The Golden Gate Bridge Gets a Big 'Zipper'

The Golden Gate Bridge is a pleasant sight from afar, but driving on it can be harrowing: ribbon-thin lanes and a center divide composed of little batons seem like the perfect combination for head-on collisions.

At least this was the case until last Sunday, when a rejiggered Golden Gate opened to Bay Area commuters. Gone are the plastic batons, which were as effective as matchsticks at repelling out-of-control vehicles; in their place is a sturdy wall of yellow-streaked Jersey barriers. The concrete barriers weigh 1,500 pounds apiece, but in a nifty trick, their fixedness is an illusion. Thanks to the help of a pair of weird vehicles, traffic managers can lift and rearrange them as if they were an 11,500-foot line of Lego bricks.