For decades, the Golden Gate Bridge has stood the test of time, but since it’s only about 6 miles from the San Andreas Fault, the bridge’s owners are keenly aware that it’s susceptible to damage that a major earthquake could cause.
Following damage to the bridge during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District determined that the bridge needed retrofitting to maintain its structural integrity in the event of another major earthquake. The Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit Construction Project, an ongoing construction project that started almost three decades ago, enters its final phase in January 2026. Construction is expected to continue for roughly another decade.
“The bridge is a lifeline corridor, and so, like a hospital and other critical infrastructure after a major earthquake, it’s important that it be serviceable for the response and recovery for the region in the days, weeks and months after an earthquake,” district spokesperson Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz told SFGATE. “So it needs to be built to a higher standard because it could be closed for a long period of time after an earthquake without the full retrofit completed.”
The retrofit began on the bridge in 1996. The district first focused on strengthening the most vulnerable parts of the bridge: the north approach viaduct, the south approach viaduct, the Fort Point arch and the south and north anchorage housings…