One million two hundred thousand field rivets were driven in the fabrication and erection of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1933/1937. Most of the rivets in the Golden Gate Bridge were shop-driven with pneumatic riveters, operated by skilled steel fabricators. Afterwards, these riveted components were shipped to the San Francisco job site. There the ironworkers with forges and field rivet hammers heated and drove the rivets, connecting the shop-driven riveted components with field rivets. Riveting both in the fabrication shop and in the field is a vital part of the history of important buildings and bridges nationwide, yet no major industrial museum in the United States has any exhibits on the industrial rivet processes used in the construction of legendary buildings and bridges in the USA. Many industrial museums are housed in spectacular riveted structures, yet nothing is on display to tell the story of their fabrication. No shop pneumatic riveting equipment or field riveting hammers are part of any exhibit to tell the story of these industrial craftsmen who drove the rivets in bridges such as the Golden Gate Bridge.
