High Steel: Building the Bridges Across San Francisco Bay (Paperback)

by Richard Dillon (Author), Thomas Moulin (Author), Don Denevi (Author) "In an official, the U.S. Census Bureau pronounced the American frontier to be finally dead in 1890..." (more)
Key Phrases: suspender ropes, guy derricks, cable spinning, San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Yerba Buena Island (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Two of San Francisco's most famous landmarks are the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, which connect the city with Marin County to the north and Oakland to the East. While Richard Dillon finds the Bay rather conventional-looking, he is unreserved in his admiration for the Golden Gate: "Its soaring grace actually enhances the beauty of its natural setting, something which man- made objects rarely do.... The largest work of art in history, dwarfing such an example of combined art-and-engineering as the Eiffel Tower, it is the greatest sculpture ever dreamed."

To support Dillon's bold assertion, Don DeNevi has selected photographs of the bridges' construction in the mid-1930s taken by Moulin Studios (with help from Thomas Moulin, grandson of the studio's founder, Gabriel). It is these stunning images that make up the bulk of High Steel, chronicling the gradual process by which the naked landscape of the San Francisco Bay was transformed. From vast panoramas to close-up images of construction workers precariously balanced hundreds of feet above choppy waters, these photographs are almost as much of a marvel as the bridges themselves.

Product Description
The construction of the Golden Gate and the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridges caught the imagination of the world, and they continue to inspire awe even today. <>High Steel records the history of these magnificent bridges and their development. The bridges were designed to serve transportation needs while being flexible enough to withstand major earthquakes, but their architectural triumph is that they also enhance the beauty of their natural surroundings. <>High Steel is a tribute to and record of the magnitude of that accomplishment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Celestial Arts (August 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890878595
• ISBN-13: 978-0890878590
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,320,723 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)