The State - News from Aug. 15, 1989

The Golden Gate Bridge will undergo its first comprehensive checkup by outside experts in 20 years to determine if the 52-year-old span is strong enough for rapid-transit trains. Golden Gate Bridge District directors approved a $423,000 contract for the work and also voted to hire another group of experts to test the giant cables, steel sockets and girders on the bridge’s 742-foot-high towers. Because a new deck and vertical cables were installed several years ago, the bridge is lighter and stronger than it was in 1968, the last time outside experts inspected it. The changes may enable the bridge to support rail transit, said Charles Seim, a principal in T.Y. Lin International, which was hired to do the study.