Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point South

This guide to the Golden Gate Bridge's south vista point centers on chief engineer Joseph Strauss and the safety net he insisted on slinging beneath the roadway during construction, defying an era that expected a death for every million dollars spent. It follows the workmen who fell into that net and formed the self-styled Halfway to Hell Club, proud enough of their survival that Strauss had to threaten to fire anyone caught diving in for fun. Then, on an ordinary February morning in 1937, a crew stripping wooden forms from beneath the roadway felt a platform give way under them.