Golden Gate Bridge Celebrates 75th Anniversary With 'Solar Beacons'
The Golden Gate Bridge is celebrating its 75th birthday, and is in line to take on a more sparkly view.
From Sunday remotely operated mirrors will be placed on the bridge's towers, which will reflect sunlight across the San Francisco Bay.
However, the celebration does not stop there; as part of the project called "Solar Beacon," members of the public will be able to request the mirrors their beams of light towards a chosen location on a set time and date. The public will be able to make their requests after Sunday's debut by going online and visiting the installation's website.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The mirrors are set to remain in place until August 30.
Friday saw bridge workers install a set of mirrors (heliostats) on the top of each of the bridge's towers, which stand at an impressive 746 feet. The mirror sets are about two feet in width and are controlled remotely by cellphone commands.
"It's art in progress. It's never been done before and we don't know what it's going to look like," said Vallerga, who is executing the project with a group of volunteers, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The Golden Gate Bridge took four years to construct; commencing on January 5, 1933 and opening to vehicular traffic on May 28, 1937. Eleven lives were lost in the construction process of the bridge. On February 17, 1937 ten workers died when a section of scaffold carrying 12 men fell through the safety net.
