Media Contact:

Mary Currie
Public Information Director
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
Tel: 415-257-4548
Cellular: 415-716-9804
Pager: 415-202-6880

Gayle Fields
Manager, Communications
American Society of Civil Engineers
Tel: 202-326-5143
Fax: 202-289-6797

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Wednesday, May 30, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) will name the Golden Gate Bridge a Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium. The ASCE recognition comes just days after the Bridge's 64th birthday on May 27, 2001.

"Monuments of the Millennium demonstrate a combination of engineering technical achievement, courage and inspiration, and a dramatic influence on the development of the community in which they're located. There are only a few projects that capture those traits as well as the Golden Gate Bridge," said ASCE President Robert W. Bein, P.E.

The Monument of the Millennium award was created to honor the civil engineering profession's contribution to the quality of life and well being of people and communities worldwide. It also acknowledges the creative spirit and ingenuity of the civil engineering profession, serving as a symbol of engineering's finest moments in history.

"America's engineers have selected San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge as one of the greatest engineering achievements of an entire century," said Denis Mulligan, District Engineer. "This award honors the visionary men and women who designed and built this great, innovative bridge."

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of ten projects named as a Monument of the Millennium. In December 1999, the Panama Canal was recognized in the water transportation category. In April 2001, the Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan was recognized for airport design and development achievement. On May 22, 2001, the California Water Project was named for its achievements in water supply and distribution. On July 18, 2001, the Empire State Building will be honored as a great engineering feat as one of the world's leading skyscrapers. The remaining six civil engineering achievements being recognized include dams, the interstate highway system, rail transportation, sanitary landfills/solid waste disposal, skyscrapers, and wastewater treatment and disposal.

While each monument exemplifies the use of engineering ingenuity to overcome major design and construction challenges, this is not the sole criterion. The Golden Gate Bridge was selected because, like the great civil engineering works of previous centuries, it uplifts the human spirit and creates pride in the communities it serves; uses state-of-the-art design and construction techniques to preserve the natural environment; and makes a significant contribution to regional and world economies. Most importantly, all of these monuments have created a positive change in the way people live and how they conduct business.

One of the most recognized landmarks in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge spans the distance between geographically isolated areas to the north in Marin and Sonoma counties and the thriving City of San Francisco. The idea of spanning the Golden Gate Strait was considered as early as 1872, but it wasn't until 1916 that San Francisco's City Engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy began a national search for an engineer to bridge the Strait. The possibility became closer to a reality when, on May 25, 1923, the California State Legislature enacted the "Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District Act" giving six counties (San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Del Norte) the right to organize as a special district and borrow money, issue bonds and collect tolls to construct the bridge. This led to the formation of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District, which oversaw the design, construction and financing of the Bridge, under the leadership of Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss. The Bridge took just over four years to construct; construction commenced on January 5, 1933, and ended when the Bridge opened to traffic on May 28, 1937.

When the Golden Gate Bridge opened on May 27, 1937, with a main suspension span of 4,200 ft., it was the longest in the world. Now it is ranked as the 7th longest suspension span:

Nearly 1.8 billion vehicles have crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and today 116,000 vehicles cross daily.

Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 123,000 civil engineers. The Monument of the Millennium award comes as a result of ASCE's participation in the National Academy of Engineering's Greatest Engineering Achievements project, in which more than 30 engineering societies canvassed their membership to determine the Top 20 engineering achievements. Ten civil engineering projects were nominated for inclusion in the Greatest Achievements Top 20 list.