At last the mighty task is done
Resplendent in the Western Sun
The Bridge looms Mountain High
It’s Titan piers grip the ocean floor
It’s great steel arms link shore to shore
It’s towers pierce the sky!
On the first day of the opening 18,000 were waiting to cross at Sunrise. FDR initiated the opening by a telegraph key. People crossed on roller skates…pogo sticks…unicycles…and stilts! Vendors set up stands on the bridge and over 50,000 hot dogs were sold. That week over 200,000 pedestrians crossed it. Each evening it was celebrated with fireworks.
The one billionth vehicle crossed the bridge on February 22, 1980. On May 24, 1987 they held the 50th Anniversary of the Bridge’s opening. They expected 50,000 pedestrians to cross. 800,000 showed up. As they crossed the load was so heavy it pushed the bridge weight limits to their limit! The bridge bottomed flat out but did not collapse! One of the official said, “The Suspension cables were tight as harp strings! This was not a good idea!” But since the bridge has been built it has become an attraction to people wanting to commit suicide. Since its opening-17,000 people have died jumping from the bridge. Last year 39 people jumped to their death. How tragic! In May crews began installing a safety net to prevent suicides from the bridge. The net will be complete in 2021 at a cost of $211 million. That too is something to celebrate when finished!
All that being said, the greatest bridge in history was built and erected on a mountain outside the city walls of Jerusalem. It is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cross spans the gulf from earth and sinful man, to heaven and a Holy God. Job in 9:33 prayed for a Daysman who could come and span the great gulf between sinful man and a Holy God. I Timothy 2:5 tells us that God has provided that mediator in the person of Jesus Christ, and of course the bridge is the cross, and the cost of building it was the priceless blood of Jesus Christ. This is the only bridge that leads to heaven. That is why we sing-“The Way of the Cross leads Home!” Or “I must needs go home by the way of the cross-there’s no other way but that!” William Newell has written a celebratory poem about this bridge that later became a triumphant hymn called At Calvary. Listen to the words:
Oh, the Love That Drew Salvation’s Plan
Oh, the Grace That Brought It Down to Man
Oh, the Mighty Gulf That God Did Span
At Calvary!
That is a Bridge worth celebrating. That is the Bridge millions have crossed. That is the bridge that will stand the test of time and eternity! Don’t miss the bridge! It is a Bridge worthy of celebration!