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152-706: The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City , connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension . Designed by Leon Moisseiff and built by the Phoenix Bridge Company , the bridge has a total length of 6,855 ft (2,089 m). It is one of four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island to Long Island ;

304-410: A cable-stayed bridge in which the deck is in compression. Cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges may appear to be similar, but are quite different in principle and in their construction. In suspension bridges, large main cables (normally two) hang between the towers and are anchored at each end to the ground. The main cables, which are free to move on bearings in the towers, bear the load of

456-418: A "great open arch", making it possible to rebuild either the western or eastern halves of the bridge without affecting the structural integrity of the other half. The towers contain little decorative detail, except for spherical finials. Each suspension tower contains an iron and copper hood over the pedestrian or bike path on either side, as well as iron cornices just below the tops of the towers. Saddles carry

608-460: A 200 feet span (also termed Beose Bridge) was constructed near Sagar, India during 1828–1830 by Duncan Presgrave, Mint and Assay Master. The Clifton Suspension Bridge (designed in 1831, completed in 1864 with a 214 m central span), is similar to the Sagar bridge. It is one of the longest of the parabolic arc chain type. The current Marlow suspension bridge was designed by William Tierney Clark and

760-492: A bridge has a tendency to collapse simply because of the gravitational forces acting on the materials of which the bridge is made. Live load refers to traffic that moves across the bridge as well as normal environmental factors such as changes in temperature, precipitation, and winds. Dynamic load refers to environmental factors that go beyond normal weather conditions, factors such as sudden gusts of wind and earthquakes. All three factors must be taken into consideration when building

912-468: A bridge. Silver Bridge (USA) was an eyebar chain highway bridge, built in 1928, that collapsed in late 1967, killing forty-six people. The bridge had a low-redundancy design that was difficult to inspect. The collapse inspired legislation to ensure that older bridges were regularly inspected and maintained. Following the collapse a bridge of similar design was immediately closed and eventually demolished. A second similarly-designed bridge had been built with

1064-788: A bridge. The principles of suspension used on a large scale also appear in contexts less dramatic than road or rail bridges. Light cable suspension may prove less expensive and seem more elegant for a cycle or footbridge than strong girder supports. An example of this is the Nescio Bridge in the Netherlands, and the Roebling designed 1904 Riegelsville suspension pedestrian bridge across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. The longest pedestrian suspension bridge, which spans

1216-587: A dangerous reverse curve . By then, 90,000 vehicles a day used the span. An air raid siren was also installed on the bridge during World War II. By the mid-1940s, the Brooklyn approach to the bridge was one of the most congested areas in New York City. The upper roadways were repaired during 1950. Similar repairs to the lower roadway were postponed until the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel opened, as

1368-403: A higher margin of safety and remained in service until 1991. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge , (USA), 1940, was vulnerable to structural vibration in sustained and moderately strong winds due to its plate-girder deck structure. Wind caused a phenomenon called aeroelastic fluttering that led to its collapse only months after completion. The collapse was captured on film. There were no human deaths in

1520-562: A large Hudson River suspension bridge in 1920. This design would have been built at 57th Street in Manhattan, to carry both roadway and railroads, but neither the city nor the railroads were supportive. (Lindenthal's colleague Othmar Ammann developed a scaled-down bridge proposal several years later, which became the George Washington Bridge , completed in 1931.) Lindenthal worked on several other bridge projects around

1672-862: A life of his own in Vienna , Austria . When he arrived in Vienna he became an assistant in the engineering department for the Empress Elisabeth Railway of Austria. Two years later he joined the Union Construction Company, where he gained experience in building incline planes and railroads. Then a year later he decided to join the Swiss National Railroad , where he was hired on as a division engineer in charge of location and construction. While living in Vienna, he attended some public engineering lectures at

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1824-467: A local university. However, he never did actually attend the university or receive a degree. Lindenthal in fact taught himself mathematics , engineering theory, metallurgy , hydraulics , estimating, management , and everything else that a successful bridge engineer needed to know. Nevertheless, the lack of his formal education hindered him from further advancement in Europe, so he decided to emigrate to

1976-451: A lower level, as well as four subway tracks, two each flanking the lower-level roadway. The span is carried by four main cables, which travel between masonry anchorages at either side of the bridge, and 1,400 vertical suspender cables. Carrère and Hastings designed ornamental plazas at both ends of the bridge, including an arch and colonnade in Manhattan that is a New York City designated landmark . The bridge's use of light trusses influenced

2128-408: A maximum height of 134 ft (40.8 m) above mean high water at the middle of the river. The main span between the two suspension towers is 1,470 feet (450 m) long. The side spans, between the anchorages and the suspension towers on either side, are 725 feet (221 m) long. When the bridge was built, the Manhattan approach and plaza were quoted as being 2,510 feet (770 m) long, while

2280-546: A pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in the city of Morbi, Gujarat, India collapsed, leading to the deaths of at least 141 people. Gustav Lindenthal Lindenthal was born in Brünn, Austrian Empire, now Brno , Czech Republic in 1850. Lindenthal began to receive practical training in 1866 when he was employed as a mason and carpenter. At the age of 18, Lindenthal left his family to set out to make

2432-605: A populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor . Streetcars began running across the bridge in September 1912, and the bridge's subway tracks opened in June 1915. By the mid-1910s, a food market operated under the bridge. Meanwhile, C. J. Sullivan sued the Ryan-Parker Construction Company, claiming that he had helped the company secure the general contract for the bridge. He

2584-647: A proposal by Robert Stevenson for a bridge over the River Almond near Edinburgh . Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct (begun 1847) consists of three sections supported by cables. The timber structure essentially hides the cables; and from a quick view, it is not immediately apparent that it is even a suspension bridge. The main suspension cables in older bridges were often made from a chain or linked bars, but modern bridge cables are made from multiple strands of wire. This not only adds strength but improves reliability (often called redundancy in engineering terms) because

2736-713: A result, the general contractor was ousted in August 1988, and the New York State Department of Transportation had to hire another contractor, increasing the project's cost. The eastern roadway of the Manhattan Bridge reopened in December 1988; the north tracks also reopened at that time, and the south tracks were closed. Although the NYCDOT had planned to halt work for 16 months, the western roadway

2888-523: A roadway; he estimated that it would cost $ 9 million to construct a brand-new roadway, while converting the trolley tracks would cost only $ 600,000. The comptroller approved the plan in September 1928, and the city formally voted to buy the Three Cent Line for just over $ 200,000 the following month. The Three Cent Line was discontinued in November 1929. The Three Cent Line tracks were replaced by

3040-541: A sequence generally described as follows. Depending on length and size, construction may take anywhere between a year and a half (construction on the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge took only 19 months) up to as long as a decade (the Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge's construction began in May 1986 and was opened in May 1998 – a total of twelve years). Suspension bridges are typically ranked by the length of their main span. These are

3192-406: A suspension bridge with carbon steel wire cables and a suspended stiffening truss, supported by a pair of towers with eight braced legs. This design would have consisted of a main span of 1,470 feet (450 m) and approaches of 725 feet (221 m) each. In early 1901, the city government approved a motion to acquire land for a suspension tower in Brooklyn; the city shortly began soliciting bids for

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3344-499: A temporary walkway. Poured sockets are used to make a high strength, permanent cable termination. They are created by inserting the suspender wire rope (at the bridge deck supports) into the narrow end of a conical cavity which is oriented in-line with the intended direction of strain. The individual wires are splayed out inside the cone or 'capel', and the cone is then filled with molten lead-antimony-tin (Pb80Sb15Sn5) solder. Most suspension bridges have open truss structures to support

3496-438: A train had passed. The floor beams under the lower level are 37 inches (940 mm) thick. The Manhattan Bridge was the first suspension bridge to employ Josef Melan 's deflection theory for deck stiffening. The theory posited that the weight of a suspension bridge's deck, and the downward forces created by vehicles on the bridge, provided stability to the bridge's deck; thus, such a bridge could use lighter trusses. As such,

3648-550: Is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges , which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world. Besides the bridge type most commonly called suspension bridges, covered in this article, there are other types of suspension bridges . The type covered here has cables suspended between towers , with vertical suspender cables that transfer

3800-645: Is considered the last remaining Inca rope bridge and is rebuilt annually. The first iron chain suspension bridge in the Western world was the Jacob's Creek Bridge (1801) in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania , designed by inventor James Finley . Finley's bridge was the first to incorporate all of the necessary components of a modern suspension bridge, including a suspended deck which hung by trusses. Finley patented his design in 1808, and published it in

3952-520: The American Society of Civil Engineers . An $ 834 million project to replace the Manhattan Bridge's suspension cables was announced in 2010. The work was scheduled to take two years. The lower roadway was permanently reconfigured in July 2015 to carry traffic toward Manhattan only; prior to this change, the lower roadway carried traffic toward Brooklyn for six hours every afternoon. The same year,

4104-836: The Mahakam River , located in Kutai Kartanegara Regency , East Kalimantan district on the Indonesia island of Borneo , was built in 1995, completed in 2001 and collapsed in 2011. Dozens of vehicles on the bridge fell into the Mahakam River . As a result of this incident, 24 people died and dozens of others were injured and were treated at the Aji Muhammad Parikesit Regional Hospital. Meanwhile, 12 people were reported missing, 31 people were seriously injured, and 8 people had minor injuries. Research findings indicate that

4256-511: The New York City Police Department banned horse-drawn vehicles from crossing the bridge toward Brooklyn during the morning rush hour and toward Manhattan during the evening rush hour. One of the two streetcar lines across the bridge was discontinued in 1919. During late 1920, the bridge's roadway was used as a reversible lane between 7 am and 7 pm each day; this restriction caused heavy congestion. Grover Whalen ,

4408-527: The New York City Police Department , while the only remaining portion of the large park surrounding the arch and colonnade, at Canal and Forsyth Streets, had accumulated trees. The arch and colonnade themselves had open joints in the stonework, as well as weeds, bushes, and small trees growing at their top. The arch and colonnade were restored starting in the late 1990s, with the restoration being completed in April 2001 for $ 11 million. The project entailed cleaning

4560-703: The Phoenix Bridge Company in September 1906 to fabricate the steelwork. The Phoenix Bridge Company's 2,000 workers began making beams, girders, eyebars, and other parts of the bridge at the firm's factory in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania . The anchorages were less than half complete, in part because of inclement weather and material shortages. That November, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment approved $ 4 million for land acquisition in Manhattan and $ 300,000 for land acquisition in Brooklyn. By early 1907,

4712-448: The live and dead loads of the deck below, upon which traffic crosses. This arrangement allows the deck to be level or to arc upward for additional clearance. Like other suspension bridge types, this type often is constructed without the use of falsework . The suspension cables must be anchored at each end of the bridge, since any load applied to the bridge is transformed into tension in these main cables. The main cables continue beyond

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4864-541: The truss bridges Lindenthal designed. The use of reinforced concrete was a relatively new idea in bridge construction, with its first use in 1889. The design of the Hell Gate Bridge required a different approach to bridge construction. Nearly all major members of Hell Gate are composed of smaller trusses. The erection of the Hell Gate was carried through without the assistance of any falsework , or work that

5016-609: The Brooklyn Bridge was also being rebuilt around the same time. To ease congestion, the Manhattan Bridge's western upper roadway began carrying Manhattan-bound traffic during the morning in March 1950. Floodlights and barbed-wire fences were installed at the bases of the bridge's anchorages in 1951, during the Cold War , and the anchorages themselves were sealed to protect against sabotage. Manhattan-bound traffic stopped using

5168-425: The Brooklyn approach and plaza were quoted as measuring 2,370 feet (720 m) long. The bridge's dead load is 25,000 pounds per square foot (120,000 kg/m), and its live load is 16,000 pounds per square foot (78,000 kg/m). The bridge was designed by Leon Moisseiff . The plans for Manhattan Bridge are sometimes mistakenly attributed to Gustav Lindenthal , who was the city's bridge commissioner before he

5320-471: The Brooklyn approach were found to be cracked or corroded, these columns were repaired in late 1989. By the end of 1990, engineers found that the bridge's support beams had thousands of cracks. Service on the south tracks resumed in December 1990, despite warnings the structure was unsafe; they had to be closed again after the discovery of corroded support beams and missing steel plates. The north-side tracks also had to be closed periodically to repair cracks. In

5472-511: The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. After the eastern upper roadway reopened in November 1961, the western upper roadway was closed, and the eastern upper roadway was temporarily used as a reversible lane. Work proceeded several months ahead of schedule. In conjunction with the upgrades to the upper roadways, in June 1961, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses proposed demolishing the plazas on both sides and connecting

5624-641: The Carbon Steel Works in Pittsburgh . Workers began stringing temporary cables on June 15, 1908; the first wire broke loose while it was being strung, injuring two people. By this time, the construction cost had increased to $ 22 million. The temporary cables supported temporary footbridges between each tower, which were completed in mid-July. When the footbridges were finished, workers installed guide wires, which were laid as continuous loops. Two guide wheels, one at either end of each guide wire, carried

5776-485: The East River, causing an explosion that scorched the bridge. The city announced in 1959 that it would rebuild the upper roadways to accommodate trucks. The Karl Koch Engineering Company received a contract to rebuild the upper roadways; the project was planned to cost $ 6.377 million. The eastern upper roadway was closed for repairs in September 1960; the project also included fixing the lower deck and building ramps from

5928-483: The Manhattan Bridge and five others in 1978. The same year, the United States Congress voted to allocate money to repair the bridge, as well as several others in New York City. After the presidential administration of Ronald Reagan questioned whether the congressional funding should cover the subway tracks' restoration, the U.S. government agreed in 1981 to fund restoration both of the roadways and of

6080-459: The Manhattan Bridge was behind schedule by the end of 1986, in part because of the corrosion. Legal issues, traffic reroutes, and concerns about the capabilities of the main contractor were also cited as causes for the delays in the renovation. Inspectors subsequently found that twenty of the girders below the lower deck had cracks as much as 15 inches (380 mm) wide. Due to the cracks on the lower level, in December 1987, inspectors shut one lane of

6232-454: The Manhattan Bridge was the first suspension bridge in the world to use a lightly-webbed weight-saving Warren truss . There are four stiffening trusses, two each flanking the tracks on the north and south sides of the bridge; these trusses measure 24 feet (7.3 m) or 26 feet (7.9 m) deep. Each of the trusses is directly beneath one of the main cables. The centerlines of the inner trusses are 40 feet (12 m) apart from each other, while

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6384-464: The Manhattan Bridge, and there would be large balconies and enormous spaces within the towers' anchorages. Work on the Manhattan caisson had commenced in January 1903; it was towed to position in July, and the caisson work was completed by January 1904. The foundations were completed in March 1904. A $ 10 million grant for the bridge's construction was granted in May 1904 with the expectation that work on

6536-466: The Manhattan end of the bridge became one of the city's largest homeless encampments before it was razed in 1993. The western upper roadway was closed for reconstruction that year. As part of an experiment, researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital monitored lead levels in Manhattan Bridge workers' blood while the reconstruction took place. The bridge repairs were repeatedly delayed as the renovation process uncovered more serious structural problems underlying

6688-486: The NYCDOT began allowing Brooklyn-bound drivers to exit onto Concord Street in Brooklyn at all times; previously, drivers could only exit onto Concord Street during the afternoon rush hours. The Concord Street exit was again closed outside the afternoon rush hour in early 2016. After rubble was found in Brooklyn Bridge Park under the Brooklyn approach in 2018, Skanska was given a contract to repair parts of

6840-833: The North River Bridge Company in New York , with the intent of building a massive bridge over the Hudson River for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Although the PRR ultimately decided to build tunnels under the river rather than a bridge, the two companies continued their relationship. The PRR hired Lindenthal in 1904 to work on the New York Connecting Railroad and lead the Hell Gate Bridge project. The completed bridge

6992-777: The Philadelphia journal, The Port Folio , in 1810. Early British chain bridges included the Dryburgh Abbey Bridge (1817) and 137 m Union Bridge (1820), with spans rapidly increasing to 176 m with the Menai Bridge (1826), "the first important modern suspension bridge". The first chain bridge on the German speaking territories was the Chain Bridge in Nuremberg . The Sagar Iron Suspension Bridge with

7144-500: The River Paiva, Arouca Geopark , Portugal, opened in April 2021. The 516 metres bridge hangs 175 meters above the river. Where such a bridge spans a gap between two buildings, there is no need to construct towers, as the buildings can anchor the cables. Cable suspension may also be augmented by the inherent stiffness of a structure that has much in common with a tubular bridge . Typical suspension bridges are constructed using

7296-697: The United States in 1874. When he first arrived in the United States he was employed as a journeyman stonemason for the memorial granite building of the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. After completion of this project, Lindenthal worked for the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , on numerous projects over a three-year period. While working for this company, he gained valuable experience which propelled him to

7448-478: The aftermath of the dispute, two city officials were fired, and the New York City Council 's Transportation committee held inquiries on the reopening of the south tracks and the safety of all New York City bridges. They found that the NYCDOT and MTA's lack of cooperation contributed significantly to the deteriorating conditions. There were also allegations that the NYCDOT's transportation commissioner

7600-456: The anchorages in December 1904. The Williams Engineering Company received the $ 2 million contract for the anchorages' construction. Construction commenced on the Brooklyn anchorage in February 1905 and on the Manhattan anchorage that April. The foundation subcontractors excavated the foundations of each anchorage using sheet pilings . Barges were used to transport material from the East River to

7752-401: The anchorages' sites. Mixers constructed the masonry for the anchorages at a rate of up to 550 cubic yards (420 m) per day. During mid-1905, officials condemned land in Manhattan and Brooklyn for the bridge's approaches; the land acquisition was partially delayed because the contractors rented out houses that were supposed to be demolished. By the end of the year, the city's bridge department

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7904-423: The anchorages. At the Brooklyn end of the south pathway, a staircase leads to the intersection of Jay and High streets. Because the subway trains are on the outer edges of the deck, this causes torsional stresses every time a train crossed the bridge. As built, the bridge sagged by as much as 3 feet (0.91 m) when a train crossed it, and it took about 30 seconds for the deck to return to its normal position after

8056-498: The approaches at both ends of the bridge; the work included a widening of an approach road at the bridge's Manhattan end. The pylons flanking the Brooklyn approach were moved to the Brooklyn Museum in 1963. The western upper roadway was closed for repairs for a year beginning in August 1969. Two of the lower roadway's lanes were closed for four months starting in November 1970 so workers could replace faulty joints . In 1970,

8208-473: The beams from cracking further. An overhaul of the bridge began in April 1985, and the city received $ 60 million in federal funds for the renovations of the Queensboro, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges the same year. The north tracks were closed that August, reopening that November after an $ 8.1 million repair. The eastern upper roadway was temporarily closed starting in April 1986, and all northbound traffic

8360-405: The bottom of the abutments longitudinally. The same span dimensions from Buck's plan were used because work on the masonry pier foundations had already begun. Additionally, the towers would have contained Modern French detail, while the anchorages would have been used for functions such as meeting halls. Lindenthal's plan was also rejected due to a dispute over whether his plan, which used eyebars ,

8512-449: The bridge at a cost of $ 75.9 million. The renovation was scheduled to finish in early 2021. The work entailed replacing some fencing, installing some new steel beams on the spans, and refurbishing ornamental elements on the towers. For instance, the spherical finials atop the suspension towers were replaced with cast-iron copies. The bridge, including approaches but excluding plazas, is about 6,855 feet (2,089 m) long. The bridge reaches

8664-406: The bridge carried nearly 79,000 cars, 18,000 trucks, and 200 buses on an average day. The city's public works commissioner, Frederick H. Zurmuhlen , requested in early 1952 that the Board of Estimate hire David B. Steinman to thoroughly examine the Manhattan Bridge, saying its maintenance costs were disproportionately higher than those of the other East River bridges. A beam on the eastern side of

8816-405: The bridge cracked in April 1953 and was fixed within a month. Following the cracked-beam incident, Zurmuhlen asked the city to allocate $ 2.69 million to repair the bridge, as trains disproportionately used one side of the bridge, causing it to tilt. Two proposals were put forth for the bridge's subway tracks; one plan called for them to be moved to the center of the deck, while another plan called for

8968-432: The bridge deck. Before the deck is installed, the cables are under tension from their own weight. Along the main cables smaller cables or rods connect to the bridge deck, which is lifted in sections. As this is done, the tension in the cables increases, as it does with the live load of traffic crossing the bridge. The tension on the main cables is transferred to the ground at the anchorages and by downwards compression on

9120-407: The bridge on December 4, 1909; at the time, the subway tracks were unfinished, and there was uncertainty over which company would use the streetcar tracks. Outgoing mayor George B. McClellan Jr. toured the bridge on December 24. The span officially opened on December 31, 1909, at a final cost of $ 26 million, although work was still incomplete. Initially, motorists had to pay a ten-cent toll, the same as

9272-561: The bridge to new expressways. The bridge would have linked the Lower Manhattan Expressway with the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, though the former was never built. The city's art commission delayed the demolition of the plazas before ruling that the pylons in the Brooklyn plaza be relocated to the Brooklyn Museum or another suitable location. Wagner said in late 1962 that he would request $ 2.9 million to rebuild

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9424-444: The bridge would start later that year. The Municipal Art Commission raised objections to one of the bridge's plans in June 1904, which delayed the start of construction. Another set of plans was unveiled that month by New York City Bridge Commissioner Gustav Lindenthal , in conjunction with Henry Hornbostel . The proposal also called for each of the suspension towers to be made of four columns, to be braced transversely and hinged to

9576-465: The bridge's deck had been delivered to a yard in Bayonne, New Jersey . The girders and panels were delivered to the bridge's site starting in February 1909, and the first floor panel in the main span was installed the same month. Each of the girders was hung from a pair of suspender cables, and floor panels were hung between the girders at a rate of four panels a day. It took workers three weeks to install

9728-403: The bridge. The original plans had been to complete the renovations by 1995 for $ 150 million, but by 1996, the renovation was slated to be complete in 2003 at a cost of $ 452 million. The western upper roadway did not reopen until 1996. By 2001, it was estimated that the renovations had cost $ 500 million to date, including $ 260 million for the west side and another $ 175 million for the east side. At

9880-526: The cables. For unknown reasons, the tracks were never moved. Plans for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn, which was constructed in the 1950s, included ramps to the Manhattan Bridge. Lane control lights were installed above the bridge's reversible lower-level lanes in early 1958, and fixed red and green lights were installed on the upper-level roadways. The same year, the city spent $ 50,000 on repairs after two boats collided on

10032-420: The centerline of each of the outer trusses is spaced 28 feet (8.5 m) from the centerlines of the inner trusses. The bottom of each truss is connected to the steel beams under the lower level, while the top of each truss supports the upper-level roadways. The trusses distribute the bridge's weight between each vertical suspender cable. The Manhattan Bridge's suspension towers measure 330 feet (100 m) from

10184-491: The chains are not attached to abutments as is usual, but instead are attached to the main girders, which are thus in compression. Here, the chains are made from flat wrought iron plates, eight inches (203 mm) wide by an inch and a half (38 mm) thick, rivetted together. The first wire-cable suspension bridge was the Spider Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill (1816), a modest and temporary footbridge built following

10336-475: The city had hired a contractor to repair the Manhattan Bridge's cable bands and hangers for $ 2.2 million. Before these repairs could begin, engineers surveyed the bridge. When work on the cables began in June, access to the western upper roadway was severely reduced. That September, the eastern upper roadway was closed for repairs; the western upper roadway was used by Manhattan-bound traffic during weekday mornings and carried two-way traffic at other times. The bridge

10488-421: The city had spent over $ 6 million on the bridge; the bridge's total cost was estimated at $ 20 million. To speed up the bridge's completion, Manhattan borough president Bird Sim Coler considered implementing night shifts . By February 1907, the Phoenix Bridge Company was manufacturing steel faster than it could be installed, and the steel for the anchorages was done. The company had also begun fabricating beams for

10640-488: The city to meet the Clean Air Act. Abraham Beame , who became mayor in 1974, refused to implement the tolls, and the United States Congress subsequently moved to forbid tolls on the free East River bridges. The United States Department of Transportation determined that the eastern upper roadway of the Manhattan Bridge was partially built with federal funds and, under federal law, could not be tolled. The weight of

10792-631: The collapse of James Finley's nearby Chain Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill (1808). The footbridge's span was 124 m, although its deck was only 0.45 m wide. Development of wire-cable suspension bridges dates to the temporary simple suspension bridge at Annonay built by Marc Seguin and his brothers in 1822. It spanned only 18 m. The first permanent wire cable suspension bridge was Guillaume Henri Dufour 's Saint Antoine Bridge in Geneva of 1823, with two 40 m spans. The first with cables assembled in mid-air in

10944-529: The collapse was largely caused by the construction failure of the vertical hanging clamp. It was also found that poor maintenance, fatigue in the cable hanger construction materials, material quality, and bridge loads that exceed vehicle capacity, can also have an impact on bridge collapse. In 2013 the Kutai Kartanegara Bridge rebuilt the same location and completed in 2015 with a Through arch bridge design. On 30 October 2022, Jhulto Pul ,

11096-522: The collapse; several drivers escaped their cars on foot and reached the anchorages before the span dropped. Yarmouth suspension bridge (England) was built in 1829 and collapsed in 1845, killing 79 people. Peace River Suspension Bridge (Canada), which was completed in 1943, collapsed when the north anchor's soil support for the suspension bridge failed in October 1957. The entire bridge subsequently collapsed. Kutai Kartanegara Bridge (Indonesia) over

11248-436: The commissioner of Plant and Structures, announced that September that he would request funding to repaint the bridge. The span was repainted during the next year at a cost of $ 240,000. Meanwhile, the bridge was carrying 27,000 daily vehicles by the early 1920s, and one traffic judge said the lower deck was too narrow to accommodate the increasing traffic levels on the bridge. In March 1922, the city government started constructing

11400-443: The company was able to wrap five to seven segments of cables per day. All work on the cables was finished in August 1909, almost exactly a year after the first strand of the first main cable was strung. Workers then installed ornamentation on the tops of the towers and bronze collars on each of the main cables. Modjeski reported that September that the bridge was safe. At the time, the plazas were incomplete, and Flatbush Avenue Extension

11552-412: The construction of an entirely new tunnel for subway trains. The administration of mayor Robert F. Wagner tentatively approved a $ 30 million renovation of the bridge in July 1954, and a committee of engineers was hired to review alternate proposals for the bridge. Zurmuhlen said the bridge's safety would be compromised within the next decade if subway trains continued to use the bridge. By February 1955,

11704-585: The construction of continuous "moving platform" transit systems in lieu of traditional subway trains on the Brooklyn Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge . While the proposals ultimately remained unbuilt, the city would eventually host a similar (albeit scaled-down) concept sixty years later with the Ford Motor Company "Magic Skyway" attraction at the 1964 New York World's Fair . The North River Bridge Company developed another proposal for

11856-417: The construction of the bridge's Manhattan and Brooklyn approach spans. John C. Rodgers submitted a low bid of $ 2.17 million for the viaducts, and Stevenson requested that amount from the Board of Estimate. By the beginning of 1908, most of the land had been cleared, and the suspension towers had been built to above the height of the deck. The Manhattan tower was finished that March, followed by the Brooklyn tower

12008-465: The contract in August 1905 after submitting a low bid of $ 7.248 million, and a competing bidder sued to prevent the contract from being awarded to Pennsylvania Steel. In November, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the contract with Pennsylvania Steel was illegal, as the bidding process had been designed to shut out other bidders. Although Best tried to appeal the Supreme Court's decision,

12160-446: The contract was re-advertised anyway; Pennsylvania Steel refused to submit another bid. When Stevenson became the bridge commissioner at the beginning of 1906, he ordered that new bridge specifications be created. Stevenson received bids for the steelwork in May 1906, and the Ryan-Parker Construction Company received the contract the next month, following delays caused by an injunction and threats of lawsuits. The Ryan-Parker Company hired

12312-744: The country in the 1920s. Perhaps his most famous and lasting achievement outside of New York is the Sciotoville Bridge , a rail crossing of the Ohio River , completed about the same time as the Hell Gate Bridge. Lindenthal had a difference in opinion with one of the standard engineering practices of the day. Prior to the automobile, train construction represented the majority of transport building that took place. Trains being as heavy as they were made engineers greatly overcompensate and build bridges that were oversized, bulky, and expensive. Lindenthal pointed out that bridges did not have to support

12464-423: The decision ended up placing additional loads on the bridge. To reduce congestion at the Manhattan end, left-hand traffic was implemented on the lower level during the 1920s, as most vehicles heading into Manhattan turned left at the end of the bridge. Motorists continued to use the Manhattan Bridge even after the Brooklyn Bridge reopened to motorists in 1925, contributing to heavy congestion during rush hours. At

12616-399: The deck, one each flanking the north and south roadways. The columns measure 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, as measured transversely. The length of each column, as measured laterally, tapers from 32 feet (9.8 m) at the pedestal to 10 feet (3.0 m) at the top. The columns are braced by diagonal steel beams. A publication from 1904 wrote that the central parts of each tower were designed like

12768-607: The design of other long suspension bridges in the early 20th century. The bridge was the last of the three suspension spans built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges. After the City of Greater New York was formed in 1898, the administration of mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck formed a plan for what became the Manhattan Bridge; these plans were repeatedly revised and were not finalized until after George B. McClellan Jr. became mayor in 1901. From

12920-414: The disputes over the types of cables had delayed the contract for the bridge's superstructure (composed of its towers and deck). The bridge's completion had been delayed by two years, and its cost had increased by $ 2 million. The cable dispute was not fully resolved until 1906, when Best's successor James W. Stevenson announced that the bridge would use wire cables. Best reviewed bids for the construction of

13072-432: The eastern upper-deck roadway at a cost of $ 300,000. The roadway opened that June. The next month, Whalen banned horse-drawn vehicles from the Manhattan Bridge and motor vehicles from the Brooklyn Bridge. The upper roadway of the Manhattan Bridge was converted to a reversible lane, while the lower roadway carried two-way traffic at all times. Whalen said the restriction would allow both levels to be used to their full capacity;

13224-670: The engineering drawings for the Manhattan Bridge, after the City Club of New York expressed concerns over the bridge's safety. Afterward, the Glyndon Construction Company installed the vertical suspender cables, which were hung from the main cables. By the beginning of 1909, the bridge was planned to open at the end of the year, but the subway tracks, streetcar tracks, and Flatbush Avenue Extension were not complete. Around 60 million pounds (27,000 long tons; 27,000 t) of red steel girders and floor panels for

13376-526: The failure of a few flawed strands in the hundreds used pose very little threat of failure, whereas a single bad link or eyebar can cause failure of an entire bridge. (The failure of a single eyebar was found to be the cause of the collapse of the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River .) Another reason is that as spans increased, engineers were unable to lift larger chains into position, whereas wire strand cables can be formulated one by one in mid-air from

13528-472: The federal government enacted the Clean Air Act , a series of federal air pollution regulations. As part of a plan by mayor John Lindsay and the federal Environmental Protection Agency , the city government considered implementing tolls on the four free East River bridges, including the Manhattan Bridge, in the early 1970s. The plan would have raised money for New York City's transit system and allowed

13680-462: The firm was awarded a $ 97.8 million contract that August. City Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman originally denied the contract to the company because of concerns about corruption, but she was overridden by Mayor David Dinkins , who wanted to complete repairs quickly. The NYCDOT began conducting more frequent inspections of the bridge after inspectors found holes in beams that had been deemed structurally sound during previous inspections. A shantytown at

13832-473: The floor panels; and the last panel was installed on April 7, 1909. The bridge commissioner received $ 1 million from the Board of Estimate and Apportionment for the completion of the roadway, subway tracks, and other design details. The trusses and side spans were built after the floor of the main span was completed. Carbon Steel began wrapping the main cables together in May 1909; the wrapping process required 140 short tons (120 long tons; 130 t) of wire, and

13984-462: The full load of a train as a single point load. Instead, a train moves across the bridge and displaces its load relatively evenly. This was not how the bridges were tested to see if a design worked though. The train's total dead weight was simply added to the bridge, and if it did not hold, it was said to be structurally unstable. Lindenthal's idea of not having to carry the full load allowed bridge designers to create bridges that were still stable, but at

14136-432: The highway, which may be supported by suspender cables or their own trusswork . In cases where trusswork supports the spans, there will be very little arc in the outboard main cables. The earliest suspension bridges were ropes slung across a chasm, with a deck possibly at the same level or hung below the ropes such that the rope had a catenary shape. The Tibetan siddha and bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo originated

14288-534: The live loads. In an underspanned suspension bridge, also called under-deck cable-stayed bridge, the main cables hang entirely below the bridge deck, but are still anchored into the ground in a similar way to the conventional type. Very few bridges of this nature have been built, as the deck is inherently less stable than when suspended below the cables. Examples include the Pont des Bergues of 1834 designed by Guillaume Henri Dufour ; James Smith's Micklewood Bridge; and

14440-409: The lower level and banned buses and trucks from the two remaining lower-level lanes. The city government agreed to pay $ 750,000 to fix the cracks. In 1988, the NYCDOT published a list of 17 structurally deficient bridges in the city, including the Manhattan Bridge. That year, inspectors identified 73 "flags" or potentially serious defects, compared to the five defects identified in a 1978 inspection. As

14592-461: The main cables above the tops of each suspension tower. Each saddle weighs 15 short tons (13 long tons; 14 t). In contrast to the Williamsburg and Brooklyn bridges (where the saddles are placed on movable rollers), the saddles are fixed in place, as the towers themselves were intended to flex slightly to accommodate the strains placed on each cable. If the bridge was loaded to full capacity,

14744-445: The main cables' wires across the river between each anchorage. These wheels were powered by a motor atop the Brooklyn anchorage. In addition, reels of wire were stored at both ends of the bridge. The guide wheels laid up to 100 short tons (89 long tons; 91 t) of wire every day. The last wires for the main cables were strung in December 1908. That month, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment hired engineer Ralph Modjeski to review

14896-463: The mean high water mark to the tops of the cables; the ornamental finials atop each tower are 350 feet (110 m) above high water. Each tower sits on a masonry pier that measures 68 by 134 feet (21 by 41 m) across and projects 23 feet (7.0 m) above mean high water. The tops of each pier taper to a steel pedestal measuring 18 by 43 feet (5.5 by 13.1 m), from which rise the columns of each tower. The foundations of each tower, consisting of

15048-639: The modern method was Joseph Chaley 's Grand Pont Suspendu in Fribourg , in 1834. In the United States, the first major wire-cable suspension bridge was the Wire Bridge at Fairmount in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by Charles Ellet Jr. and completed in 1842, it had a span of 109 m. Ellet's Niagara Falls suspension bridge (1847–48) was abandoned before completion. It was used as scaffolding for John A. Roebling 's double decker railroad and carriage bridge (1855). The Otto Beit Bridge (1938–1939)

15200-614: The nearby Brooklyn Bridge is just slightly farther west, while the Queensboro and Williamsburg bridges are to the north. The bridge was proposed in 1898 and was originally called "Bridge No. 3" before being renamed the Manhattan Bridge in 1902. Foundations for the bridge's suspension towers were completed in 1904, followed by the anchorages in 1907 and the towers in 1908. The Manhattan Bridge opened to traffic on December 31, 1909, and began carrying streetcars in 1912 and New York City Subway trains in 1915. The eastern upper-deck roadway

15352-636: The next month. Land acquisition was nearly done by the middle of that year. Andrew McC. Parker of the Ryan-Parker Company had predicted in January 1908 that the cables would be strung within two months. The Roebling & Sons Company started manufacturing the wires for the cables before the towers were finished, while the Glyndon Contracting Company was hired to lay the wires. Around 8,500 short tons (7,600 long tons; 7,700 t) of nickel steel wires were manufactured at

15504-462: The outset, the bridge was planned to have a central roadway, streetcar tracks, elevated tracks, and sidewalks, and it was to run straight onto an extension of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. In the earliest plans it was to have been called "Bridge No. 3", but was given the name Manhattan Bridge in 1902. When the name was confirmed in 1904, The New York Times criticized it as "meaningless", lobbied for one after Brooklyn's Wallabout Bay , and railed that

15656-406: The pillars to deck-level supports, and further continue to connections with anchors in the ground. The roadway is supported by vertical suspender cables or rods, called hangers. In some circumstances, the towers may sit on a bluff or canyon edge where the road may proceed directly to the main span. Otherwise, the bridge will typically have two smaller spans, running between either pair of pillars and

15808-431: The public, the northern footpath opened in July 1910; the southern footpath was scheduled to be opened the next month. Shortly after the Manhattan Bridge opened, the city government conducted a study and found that it had no authority to charge tolls on the Manhattan and Queensboro bridges. Tolls on the Manhattan Bridge, as well as the Queensboro, Williamsburg , and Brooklyn bridges, were abolished in July 1911 as part of

15960-413: The railing and the walking layer of Gyalpo's bridges used wires. The stress points that carried the screed were reinforced by the iron chains. Before the use of iron chains it is thought that Gyalpo used ropes from twisted willows or yak skins. He may have also used tightly bound cloth. The Inca used rope bridges , documented as early as 1615. It is not known when they were first made. Queshuachaca

16112-404: The railings on the upper roadways. The city government announced in 1938 that it would replace the lower deck's wooden pavement with a steel-and-concrete pavement; the repaving was completed that December. Simultaneously, the railings on the upper roadways were raised again. As part of a Works Progress Administration project, a ramp at the Brooklyn end of the bridge was widened in 1941, replacing

16264-474: The relocation of several hundred families in Brooklyn and nearly 1,000 families in Manhattan. In total, about 145 lots in Brooklyn and 173 lots in Manhattan were obtained for the bridge's approaches and plazas. Some Brooklyn residents requested additional time to relocate. Residents in the path of the Manhattan approach also protested efforts to evict them, though they were relocated at the beginning of December 1907. Later that month, four companies submitted bids for

16416-612: The roadbed, particularly owing to the unfavorable effects of using plate girders, discovered from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940) bridge collapse. In the 1960s, developments in bridge aerodynamics allowed the re-introduction of plate structures as shallow box girders , first seen on the Severn bridge , built 1961–1966. In the picture of the Yichang Bridge , note the very sharp entry edge and sloping undergirders in

16568-407: The same time much lighter and cheaper. Gustav Lindenthal made bridges that reached new heights for his time. At the time of Hell Gate's completion, it stood as the longest and heaviest steel bridge in the world. Gustav Lindenthal also expanded the idea of "double decker" lanes on his bridges. The Queensboro Bridge is one of the bridges Lindenthal designed that displays the double decker idea. During

16720-553: The same year. The city allocated $ 675,000 for a plaza at the Brooklyn end in March 1913, including a subway tunnel under the plaza, and the Northeastern Construction Company submitted the low bid for the plaza's construction. The arch and colonnade were completed in 1915, while the pylons on the Brooklyn side were installed in November 1916. The bridge approaches cost just over $ 1.53 million to construct. In an attempt to speed up automotive traffic, in 1918,

16872-468: The side spans. The bridge's condition was blamed on the imbalance in the number of trains crossing the bridge, as well as deferred maintenance during the New York City fiscal crisis of the 1970s. In 1979, the New York state government took over control of the Manhattan Bridge and the three other toll-free bridges across the East River. One engineer estimated in 1988 that the bridge would cost $ 162.6 million to repair. The state government started inspecting

17024-613: The span "would have geographical and historical significance if it were known as the Wallabout Bridge". In 1905, the Times renewed its campaign, stating, "All bridges across the East River are Manhattan bridges. When there was only one, it was well enough to call it the Brooklyn Bridge, or the East River Bridge". The earliest plans for what became the Manhattan Bridge were designed by R. S. Buck. These plans called for

17176-703: The status of bridge engineer. He worked for the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad during 1879 to 1881. In 1881, Lindenthal established his own consulting business and built four bridges in the Pittsburgh area: 30th Street Bridge (Herrs Island); Smithfield Street Bridge (over the Monongahela River ; 1883), Youghiogheny River Bridge at McKeesport (1883); and the Seventh Street Bridge ( Allegheny River ; 1884). In 1884, he founded

17328-522: The structures and installing 258 floodlights. To celebrate the bridge's centennial, a series of events and exhibits were organized by the New York City Bridge Centennial Commission in October 2009. These included a ceremonial parade across the Manhattan Bridge on the morning of October 4 and a fireworks display in the evening. In 2009, the bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by

17480-525: The subway tracks. By the early 1980s, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) planned to spend $ 100 million on bridge repairs. The New York City government allocated $ 10.1 million for preliminary work on the bridge in March 1982, and minor repair work started that year. Workers planned to install brackets and supports under the deck, and they drilled small holes into the lower-level floor beams unsuccessful attempt to prevent

17632-466: The subway trains had caused deep and widespread cracks to form in the bridge's floor beams, prompting the city government to replace 300 deteriorated beams during the late 1970s. The deck twisted up to 8 feet (2.4 m) every time a train passed by, and trains had to slow down on the bridge. A New York Times reporter wrote that diagonal cable stays might eventually need to be installed; the city government also contemplated installing support towers under

17784-401: The suspension bridge shown. This enables this type of construction to be used without the danger of vortex shedding and consequent aeroelastic effects, such as those that destroyed the original Tacoma Narrows bridge. Three kinds of forces operate on any bridge: the dead load, the live load, and the dynamic load. Dead load refers to the weight of the bridge itself. Like any other structure,

17936-514: The ten bridges with the longest spans, followed by the length of the span and the year the bridge opened for traffic: (Chronological) Broughton Suspension Bridge (England) was an iron chain bridge built in 1826. One of Europe's first suspension bridges, it collapsed in 1831 due to mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step. As a result of the incident, the British Army issued an order that troops should "break step" when crossing

18088-455: The time Lindenthal practiced engineering, the railroad industry was expanding and replacing many wooden-truss bridges with stronger ones capable of handling the heavier locomotive loads. In order to accommodate these heavier trains, different construction materials were being utilized. The materials being considered by engineers like Lindenthal were reinforced concrete , cable, and steel. Steel and reinforced concrete were two main materials used in

18240-400: The time, the Brooklyn Bridge carried 10,000 vehicles a day (in part due to its low speed limit), while the Manhattan Bridge carried 60,000 vehicles daily. When the lower level was repaved in early 1927, Manhattan-bound traffic was temporarily banned from the lower level at night. That October, Brooklyn borough president James J. Byrne proposed replacing the Three Cent Line's trolley tracks with

18392-406: The time, the NYCDOT had set a January 2004 deadline for the renovation. The eastern upper roadway was closed for a renovation starting in 2002. The original pedestrian walkway on the west side of the bridge was reopened in June 2001, having been closed for 20 years. It was shared with bicycles until late summer 2004, when a dedicated bicycle path was opened on the east side of the bridge. The bike path

18544-450: The toll on the Brooklyn Bridge. Empty commercial vehicles tended to use the Manhattan Bridge, while trucks with full loads used the Brooklyn Bridge, since the Manhattan Bridge's wood-block pavement was less sturdy than the Brooklyn Bridge's plank pavement. A fire on the Brooklyn side damaged the bridge in early 1910, necessitating the replacement of some cables and steel. Though both of the Manhattan Bridge's footpaths were initially closed to

18696-515: The tops of the towers could bend up to 25 inches (640 mm) toward the center of the river. The steel beams also expanded by up to 0.75 inches (19 mm) just sitting in the sun. The Manhattan Bridge contains four main cables, which measure 3,224 ft (983 m) long. They descend from the tops of the suspension towers and help support the deck. The cables weigh a combined 6,000 short tons (5,400 long tons; 5,400 t) and can carry 110,000 short tons (98,000 long tons; 100,000 t) including

18848-520: The tower's foundations. The contract for the Brooklyn suspension tower was awarded in May 1901. The caisson under the tower on the Brooklyn side was installed in March 1902; workers excavated dirt for the foundations from within the caisson, a process that was completed in December 1902. Three workers had died while working on the Brooklyn-side tower's caisson. A plan for the bridge was announced in early 1903. Elevated and trolley routes would use

19000-489: The towers. In cable-stayed bridges, the towers are the primary load-bearing structures that transmit the bridge loads to the ground. A cantilever approach is often used to support the bridge deck near the towers, but lengths further from them are supported by cables running directly to the towers. By design, all static horizontal forces of the cable-stayed bridge are balanced so that the supporting towers do not tend to tilt or slide and so must only resist horizontal forces from

19152-439: The towers. Land acquisition for an extension of Flatbush Avenue to the bridge began in March, and the first steel girders of the towers were lifted in place the next month. The first steel pedestals for the towers were installed on June 26, 1907. The anchorages were nearly done by late 1907; they could not be completed until the cables were finished. The city government acquired land for the approaches in October 1907; this required

19304-490: The underwater section of each pier and a caisson below it, descend 92 feet (28 m) below mean high water. The caissons measure 78 by 144 feet (24 by 44 m) across. They have concrete walls and contained a working chamber divided into three compartments. Each tower is made of 6,500 short tons (5,800 long tons; 5,900 t) of steel, much heavier than the towers of similar suspension bridges. The towers are composed of four columns oriented transversely (perpendicularly) to

19456-426: The upper level the following year. To increase traffic flow, both upper roadways were temporarily converted to reversible lanes during rush hours in 1934; the lower roadway was repaired, and the bridge was repainted the same year. The city's commissioner of plant and structures also requested $ 725,000 in federal funds for various repairs. During 1937, the city awarded a contract to repair the bridge's steelwork and raised

19608-499: The upper level. The deck is 120 feet (37 m) wide. As designed, the lower-level roadway was 34 feet (10 m) or 35 feet (11 m) wide. The walkway and bikeway were each 10 feet (3.0 m) or 12 feet (3.7 m) wide. The Manhattan-bound (eastern) upper-level roadway is 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, while the Brooklyn-bound (western) roadway is 22.5 feet (6.9 m) wide; both roadways narrow to 19 feet (5.8 m) at

19760-473: The upper roadways. Also on the lower level are a walkway on the south (geographically facing west) and a bikeway on the north side (geographically facing east). Originally, there were four streetcar tracks above the four rapid transit tracks. Although both levels could theoretically have accommodated either streetcars or elevated rapid transit, subways could use only the lower level because subway trains would have needed to climb an excessively steep slope to reach

19912-568: The use of iron chains in his version of simple suspension bridges . In 1433, Gyalpo built eight bridges in eastern Bhutan . The last surviving chain-linked bridge of Gyalpo's was the Thangtong Gyalpo Bridge in Duksum en route to Trashi Yangtse , which was finally washed away in 2004. Gyalpo's iron chain bridges did not include a suspended-deck bridge , which is the standard on all modern suspension bridges today. Instead, both

20064-423: The weight of the cables is small compared to the weight of the deck. One can see the shape from the constant increase of the gradient of the cable with linear (deck) distance, this increase in gradient at each connection with the deck providing a net upward support force. Combined with the relatively simple constraints placed upon the actual deck, that makes the suspension bridge much simpler to design and analyze than

20216-698: The weight of the cables themselves. The cables measure either 20.75 inches (527 mm), 21 inches (533 mm), or 21.25 inches (540 mm) in diameter. Unlike the Williamsburg Bridge (but like other suspension bridges), the wires on the Manhattan Bridge's cables are galvanized to prevent rusting. Each cable consists of 9,472 parallel wires, which are grouped into 37 strands of 256 wires. The wires measure 3 ⁄ 16 inch (4.8 mm) across. The cables themselves are capable of resisting loads of up to 30,000 short tons (27,000 long tons; 27,000 t). Suspension bridge A suspension bridge

20368-425: The western upper roadway during the morning in August 1952. Instead, two of the three lower-level lanes began carrying Manhattan-bound traffic during the morning; previously, Manhattan-bound vehicles could use only one of the lower-level lanes at all times. By the mid-1950s, there were frequent car accidents on the Manhattan Bridge, which injured 411 people and killed nine people between 1953 and 1955 alone. In addition,

20520-463: The western upper-deck roadway. Initially scheduled to be completed by July 1930, the roadway ultimately opened in June 1931 and carried Brooklyn-bound traffic. The eastern upper-deck roadway was converted to carry Manhattan-bound traffic, and the center roadway was turned into a lane for buses and trucks. At the time, nearly 65,000 vehicles used the bridge every day, of which nearly a quarter were buses and trucks. A set of 119 streetlights were installed on

20672-448: Was awarded just over $ 300,000 in 1912, an amount that was increased to over $ 380,000 in 1916. After the bridge opened, Carrère and Hastings drew up preliminary plans for a Beaux Arts -style entrance to the bridge in Manhattan and a smaller approach on the Brooklyn side. The city's Municipal Art Commission approved a $ 700,000 plan for the bridge's Manhattan approach in April 1910. The final plans were approved in 1912, and construction began

20824-602: Was based upon economy as much as anything." At the age of eighty-five, Lindenthal succumbed to a long illness and died shortly after, at his home in Metuchen, New Jersey . Lindenthal's Metuchen property extended northward towards Oak Tree Road into Raritan Township (present-day Edison, New Jersey ), and was later bought by contractor Frank P. Tufaro for the development of the Stephenville community. Up until that point, he remained active as president and chief engineer of

20976-510: Was being "shaky and loose." Lindenthal was given an opportunity to design a replacement, the Smithfield Street Bridge in Pittsburgh. This bridge, completed in 1883 using the structural form of a lenticular truss , could withstand higher stresses, as well as using resources that made it more economical (Approximately $ 23,000 was saved simply by using these materials). "Lindenthal's use of steel instead of iron wherever possible

21128-472: Was better than the more established practice of using wire cables . The Municipal Art Commission voted in September 1904 to use wire cables on the bridge. Lindenthal was ultimately dismissed and a new design was commissioned from Leon Moisseiff . George Best replaced Lindenthal as the city's bridge commissioner and discarded the eyebar plans in favor of the wire cables. Hornbostel was replaced by Carrère and Hastings as architectural consultants. By late 1904,

21280-661: Was built between 1829 and 1832, replacing a wooden bridge further downstream which collapsed in 1828. It is the only suspension bridge across the non-tidal Thames. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge , (designed in 1840, opened in 1849), spanning the River Danube in Budapest, was also designed by William Clark and it is a larger-scale version of Marlow Bridge. An interesting variation is Thornewill and Warham 's Ferry Bridge in Burton-on-Trent , Staffordshire (1889), where

21432-445: Was closed for emergency repairs in February 1989 after two corroded beams sagged. Newsday reported that the western roadway had urgently required repair for almost three years but had remained open to avoid shutting down all four of the bridge's subway tracks at once. The cables, trusses, and subway frame on the eastern half of the bridge had to be repaired, and the lower roadway needed complete replacement. After seven columns supporting

21584-520: Was dedicated by Lindenthal and the PRR on March 9, 1917. Lindenthal's career transitioned to public service when he was appointed to lead the New York City Department of Bridges from 1902 through 1903. As Commissioner of Bridges, he managed several projects spanning the East River , and had a major role in designing the Queensboro Bridge and Hell Gate Bridge . In one of the more novel initiatives of his tenure, Lindenthal advocated for

21736-488: Was fired in 1904. The steel was fabricated by the Phoenix Bridge Company. The Manhattan Bridge has four vehicle lanes on the upper level, split between two roadways carrying opposite directions of traffic. The southbound roadway to Brooklyn is on the west side of the bridge, while the northbound roadway to Manhattan is on the east side. The lower level has three Manhattan-bound vehicle lanes (formerly reversible until 2015) and four rapid transit/subway tracks , two under each of

21888-553: Was installed in 1922. After streetcars stopped running in 1929, the western upper roadway was finished two years later. The uneven weight of subway trains crossing the Manhattan Bridge caused it to tilt to one side, necessitating an extensive reconstruction between 1982 and 2004. The Manhattan Bridge was the first suspension bridge to use a Warren truss in its design. It has a main span of 1,480 ft (451 m) between two 350-foot (110 m) suspension towers. The deck carries seven vehicular lanes, four on an upper level and three on

22040-597: Was not part of the actual bridge. This was accomplished by building the two halves of the arch simultaneously from each tower. The steel work was supported with the use of cables during construction to carry the load of the arches until they finally met at the center of the span. In another instance, a bridge needed to be constructed over the Monongahela River, after the ferry, which was used for many years beforehand, became outdated. The first bridge, designed by John Roebling , continuously swayed and deflected, and

22192-505: Was not properly addressing concerns about the bridge's safety. Starting in January 1991, trucks and buses were banned from the lower roadway, which was also closed for repairs during nights and weekends. Meanwhile, the weight of heavy trucks created holes in the upper roadbed, so a three-ton weight limit was imposed. The NYCDOT selected the Yonkers Contracting Company as the bridge's main contractor in early 1992, and

22344-567: Was planning to erect streetcar terminal buildings at either end of the bridge. To avoid the delays that had occurred during the Williamsburg Bridge 's construction, Best planned to award a single large contract for the towers and the deck, rather than splitting the work into multiple contracts. He began soliciting bids for the metalwork in July 1905, at which point the bridge was to use 44,000 short tons (39,000 long tons; 40,000 t) of metal. The Pennsylvania Steel Company received

22496-413: Was poorly signed, leading to cyclist and pedestrian conflicts. By the time work on the bridge was completed in 2004, the final cost of the renovation totaled $ 800 million. The lower-level roadway was then renovated between 2004 and 2008. The arch and colonnade had also become deteriorated, having become covered with graffiti and dirt. The enclosed plaza within the colonnade had been used as a parking lot by

22648-414: Was shifted to the lower level, as part of a $ 45 million project to replace the roadway and its steel supports. The north tracks underneath were closed that month. The roadway was originally supposed to reopen within 15 months, but contractors found that one of the anchors for the main cables was far more corroded than anticipated, delaying the eastern roadway's reopening by another 18 months. The renovation of

22800-431: Was temporarily closed to all traffic in November 1955. The eastern upper roadway was again closed during the midday in early 1956 for suspender cable repairs, and the whole span was closed during nights in June 1956. All lanes were again open by that August. The city had still not decided whether to move the subway tracks to a double-deck structure in the middle of the bridge, even though that plan would have reduced strain on

22952-404: Was the first modern suspension bridge outside the United States built with parallel wire cables. Two towers/pillars, two suspension cables, four suspension cable anchors, multiple suspender cables, the bridge deck. The main cables of a suspension bridge will form a catenary when hanging under their own weight only. When supporting the deck, the cables will instead form a parabola , assuming

23104-501: Was unpaved; the bridge commissioner was razing buildings near the Manhattan plaza by that November. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that there was widespread discontent over the fact that streetcar and subway service would not be ready for the bridge's opening. Stevenson announced at the end of November 1909 that the bridge's roadways would likely open by December 24, although the transit lines and pedestrian walkways were not complete. One hundred prominent Brooklyn citizens walked over

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