Advection fog portrait barbette tier lighthouse above casemates under Golden Gate Bridge Arch, Fort Point, San Francisco, USA
A nearby Fort Point Light information board reads: 'The treacherous waters of the Golden Gate have claimed dozens of ships and hundreds of lives. Beginning in 1852, the United States Government funded the construction of a chain of 59 lighthouses along the California coast. The Fort Point Light was built and destroyed in 1853. Army engineers blasted away the bluff on which it stood to allow the construction of Fort Point. A second lighthouse, built near the water in 1855, was removed to permit seawall construction. Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert designed this third Fort Point Light, finished in 1864. In 1934, the US Lighthouse Service keepers extinguished the Fort Point Light for the last time due to the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.' Three keepers, living in houses outside the fort, served the Fort Point Light. They crossed a bridge to enter the fort and access the lighthouse on the roof top barbette tier of the brick fort. The building of the Golden Gate Bridge also threatened Fort Point with demolition, but the engineers decided to incorporate the historic fort into the bridge design by building a large arch over it. In summer warm air over California's Central Valley rises, creating low pressure, which draws in cool air from the cold waters offshore. The warm air overriding the cold air is cooled to its dewpoint, forming coastal advection fog, seen here. Fort Point, with three tiers of casemates for guns, was built 1853-1861. Advances in technology during the American Civil War, such as rifled artillery, made brick forts such as this obsolete.
Size: 3648px × 4512px
Location: Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge Arch, San Francisco, California, USA
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 19th, advection, arch, brick, bricks, bridge, california, casemates, century, coast, coastal, emplacements, fog, fort, fortification, francisco, gate, golden, gun, historic, lighthouse, mist, point, portrait, san, site, tiers, usa
