Up Next
Back to Show
American Experience
Building a Bridge in the Ocean
The south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge was built over a thousand feet into open ocean. To build the tower, workers would have to erect a pier more than 1100 feet out in the middle of the Gate -- the first bridge support ever constructed in the open ocean. Divers guided beams, panels, blasting tubes and 40-ton steel forms into position and secured them, striving to avoid being swept away.
Support Provided By
1:53:12
The Eugenics Crusade tells the story of the campaign to breed a “better” American race,
1:53:15
The woman whose groundbreaking books revolutionized our relationship to the natural world.
52:03
After attempting to commit the perfect crime, would two boys get the death penalty?
1:20:50
The Stonewall riots marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement.
52:01
In the 1950's a Polio outbreak swept the U.S., devastating communities nationwide.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:49:38
The man behind the atomic bomb is put on trial for suspected communist ties in 1954.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:49:22
The final months of WWII from the vantage points of both the Japanese and the Americans.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:53:50
Ronald Reagan left the White House one of the most popular presidents of the 20th century.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:50:17
A biography from American Experience's collection of presidential portraits.