A ‘5,000-Mile-Long Knitting Job’

* The Vincent Thomas Bridge is the first suspension bridge to be built on piles--990 of them were sunk to support it, and each steel pile supports 145 tons. Other bridges rely on solid concrete supports.

* The bridge is also the first suspension span to be built entirely without rivets. Instead, connections were welded.

* The bridge’s main cables are 14 inches in diameter, and are designed to withstand 90-mile-per-hour winds. Making them, according to Caltrans, was a “5,000-mile-long knitting job” that involved the intertwining of 4,028 galvanized wires into 19 strands of 212 wires each. The strands were then encased to form the main cables.

* At high tide, a ship 185 feet tall--18 stories--can pass under the Vincent Thomas Bridge with about 5 feet to spare. No ship has ever struck the bridge, but vessels carrying tall cranes have bent a rail that runs underneath it.

* No plane has ever hit it, either. The bridge’s two towers, at 365 feet, are by far the tallest structures in the South Bay.

* Pedestrians are not allowed on the bridge.

* That’s why Steve McPeak was arrested in April, 1976. A tightrope walker, he made it across a bridge cable from San Pedro to Terminal Island, where he was greeted by highway patrolmen.

* Not caught, however, was the marksman who, several years ago, shot out the red navigational light at the top of one of the bridge’s towers. To replace the light, Caltrans electrician Ed Hernandez stood at the top of the tower--with a colleague holding him tightly around the ankles--and guided a new light into place as a helicopter lowered it toward him.

* The bridge is known for its iridescent green color. But few realize that the paint, a special solution designed by Caltrans, is environmentally safe. A water-based mixture, it will not harm marine life if it drips or flakes into the channel below.

* And that’s a good thing, because painting is an ongoing affair on the Vincent Thomas Bridge. A 6-member paint crew works constantly, moving back and forth between San Pedro and Terminal Island. Caltrans says it takes about 20 years to completely paint the mile-long bridge. Then they start over.

* During the 1987 Whittier earthquake, the Vincent Thomas gave researchers their first chance to study the effect of a fair-sized temblor on a long suspension bridge. The bridge, which was not damaged, is wired with sensors that measured its twists and vibrations.

* Hollywood has not ignored the Vincent Thomas Bridge. It has had cameo roles in a number of films, including “To Live and Die in L.A.,” in which a stunt man rigged an elaborate system of ropes so he could dive off the bridge’s highest point without getting hurt.

Yes, it worked.