Expert: Ernest Tufft - 1/6/2010

Question
Hi,
I was wondering if you know how the cables on the Golden Gate Bridge are painted. I know that suspension bridges must have them repainted because of the risk of rust, however, I wanted to know do they actually have people who go up and paint it or do they have a machine that does so?

Thank you

Answer
Hi Habeeb,

You are right about the need to paint, and repaint the Golden Gate Bridge.  The salty foggy air is very corrosive for the steel of the bridge, and so the orange sunset colored paint on the bridge not only beautifies, but also protects the bridge.  I'm not an expert on this, but I believe the bridge is painted by human painters.  There is a catwalk the climbs up the bridge, and from the cables, workers are suspended to reach around all sides of the cables.

Recently, the Golden Gate Bridge Authority decided to begin tours of the towers and cables of the bridge as a revenue raising activity.  Based upon the experience of similar tours conducted on the famous arch bridge in Sydney, Australia, the Golden Gate Bridge Authority decided to begin offering such tours sometime in the future.  But, these cable catwalks are only for the fit.  The cables climb a very steep grade as they reach the tower tops, where only a few can avoid a sense of vertigo.