Catwalks and Cables

Thousands of feet of steel wire were woven into strands to form the main cables on the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The photograph on the far left shows a worker winding protective seizing around such a strand in preparation for it being strung on the bridge. The photograph in the center shows a work crew compacting and wrapping the southern main cable (made up of 37 strands like that in the first photograph) at the Yerba Buena anchorage. Steel cables also formed the basis of catwalks used by workers during the construction process. In the photograph on the far right, workers are beginning the process of building such a catwalk.

Dept. of Public Works, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Construction Photographs (F2516:1-93).
Far Left: Suspender Protective Seizing, 01/08/1936: Box 11 (C5229), photograph 6-1746.
Middle: South Cable YB Anchorage, 05/26/1936: Box 13 (C5229), photograph 6-2302.
Far Right: South Catwalk, 05/23/1935: Box 13 (C5229), photograph 6-925.