<P> Strauss spent more than a decade drumming up support in Northern California . The bridge faced opposition, including litigation, from many sources . The Department of War was concerned that the bridge would interfere with ship traffic . The navy feared that a ship collision or sabotage to the bridge could block the entrance to one of its main harbors . Unions demanded guarantees that local workers would be favored for construction jobs . Southern Pacific Railroad, one of the most powerful business interests in California, opposed the bridge as competition to its ferry fleet and filed a lawsuit against the project, leading to a mass boycott of the ferry service . </P> <P> In May 1924, Colonel Herbert Deakyne held the second hearing on the Bridge on behalf of the Secretary of War in a request to use federal land for construction . Deakyne, on behalf of the Secretary of War, approved the transfer of land needed for the bridge structure and leading roads to the "Bridging the Golden Gate Association" and both San Francisco County and Marin County, pending further bridge plans by Strauss . Another ally was the fledgling automobile industry, which supported the development of roads and bridges to increase demand for automobiles . </P> <P> The bridge's name was first used when the project was initially discussed in 1917 by M.M. O'Shaughnessy, city engineer of San Francisco, and Strauss . The name became official with the passage of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District Act by the state legislature in 1923, creating a special district to design, build and finance the bridge . San Francisco and most of the counties along the North Coast of California joined the Golden Gate Bridge District, with the exception being Humboldt County, whose residents opposed the bridge's construction and the traffic it would generate . </P> <P> Strauss was chief engineer in charge of overall design and construction of the bridge project . However, because he had little understanding or experience with cable - suspension designs, responsibility for much of the engineering and architecture fell on other experts . Strauss's initial design proposal (two double cantilever spans linked by a central suspension segment) was unacceptable from a visual standpoint . The final graceful suspension design was conceived and championed by Leon Moisseiff, the engineer of the Manhattan Bridge in New York City . </P>

Golden gate bridge golden gate bridge san francisco ca