This 1933 cover photo shows workers maneuvering a bomb into position on a platform in San Francisco Bay at a very early stage of the Golden Gate Bridge project.
The location of the bridge’s south pier, 1,000 feet offshore, was in water 50 feet to 60 feet deep.
Plans called for removing 30,000 cubic yards of rock to reach a depth of 100 feet. A six-man crew worked from a 42-foot x 140-foot barge with tower towers and winches operating cables attached to six 5-ton anchors.
The 5,000-pound bomb consisted of a 20-foot-long, 8-inch-diameter steel tube containing about 2 tons of concrete that on impact would activate the firing pin to set off the 250 pounds of high explosive.
A steel tube 14 inches in diameter, with steel legs at the bottom, known as a bombardment gun, was fitted and used to aim each bomb.
The bombs were aimed at 20-foot intervals and then the shattered serpentine rock was removed from the bay by shell dredges.
