Painting the Golden Gate Bridge Was a Monumental Project

Nov 20, 2017 | by Lisa Schaefer

As part of a seismic retrofitting to upgrade the safety of the Golden Gate Bridge, Long Painting Company was contracted to help with the repairs and construction of both the north and south approaches to the structure.

The job was long and tedious, and required immense pre-planning and coordination with other contracted workers. There were 18,000 pieces of individual steel on the south approach alone, and there were about seven steps to complete every joint.

In addition to painting, the team was responsible for removing the existing lead paint. The iconic hue of the bridge had to stay the historical color, challenging the crew to make modern day coating look like 100-year old paint.