The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing across the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of and a deck above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915. Proposals for a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn were first made in the early 19th century, which eventually led to the construction of the current span, designed by John A.
Introduction
Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge | Introduction
cable-stayed/suspension bridge It is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge. It is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge. It is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge
how much is robert f kennedy bridge toll
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drivers pay $9.50 per car or $4.00 per motorcycle for tolls by mail. Customer Service Center pay $6.12 per car or $2.66 per motorcycle.
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which locations are connected by this bridge?
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The bridges link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.
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does it traverse a river?
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Yes -  East River, Harlem River, Bronx Kill
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where does the first river originate?
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Long Island Sound
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are there any other bridges on that river?
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Yes -  Brooklyn Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge
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what type of bridge is the first one?
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The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, was the first bridge to span the East River, connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and all but replacing the frequent ferry service between them, which did not return until the late 20th century. The bridge offered cable car service across the span. The Brooklyn Bridge was followed by the Williamsburg Bridge (1903), the Queensboro Bridge (1909), the Manhattan Bridge (1912) and the Hell Gate Railroad Bridge (1916). Later would come the Triborough Bridge (1936), the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge (1939), the Throgs Neck Bridge (1961) and the Rikers Island Bridge (1966). In addition, numerous rail tunnels pass under the East River – most of them part of the New York City Subway system – as does the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.
East River | Bridges and tunnels
Although a second deck for the Brooklyn Bridge was proposed, it was thought to be infeasible because doing so would overload the bridge's structural capacity. The first new bridge across the East River, the Williamsburg Bridge, opened upstream in 1903 and connected Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This was followed by the Queensboro Bridge between Queens and Manhattan in March 1909, and the Manhattan Bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan in December 1909. Several subway, railroad, and road tunnels were also constructed, which helped to accelerate the development of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Though tolls had been instituted for carriages and cable-car customers since the bridge's opening, pedestrians were spared from the tolls originally.
Brooklyn Bridge | Late 19th through early 20th centuries
The Brooklyn Bridge is an icon of the city itself. The towers of the Brooklyn Bridge are built of limestone, granite, and Rosendale cement, and their architectural style is neo-Gothic, with characteristic pointed arches above the passageways through the stone towers. This bridge was also the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903, and is the first steel-wire suspension bridge. The Queensboro Bridge is an important piece of cantilever architecture. The Manhattan Bridge, opened in 1909, is considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges, and its design served as the model for many of the long-span suspension bridges around the world; the Manhattan Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge, Triborough Bridge, and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge are all examples of Structural Expressionism.
New York City | River crossings
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing across the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of and a deck above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915. Proposals for a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn were first made in the early 19th century, which eventually led to the construction of the current span, designed by John A.
Brooklyn Bridge | Introduction
The Brooklyn Bridge, the world's first major steel-wire suspension bridge, uses a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge design, with both horizontal and diagonal suspender cables. Its stone towers are neo-Gothic, with characteristic pointed arches. The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), which maintains the bridge, says that its original paint scheme was "Brooklyn Bridge Tan" and "Silver", although a writer for "The New York Post" states that it was originally entirely "Rawlins Red".
Brooklyn Bridge | Description
The bridge is founded on rock at up to below water level and the deck is on a falling gradient from above water level at the southern bank to at the northern bank. The bridge is long, and was the first bridge in the world to be built of open steel trough girders.
Brooklyn Bridge, New South Wales | Description
Construction on what was then known as the "East River Bridge", the second to span it, began in 1896 after approval by the Governor of New York on May 27, 1895. The new bridge was to be built north of the Grand Street Ferry, terminating at Delancey and Clinton Streets on the Manhattan side and at South Fifth Street and Driggs Avenue on the Brooklyn side. Leffert L. Buck was the chief engineer, Henry Hornbostel was the architect, and Holton D. Robinson was the assistant engineer. Engineers first constructed caissons on either side to support the future bridge. The caisson on the Manhattan side was completed in May 1897, upon which time the caisson on the Brooklyn side was launched.
Williamsburg Bridge | Construction
The first bridge on this site was constructed by the New York and Harlem Railroad in 1841. It was composed of four -long box truss spans, three of which were fixed iron spans, while the remaining span was a wooden swing span. In the closed position, the bridge had a clearance of only seven feet above mean high water. Masonry piers supported the four box-truss spans. In 1867, the wooden drawbridge was replaced with an iron one that gave a clearance of 50 feet. By the 1880s, the bridge was crossed by more than 200 trains a day.
Harlem River Lift Bridge | First bridge
Emily Warren Roebling was the first to cross the bridge. The bridge's main span over the East River is 1,595 feet 6 inches (. The bridge cost to build (in 1883 dollars) and an estimated number of 27 people died during its construction.
History of transportation in New York City | Brooklyn Bridge
The first bridge on this position, constructed on wooden piers, was built in 1810–12. The roadway was level with the east bank, meaning that the bridge had to be reached via a ramp from the lower west bank. This bridge was replaced in 1824. Over the first few years of the second bridge's existence, buildings began to be constructed along the bridge, a situation legally permitted due to fact that the river is not navigable at this point. In 1827 a market was constructed on the north side, its west end resting on the Front Street wall and its east end supported by the westernmost pier of the bridge.
Main Street Bridge (Rochester, New York) | Previous structures
The first bridge on the site was built in 1803 through an Act of Legislature authorizing the "building of a Toll Bridge over Newtown Creek: this bridge charged one cent per foot passenger, which was why the bridge was called the "Penny Bridge." The original bridge was replaced several times. Also called Meeker Avenue Bridge, the structure in use since 1894 was still informally known by some as the Penny Bridge. The bridge structures connected Meeker Avenue in Brooklyn to Review Avenue and Laurel Hill Boulevard in Queens. Until 1888, the bridge was operated by private companies and thereafter became the property of the people.
Kosciuszko Bridge | Original bridges
The first Broadway Bridge, opened on January 1, 1895, spanned the canal. The 1895 bridge, a steam-powered swinging bridge, accommodated only highway and pedestrian traffic. When a new span was built in 1905 (see ), the original Broadway Bridge was relocated, becoming the University Heights Bridge between Inwood and University Heights, Bronx. In June 1906, the old bridge was floated down the river and placed on a newly constructed center pier. After all the approaches and other construction were completed, the new University Heights Bridge opened to traffic on January 8, 1908.
Broadway Bridge (Manhattan) | First span
An innovative design, it was the first suspension bridge to employ Josef Melan's deflection theory for deck stiffening, resulting in the first use of a lightly-webbed weight-saving Warren truss for its construction. Considered the forerunner of modern suspension bridges, it served as the model for many of the record-breaking spans built in the first half of the twentieth century.
Manhattan Bridge | Introduction
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. The main span is long, with the suspension cables being long. The bridge's total length is . It is one of four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island to Long Island; the nearby Brooklyn Bridge is just slightly further downtown, while the Queensboro and Williamsburg bridges are to the north. The bridge was designed by Leon Moisseiff, built by The Phoenix Bridge Company, and opened to traffic on December 31, 1909.
Manhattan Bridge | Introduction
The first bridge (the "old bridge") was originally named the Broadway bridge because it connected with Broadway on the other side, which is in direct line of sight with Provencher. Construction began in 1881 and was completed in April 1882. Disaster struck three days later, wiping away two spans of the bridge, but repairs were completed later that same month. The bridge was demolished in 1917 after a proposal for a newer one.
Provencher Bridge | The first bridge
When there was only one, it was well enough to call it the Brooklyn Bridge, or the East River Bridge".
Manhattan Bridge | Name
Since the New York and Brooklyn Bridge was the only bridge across the East River at that time, it was also called the East River Bridge. Another popular nickname was the Brooklyn Bridge, because of the economic benefits the new crossing provided to the City of Brooklyn. Until the construction of the nearby Williamsburg Bridge in 1903, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world, one and a half times longer than any built previously.
Brooklyn Bridge | Opening
The bridge, including approaches, is long, its main span is , and its deck is wide. Measured from high water, the height at the center of the bridge is above the river and each tower is tall. The structure is unconventional among suspension bridges in having its main span hanging from cables in the usual manner but its side spans being supported entirely by their trusswork. The Brooklyn landing is between Grand Street and Broadway, which both had ferries prior to the bridge's construction. The five ferry routes operated from the landings went out of business by 1908. The bridge once carried New York State Route 27A.
Williamsburg Bridge | Description
This is the sixth bridge to have been built in this part of the Seekonk River. The first was a wooden bridge built by Moses Brown in 1793 called the Central Bridge, which connected the respective ends of Waterman Avenue. The same year, Brown's brother John built the first Washington Bridge at a ferry landing point one mile south, connecting India Point and Watchemoket Square. The second and third bridges were built as replacements and were destroyed in 1807 and 1815, respectively. A swing bridge was built in 1872, which was replaced by a sturdier bridge of the same type in 1895.
Henderson Bridge (Rhode Island) | Previous bridges in the area
The Queens-Midtown Tunnel, built to relieve congestion on the bridges connecting Manhattan with Queens and Brooklyn, was the largest non-federal project in its time when it was completed in 1940. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first person to drive through it. The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (officially known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) runs underneath Battery Park and connects the Financial District at the southern tip of Manhattan to Red Hook in Brooklyn.
New York City | River crossings
New York City's crossings date back to 1693, when its first bridge, known as the King's Bridge, was constructed over Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx, located in the present-day Kingsbridge neighborhood. The bridge, composed of stone abutments and a timber deck, was demolished in 1917. The oldest crossing still standing is High Bridge, built 1848 to carry the Croton Aqueduct from Manhattan to the Bronx over the Harlem River. This bridge was built to carry water to the city as part of the Croton Aqueduct system. Ten bridges and one tunnel serving the city have been awarded some level of landmark status.
List of bridges and tunnels in New York City | Bridges
To the south, Binnen Bridge and Music Grove Bridge were both designed as wood bridges. Binnen Bridge is located just north of the Lullwater, while Music Grove Bridge further upstream is located next to the Music Pagoda.
Prospect Park (Brooklyn) | Other spans
According to historian Kevin Wright, the extant iron swing bridge at New Bridge Landing occupies the site of a series of wooden drawbridges that have spanned the narrows of the Hackensack River at New Bridge since 1745. Until 1790, this was the first river crossing above Newark Bay and so carried overland traffic between Manhattan and the interior of North America. The bridge became vitally important during the American Revolution and was crossed by General George Washington at the head of the retreating garrison of Fort Lee on November 20, 1776, earning its appellation as the "Bridge That Saved A Nation".
Swing Bridge at New Bridge Landing | History
In 2009, it was decided to replace the 1939 structure with a new bridge, which was to consist of a five-lane eastbound span, a four-lane westbound span, a bike path, and a walkway. Four designs were considered for the new structure: a cable-stayed bridge, a through arch bridge, a box girder bridge, and a deck arch bridge. The cable-stayed bridge design, selected after a public review process, makes the replacement bridge the first vehicular cable-stayed bridge in New York City since the Brooklyn Bridge (which has a hybrid suspension/cable-stayed design), as well as the first major new bridge in New York City since the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge's completion in 1964.
Kosciuszko Bridge | Construction of eastbound bridge
From northwest to southeast, the Fallkill, Esdale, Nethermead Arch, Rock Arch, Music Grove, and Binnen Bridges also cross the watercourse upstream of the Lullwater Bridge. Fallkill, Esdale, and Rock Arch Bridges are located northwest of Nethermead Arch, while Music Grove and Binnen Bridges are located southeast of the arch. At the source of the watercourse, Fallkill and Esdale Bridges are both intended to look like wooden bridges, though are made of steel and concrete frames. Rock Arch Bridge, a boulder-lined span, crosses over Ambergill Falls; the waterfall had once been buried by the bridge's stonework, but was restored in the late 20th century when the bridge was rehabilitated.
Prospect Park (Brooklyn) | Other spans
In 1903, the demise of wooden covered bridge would be seen, as a storm, dubbed the Pumpkin Flood of 1903, struck in October of that year. The storm struck both communities, and the bridge in between, causing the loss of many lives, and on October 17, the toll collector on the bridge closed off the gate and did not allow any person to cross. At 6:40 that evening, a crash was heard, and seconds later, the bridge was no more, after tumbling into the Delaware River below. Remnants of the bridge were swept downstream, and smashed on the side of the new Northampton Street Bridge, constructed just a few years before.
Riverton–Belvidere Bridge | The first bridge (1836–1903)
Brooklyn Bridge is a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn Bridge may also refer to:
Brooklyn Bridge (disambiguation) | Introduction
With its Gothic-revival double-arched stone towers and diagonal suspension wires, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the city's most recognized architectural structures, depicted by artists such as Hart Crane and Georgia O'Keeffe. The Brooklyn Bridge's main span is , and was the longest in the world when it was completed. The Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan Bridge are the two others in the trio of architecturally notable East River crossings. The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, which links Manhattan and Queens, is an important piece of cantilever bridge design. The borough of Staten Island is connected to Brooklyn through the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Transportation in New York City | Bridges and tunnels
In 1905, a bridge was constructed that could accommodate for the extension of the IRT subway line into the Bronx. The 1905 Broadway Bridge was also a swinging bridge, but a second deck was added to allow for subway traffic on the upper deck, and pedestrian and highway traffic on the lower deck. The last subway train crossed the previous Broadway Bridge on December 23, 1960. Over the next two days (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), the old bridge was removed and the already assembled new bridge floated and hoisted into position, opening to subway traffic on December 26, 1960.
Broadway Bridge (Manhattan) | Second span
The bridge was the last of the three suspension spans built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges. 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 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.
Manhattan Bridge | Name
However, by the first decade of the 20th century, pedestrians were also paying tolls. Tolls on all four bridges across the East River—the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as the Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Queensboro bridges to the north—were abolished in July 1911 as part of a populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor. The city government passed a bill to officially name the structure the "Brooklyn Bridge" in January 1915. Ostensibly in an attempt to reduce traffic on nearby city streets, Grover Whalen, the commissioner of Plant and Structures, banned motor vehicles from the Brooklyn Bridge in 1922.
Brooklyn Bridge | Late 19th through early 20th centuries
It is perhaps the earliest Howe truss bridge that survives in New York State. A topographic map of its location appears in its individual inventory document prepared by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1977.
Buskirk Bridge | Introduction
The first bridge to be constructed was a three-arch stone bridge, which was built in 1746. It was destroyed by a heavy storm which caused the River Taff to flood about two years later. A large amount of debris came down the river, which then become trapped against the two abutments supporting the bridge. The weight and force of the debris ultimately destroyed the bridge, which was then swept away down the river.
Old Bridge, Pontypridd | The first bridge
The Union Bridge Company of New York was awarded the contract to construct the bridge in January 1886. The railways engineer-in-chief, John Whitton, who designed and built the railway was not invited to design the bridge due to fallout from a mid 1880s enquiry into railway bridges. However, subcontractors were also involved in the actual construction work. The piers consisted of concrete below water with sandstone masonry above. The spans were assembled on Dangar Island and floated or so across to the bridge site on barges. The bridge had seven spans of each for a total length of . Five of the piers were sunk to then record depths of between below high water.
Hawkesbury River railway bridge | First bridge
Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began on January 2, 1870. The first work entailed the construction of two caissons, upon which the suspension towers would be built. The Brooklyn side's caisson was built at the Webb & Bell shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and was launched into the river on March 19, 1870. Compressed air was pumped into the caisson, and workers entered the space to dig the sediment until it sank to the bedrock. Once the caisson had reached the desired depth, it was to be filled in with vertical brick piers and concrete. However, due to the unexpectedly high concentration of large boulders atop the riverbed, the Brooklyn caisson took several months to sink to the desired depth.
Brooklyn Bridge | Caissons
Armstrong for a bridge at Clifton. Part of the roadway on the land side of the piers of the Hammersmith Bridge was constructed in this manner. In the late 19th century and into the 20th century a few bridges of this type were constructed. The Micklewood Bridge, constructed at Doune in Scotland, was the very first of this type. It had a span of 103 feet, and the main cables were chains, making this an instance of a chain bridge. The deck was stiff and relatively stable, owing to heavy cross-braces. The only remaining underspanned suspension bridge in the United States is the Kellams Bridge crossing the upper Delaware River between New York and Pennsylvania.
Underspanned suspension bridge | Introduction
The oldest bridge still standing is Mellows Bridge, (originally Queens Bridge) constructed in 1764 on the site of Arran Bridge, which was destroyed by floods in 1763. The first iron bridge was the Ha'penny Bridge built in 1816. Farmleigh Bridge, also iron, was built around 1872 at the end of a tunnel and connected Farmleigh estate to Palmerstown. 21st century additions include Seán O'Casey Bridge (2005), Samuel Beckett Bridge (2009), and Rosie Hackett Bridge (2014).
River Liffey | History
The First River, in the state of New Jersey in the United States, is a subterranean river and the first main tributary of the Passaic River encountered while travelling upstream from its mouth at Newark Bay. Beginning at the confluence of Mill Brook and Branch Brook (near the present Skating Center in Branch Brook Park), the First River flowed parallel to Seventh Avenue and Clay Street, discharging into the Passaic River in the vicinity of the Clay Street bridge. The First River was also known as Mill Brook, having supported several mills, including grist mills for the earliest settlers of Newark in the 17th century.
First River | Introduction
The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278). Completed in 1903, it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world until 1924. The bridge is one of four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island. The others are the Queensboro Bridge to the north, and the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges to the south. The Williamsburg Bridge once carried New York State Route 27A and was planned to carry Interstate 78, though the planned I-78 designation was aborted by the cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway and Bushwick Expressway.
Williamsburg Bridge | Introduction
There are four extant bridges, and also the Roman bridge, and the Mediaeval bridge that was built 40m upstream, and the first railway bridge.
Rochester Bridge | Constructional methods
The first crossing of the Raritan at this point was wooden bridge on masonry substructure, constructed in 1838 by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company. It was a long double-deck Howe truss bridge with a highway on the lower deck. The -foot long draw span was renewed in 1872. In 1877 work began on the replacement with the intention to build a double-track iron structure of seven iron fixed deck-spans having three trusses each with stone-arch approaches. While construction was underway this bridge was entirely destroyed by fire on March 9, 1878. Traffic was resumed over a temporary structure five days later.
Raritan River Bridge | Earlier bridges
As part of the project, the bridge's original suspender cables installed by J. Lloyd Haigh were replaced by Bethlehem Steel in 1986, marking the cables' first replacement since construction. In addition, the staircase at Washington Street in Brooklyn was renovated, the stairs from Tillary and Adams Streets were replaced with a ramp, and the short flights of steps from the promenade to each tower's balcony were removed. In a smaller project, the bridge was floodlit at night starting in 1982 to highlight its architectural features. Additional problems persisted, and in 1993, high levels of lead were discovered near the bridge's towers.
Brooklyn Bridge | Deterioration and late-20th century repair
Roosevelt was the first person to drive through it. The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel runs underneath Battery Park and connects the Financial District at the southern tip of Manhattan to Red Hook in Brooklyn.
Manhattan | River crossings
Starting in 1855, there was a ferry tied to a pier in the river to prevent it from being washed downstream. This was succeeded in 1886 with a suspension bridge built by the Windsor Locks and Warehouse Point Bridge and Ferry Company. The second bridge was a 7-span through Pratt truss structure completed in 1921. Each span was approximately long, consisting of six panels for a total of approximately between abutments, and a curb-to-curb width. The design load limit was , though this was reduced to in 1977. The truss structure was built by the Berlin Construction Company, directly north of the previous bridge.
Bridge Street Bridge (Connecticut River) | History
The Brooklyn Bridge is the southernmost of four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island, with the Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Queensboro bridges to the north. Only passenger vehicles and pedestrian and bicycle traffic are permitted. A major tourist attraction since its opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has become an icon of New York City. Over the years, the bridge has been used as the location of various stunts and performances, as well as several crimes and attacks. The Brooklyn Bridge has been designated a National Historic Landmark, a New York City landmark, and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
Brooklyn Bridge | Introduction
The first bridge spanning the Chenango River at Court Street was a toll bridge completed in 1808. It stands nearby the Susquehanna River on the land originally purchased by the Philadelphia actuary William Bingham. Shortly after the Sullivan Expedition occurred, William's nephew moved from Britain to settle the Confluence of the Chenango & Susquehanna, receiving the charter for the bridge on 6 April 1805, paying $25,000 for the total construction.
Court Street Bridge (Binghamton) | History
Lullwater Bridge and Terrace Bridge are the only bridges across the watercourse that were built to handle automobile traffic. Lullwater Bridge is located just downstream of the Boathouse, on Prospect Park's eastern side. The current metal span, built in 1905, replaces an oak bridge on the site that was originally constructed in 1868. Further downstream, Terrace Bridge carries Well House Drive over the watercourse just before it empties into the lake. Built in 1890, Terrace Bridge also replaced an earlier wooden span, and it contains cast-iron tracery and brick vaults underneath, which have since deteriorated. It was so named because it was supposed to overlook the unbuilt Refectory, which had been canceled following the 1873 financial crisis.
Prospect Park (Brooklyn) | Other spans
The first bridge only lasted until 1866, when it was considered inadequate for the ever-increasing loads carried by the railroad. It was replaced by a heavier wooden structure, which reused the original piers. All that remains of the first bridge is an elevated approach west of River Drive on the Iowa side, and a reconstructed pier on Arsenal Island. The second bridge had two decks: a lower deck for pedestrians and an upper deck for railroad traffic. In 1868, an ice storm damaged the bridge's piers and timber spans. Later that year, a tornado also severely damaged the bridge; however, construction crews from Chicago were able to reopen it.
Government Bridge | Second bridge
Queens College, Cambridge record that its Mathematical Bridge resembles this much grander structure also by Etheridge — unlike Walton Bridge, Etheridge's bridge there has been rebuilt twice to his design, having encountered minor wood rot, but has never collapsed. The timber structure stood approximately 33 years, that is, until 1783. A report on the condition of the bridge in 1778 suggested that decay in the wooden frame made it unsuitable for use and it was dismantled five years later.
Walton Bridge | First bridge
Roebling. The project's chief engineer, his son Washington Roebling, contributed further design work, assisted by the latter's wife, Emily Warren Roebling. Construction started in 1870, with the Tammany Hall-controlled New York Bridge Company overseeing construction, although numerous controversies and the novelty of the design prolonged the project over thirteen years. Since opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has undergone several reconfigurations, having carried horse-drawn vehicles and elevated railway lines until 1950. To alleviate increasing traffic flows, additional bridges and tunnels were built across the East River. Following gradual deterioration, the Brooklyn Bridge has been renovated several times, including in the 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s.
Brooklyn Bridge | Introduction
Cuomo Bridge.
HNTB | Bridges
The Bridge Queen and first to cross the bridge after it was opened was/is Phyllis Williston Bridges of similar construction in eastern Canada include the Seal Island Bridge, the Burton Bridge, and the Laviolette Bridge over the St. Lawrence River in Trois-Rivières.
Centennial Bridge (New Brunswick) | Introduction
High Bridge was erected between 1837 and 1848 to carry the Croton Aqueduct across the river. It is the oldest bridge in New York City. The New York City Department of Transportation advises that while they make every effort to ensure that all bridges are operating, many of them are under repair at any time, and outside contractors are responsible for opening of bridges under repair.
Harlem River | Crossings
Montgomery B. Case, chief construction engineer, began construction on the Hudson River bridge began on September 21, 1927 with groundbreaking ceremonies held at the sites of both future suspension towers. Each tower was to have a base with a perimeter measuring , and descending 80 feet into the riverbed. The riverbed around the towers' sites was dredged first, and then steel pilings were placed in the riverbed to create a watertight cofferdam. The cofferdams for the bridge were the largest ever built at the time. In early October of that year, the Port Authority received bids for the construction of the bridge deck.
George Washington Bridge | First contracts
Proposals for a bridge between the then-separate cities of Brooklyn and New York had been suggested as early as 1800. At the time, the only travel between the two cities was by a number of ferry lines. Engineers presented various designs, such as chain or link bridges, though these were never built because of the difficulties of constructing a high enough fixed-span bridge across the extremely busy East River. There were also proposals for tunnels under the East River, but these were considered prohibitively expensive. The current Brooklyn Bridge was conceived by German immigrant John Augustus Roebling in 1852. He had previously designed and constructed shorter suspension bridges, such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, and the John A.
Brooklyn Bridge | Planning
The westernmost crossing of the creek is the Pulaski Bridge, built in 1954 to replace the Vernon Avenue Bridge slightly to the west. Upstream is the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, built in 1987 to replace bridges that dated to the 1850s. The final bridge upstream, before the convergence of English Kills and the East Branch, is the Kosciuszko Bridge carrying the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (Interstate 278); it was built in 1939 and replaced in 2017–2019. There are several now-demolished bridges that crossed Newtown Creek. The Vernon Avenue Bridge, connecting Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn with Vernon Boulevard in Queens, was a Warren truss bridge that existed from 1905 to 1954.
Newtown Creek | Bridges
Five miles upstream from Fairmount, iron manufacturers Josiah White and Erksine Hazard built a wire-cable footbridge in 1816. Though a modest structure – in length with a suspended walkway wide – and a temporary one – it stood for less than a year – the Spider Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill is thought to have been the first wire-cable suspension bridge in history. Twenty-five years later, permanent wire-cable suspension bridges had been built in France and Switzerland. To replace "The Colossus," Charles Ellet, Jr. designed the first major wire-cable suspension bridge in the United States. The "Wire Bridge at Fairmount" was commissioned by the City of Philadelphia, and opened to traffic on January 2, 1842.
Spring Garden Street Bridge | 2nd bridge: Wire Bridge at Fairmount
New York City is located on one of the world's largest natural harbors, and the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island are primarily coterminous with islands of the same names, while Queens and Brooklyn are located at the west end of the larger Long Island, and the Bronx is located on New York State's mainland. This situation of boroughs separated by water led to the development of an extensive infrastructure of bridges and tunnels. The George Washington Bridge is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge, connecting Manhattan to Bergen County, New Jersey. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the Americas and one of the world's longest.
New York City | River crossings
After the storm cleared, the community of Belvidere put a ferry to Riverton back in almost immediately.
Riverton–Belvidere Bridge | The first bridge (1836–1903)
The first phase involved renovating the Queens span and approach ramps, as well as replacing the suspender cables. On the Queens side, an exit ramp from westbound I-278 to 31st Street necessitated the destruction of the entrance to the southern sidewalk. The second phase involved renovating the Bronx span and approach ramps. The third phase involved renovating the Manhattan span and approach ramps. Work on replacing the Queens span's suspender cables and adding an orthotropic deck to the Queens suspension span started in 2000. At some point in the past, a sign on the bridge informed travelers, "In event of attack, drive off bridge," "New York Times" columnist William Safire wrote in 2008.
Triborough Bridge | Later history
Concerns about the Brooklyn Bridge's safety were raised during the turn of the century. In 1898, traffic backups due to a dead horse caused one of the truss cords to buckle. There were more significant worries after twelve suspender cables snapped in 1901, though a thorough investigation found no other defects. After the 1901 incident, five inspectors were hired to examine the bridge each day, a service that cost $250,000 a year. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, which operated routes across the Brooklyn Bridge, issued a notice in 1905 saying that the bridge had reached its transit capacity. By 1890, due to the popularity of the Brooklyn Bridge, there were proposals to construct other bridges across the East River between Manhattan and Long Island.
Brooklyn Bridge | Late 19th through early 20th centuries
The bridge was built under the supervision of Mayor Carter Harrison, Jr. and Frederick W. Block, the Commissioner of Public Works. This is the second bridge built on this site which replaced a swing design which was characterized by a mid-river pier supporting the swing span. The current bridge eliminated the need for the mid-river pier, allowing more room in the shipping channel. While the machinery of the current bridge is intact, the bridge is no longer operable and the leaves are clamped together.
Cortland Street Drawbridge | History
The High Bridge (originally the Aqueduct Bridge) is the oldest bridge in New York City, having originally opened as part of the Croton Aqueduct in 1848 and reopened as a pedestrian walkway in 2015 after being closed for over 45 years. A steel arch bridge with a height of over the Harlem River, it connects the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan. The eastern end is located in the Highbridge section of the Bronx near the western end of West 170th Street, and the western end is located in Highbridge Park in Manhattan, roughly parallel to the end of West 174th Street.
High Bridge (New York City) | Introduction
Supposedly, this was the first permanent bridge over a major American river, as well as the world's first bridge with regular masonry piers in deep water. The trusswork was sufficiently completed on January 1, 1805, to permit the bridge to be opened to traffic. But the president of the bridge company asked Palmer if the bridge wouldn't last longer if it was protected from the wind and rain by a weatherproof covering. Palmer said that the bridge's life span might be increased from ten-twelve years to thirty-forty years if a roof and sidewalls were added. Thus was created the first covered bridge in America.
Market Street Bridge (Philadelphia) | First bridge - Schuylkill Permanent Bridge
The first bridge in this general location was constructed in 1793, when John Brown's Providence South Bridge Company built a covered drawbridge. This bridge served as part of a turnpike that followed Taunton Avenue from Watchemoket Square to Taunton, Massachusetts. The same year, Brown's brother Moses built the Central Bridge (red bridge) to the north, connecting what are now the Providence and East Providence ends of Waterman Avenue. Replacements were built in 1807 and 1815 after each existing bridge was destroyed by weather. A swing bridge was then built in 1885, and carried a street car line.
Washington Bridge (Providence, Rhode Island) | Previous spans
Diagonal bracing from the top of the lattice towers connected to the decking one-third of the way along each span.
Redheugh Bridge | The first crossing
The first temporary wire was stretched between the towers on August 15, 1876, using chrome steel provided by the Chrome Steel Company of Brooklyn. The wire was then stretched back across the river, and the two ends were spliced to form a traveler, a lengthy loop of wire connecting the towers, which was driven by a steam hoisting engine at ground level. The wire was one of two that were used to create a temporary footbridge for workers while cable spinning was ongoing. The next step was to send an engineer across the completed traveler wire in a boatswain's chair slung from the wire, to ensure it was safe enough.
Brooklyn Bridge | Cables
French engineer Joseph Louis Etienne Cordier published a description of the wire footbridge in 1820: The bridge of iron wire erected over the Schuylkill near Philadelphia is also worth describing as it is the very first to have been built in this manner. It is attached to one of the window mullions of an iron wire factory on the one bank, and to a great tree on the other. The two curves which carry the bridge are made up of three iron wires which, taken together, have a diameter of 3/8". From time to time, vertical iron wires are hung from these curves.
Spider Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill | Cordier
The new bridge offers a vantage point to view the remnants of the original structure.
De Burghs Bridge | First bridge
Brooklyn is connected to Manhattan by three bridges, the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges; a vehicular tunnel, the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel (also known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel); and several subway tunnels. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge links Brooklyn with the more suburban borough of Staten Island. Though much of its border is on land, Brooklyn shares several water crossings with Queens, including the Pulaski Bridge, the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, the Kosciuszko Bridge (part of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), and the Grand Street Bridge, all of which carry traffic over Newtown Creek, and the Marine Parkway Bridge connecting Brooklyn to the Rockaway Peninsula.
Brooklyn | Roadways
In the 1860s, a developer named Edwin Litchfield straightened and expanded the Gowanus Creek into a canal. This resulted in the surrounding swamp being dried up, making it desirable for development. The Gowanus Canal soon became a hub for industrial activity, with businesses specializing in lumber, coal, brick, stone, flour, and plaster. The canal was crossed by six bridges, including one at Carroll Street. When the first Carroll Street bridge closed in 1887, there was a discussion regarding the design of its replacement. Landowners wanted to build a retractable span that would allow the bridge to slide diagonally onto the shore, but the city of Brooklyn resisted, since this would entail acquiring additional land.
Carroll Street Bridge | History
The first bridge was made of steel truss. This iteration of the Maryland Bridge was described by the Winnipeg Free Press as having a "Renaissance character" with "classic mouldings and features".
Maryland Bridge | Original bridge
The Bridge Street Ferry was a ferry route connecting Manhattan and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, United States, joining James Slip (Manhattan) and Bridge Street (Brooklyn) across the East River.
Bridge Street Ferry | Introduction
When the bridge opened, none of the spans had direct connections to the greater system of highways in New York City. In Queens, the Grand Central Parkway extension to the Triborough Bridge was nearly completed at the time of the bridge's opening. The Manhattan span was planned to connect to the East River Drive (now the FDR Drive), the first segments of which were still under construction. The section of the East River Drive from the bridge south to 92nd Street opened that October. The Bronx span ended in local traffic at the no-longer extant intersection of 135th Street and Cypress Avenue.
Triborough Bridge | Early years
The first Girard Avenue Bridge was built 1852-55. Rudolph Hering is credited with the design; it was constructed by Adolphus Bonzano, and cost $267,000. It carried Girard Avenue over the East River Drive, the Schuylkill River, the Schuylkill Canal, and the West River Drive. A horse-drawn trolley was added in 1859. The trolley route later became the SEPTA Route 15 trolley. The bridge was a three span timber arched Howe truss bridge. The bridge lasted less than 20 years. In December 1872, a grand jury found that it was poorly constructed and dangerous. A temporary bridge was constructed, that also served as falsework for the second bridge.
Girard Avenue Bridge | First bridge
The bridge has two main spans, since there is an east and west channel in the Hudson River at this point.
Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge | Introduction
Designed by John Roebling, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first link between Manhattan and the land mass of Long Island. It was notable for size, magnificence and commercial importance. The main span of 1,596' 6" was the longest span of any bridge in the world when it was completed in 1883, a period of time that firmly established the concept of municipal consolidation among the outlying cities and suburbs into what eventually became the City of Greater New York. The Brooklyn Bridge was opened for use on May 24, 1883. The opening ceremony was attended by several thousand people and many ships were present in the East Bay for the occasion.
History of transportation in New York City | Brooklyn Bridge
The Macombs Dam Bridge includes a swing bridge over the Harlem River, pivoting around a small masonry island in the middle of the river. The swinging span is the oldest remaining swing bridge in New York City that retains its original span. According to the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), which maintains the bridge, it is the city's third-oldest major bridge still in operation. It is variously cited as being long. It has four lanes for vehicular traffic and a sidewalk on each side for pedestrians. The roadway measures wide and the sidewalks measure wide. The total width of the deck, including additional space for supports and railings, is .
Macombs Dam Bridge | Over-river span
The current bridge was preceded at that location by two bridges destroyed in the Flood of 1936. Upstream was the wooden double-decked covered bridge known as the Montague City Bridge, and carried rail traffic on top, with other traffic below. It was built in 1866, and was over long, with 5 spans. Next was the trolley bridge, which was a metal through-truss. When the Flood of 1936 came, the trolley bridge was knocked off its piers and sunk into the river, where it remains. The covered rail bridge floated down the river, where it knocked two spans off the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Bridge (now known as the Canalside Rail Trail Bridge), then proceeded down the river to destroy the Sunderland Bridge.
General Pierce Bridge | Previous structures
The Penny Bridge, near the current site of the Kosciuszko Bridge, was a swing bridge connecting Meeker Avenue in Brooklyn with Laurel Hill Boulevard in Queens. Various forms of the Penny Bridge existed from 1803 until the Kosciuszko Bridge was completed in 1939. Finally, the Maspeth Plank Road bridge connected the two sections of Maspeth Avenue in Brooklyn and Queens just north of where English Kills and the East Branch merge. It was eliminated in the late 19th century, having been deemed an obstruction to navigation.
Newtown Creek | Bridges
An iron truss bridge was first built here in 1884, slightly upstream from the current location (connecting Washington Avenue on both sides of the river). At the time of construction, many people lived in the river flats area below, a neighborhood known as Bohemian Flats (See photo below). The bridge was strengthened in 1890 to accommodate streetcars, and it made up part of the first interurban line between Minneapolis and neighboring Saint Paul (see Twin City Rapid Transit). Streetcar service ended in 1954. Construction of the current bridge began in 1962 and the 1884 bridge was torn down in 1965.
Washington Avenue Bridge (Minneapolis) | The first bridge (1884–1965)
The steepness and instability of the banks was problematic for building a bridge, and there was no point where roads on opposite sides of the river converged. The Iron Bridge was the first of its kind to be constructed, although not the first to be considered nor the first iron bridge of any kind. An iron bridge was partly constructed at Lyons in 1755, but was abandoned for reasons of cost, and a span wrought iron footbridge over an ornamental waterway was erected in Kirklees, Yorkshire, in 1769.
The Iron Bridge | Background
Broadway Avenue Bridge is a girder bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Designed by Norman C. Davis and Shawn Pierson Bruns of VanDoren-Hazard-Stallings, it was built in 1987. The bridge has a rather streamlined shape, but its piers are more ornate. The piers have two flat columns that taper together, with a base that extends out to the full width of the bridge. This bridge is the third bridge to cross the river at this location. The first bridge was a wooden structure completed in 1857, but washed away in a flood in 1859. The second bridge was a four-span Pratt truss bridge built in 1887.
Broadway Avenue Bridge | Introduction
Since the American Revolutionary War, there have been plans to link City Island with the mainland via means of a bridge. Before the original bridge named "City Island Bridge" was opened, there was another, unnamed bridge connecting City Island with the rest of the Bronx. The opening date of this first bridge is unclear; some sources attest that it opened in 1873, while one letter states that it opened in 1857—a disputed date since the letter's writer may have been referring to a past date. This first bridge, which was definitely under planning in the 1860s, was listed in an 1872 map.
City Island Bridge | Old bridge
Squibb Park Bridge is a footbridge connecting Brooklyn Bridge Park and Brooklyn Heights in Brooklyn, New York City. It is the second of two bridges on the same site. The original bridge opened in March 2013 and was demolished in late 2019, being replaced by the current bridge in April 2020. Designed by Theodore Zoli, the original structure became known as a boondoggle due to various problems with its construction, including too much bounce and deterioration of its timbers. The bridge initially cost $4.1 million to construct, but the cost of repairs ultimately ended up making the total cost $7.5 million.
Squibb Park Bridge | Introduction
Design and construction of a replacement bridge commenced in 1939, due to concerns that the original bridge would not hold up to extra loading and traffic caused by transport demands of World War II. Work commenced on the new bridge in July 1940 and despite best efforts it was not completed until after the war finished, opening for traffic on 1 July 1946. The new bridge was positioned to the west or upstream of the original bridge and consists of eight spans in three different lengths and piers sunk to depths of up to . New tunnels were bored through Long Island to the south and Cogra Point on the northern approach.
Hawkesbury River railway bridge | Second bridge
He designed the first suspension bridge to span the River Thames in London: Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1827. He also designed the Marlow Bridge, a suspension bridge across the Thames in Marlow, Buckinghamshire (built 1829–32) and Norfolk Bridge, a suspension bridge over the River Adur in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex (designed with Captain Samuel Brown, opened in 1834, replaced in 1923).
William Tierney Clark | Introduction
Only the south parapet and a varying-sized spandrel, 4 feet in the center and 6 feet at each end, are visible. This is believed to indicate that prior to the original roadway's flattening, it was a typical humpback or camelback bridge. A concrete barrier was installed several years ago to protect the south parapet. The novelty of the bridge remains additionally reinforced by the fact that the first bridges in New Jersey, constructed within colonial times, were a few logs dropped across a stream with sawn timbers fastened to them to provide a flat, relatively even surface, with the occasional inclusion of a handrail.
Old Stone Arch Bridge (Bound Brook, New Jersey) | Description
However, in constructing the bridge, the company was only allowed $20,000 (1832 USD) to construct the bridge. The bridge company had the designs for the bridge run by Solon Chapin, a contractor from Easton, Pennsylvania. Chapin was also the construction contractor on the nearby Riegelsville Bridge as well. Although things seemed to start off smoothly, when construction began on the bridge in 1834, things went downhill. The bridge was constructed fast, and when completed in the spring of 1836, it was a wooden covered bridge at a length of . Within days of opening the bridge, on April 9, 1836, a storm blew through the valley, destroying two of the bridges three piers and rendered the new bridge unusable.
Riverton–Belvidere Bridge | The first bridge (1836–1903)
The George Washington Bridge, which carries multiple highways, connects Fort Lee, New Jersey to the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, and is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge. The new Tappan Zee Bridge is the longest in New York, although the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge has a larger main span. The Troy Union Bridge between Waterford and Troy was the first bridge over the Hudson; built in 1804 and destroyed in 1909; its replacement, the Troy–Waterford Bridge, was built in 1909. The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad was chartered in 1832 and opened in 1835, including the Green Island Bridge, the second bridge over the Hudson south of the Federal Dam.
Hudson River | Transportation and crossings
The bridge was originally the smallest of three spans in a viaduct-bridge combination along the former West Shore Line at the mouth of Rondout Creek in Kingston, to the north. It was built in 1883 by Clarke, Reeves & Company, a Philadelphia-based subsidiary of the Phoenix Iron Works as a double-tracked structure, known administratively within the Central as Bridge 141. In 1904, the railroad built another bridge at the Rondout that could carry the entire load on one span. At the same time, New York City was beginning to buy, clear and flood land for its water supply system in the Croton River watershed.
Bridge L-158 | History
The East River span, a suspension bridge across the Hell Gate of the East River, connects Queens with Wards Island. It carries eight lanes of Interstate 278, four in each direction, as well as a sidewalk on the northeastern side. The span connects to Grand Central Parkway, and indirectly to the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (I-278), in Astoria, Queens. Originally it connected to the intersection of 25th Avenue and 31st Street; the former was later renamed Hoyt Avenue. The suspension span was designed by chief engineer Othmar Ammann. The span was originally designed to be double-decked, with eight lanes on each deck.
Triborough Bridge | East River suspension bridge (I-278)
The first bridge to be built in this location was built in 1872 and had a swing span.
Shippingsport Bridge | First bridge
After being petitioned by 25 residents of the east bank, the York Municipal Council resolved to construct a foot bridge across the Avon River at the centre of town and tenders were called on 14 April 1888. The first bridge was designed by Henry E Parry, engineer and York / Beverley superintendent for the Great Southern Railway. James Butterly won the tender to construct the bridge for a fee of £75. Construction was under way in August 1888. The bridge was opened on 24 October 1888 by the Governor Sir Frederick Broome, who also was attending a luncheon for the York Agricultural Society Show Day which was held on the grounds adjacent to the bridge.
Suspension Bridge, York | First bridge
The side spans are long, while the centre span is long. It was probably the first bridge in England to use prestressing cables which did not pass through the concrete sections, and one of the first to use precast concrete hinges. When it was built, it was the largest bridge of this kind in Europe, and in 1964 the New York City Museum of Modern Art declared it to be a structure of significance in twentieth century engineering. It is grade II listed. Soon the river is passing through Brockadale, a steep-sided, wooded valley, before reaching Kirk Smeaton, situated on its southern bank, and Little Smeaton, on its northern bank, near which a railway used to cross, which has now been dismantled.
River Went | Route
The first bridge was an iron bowstring arch truss completed in summer 1873 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio. It had a total length of . Each of its two spans were . They were supported by one pier in the Allegheny River. Revenues for all traffic were collected at a tollhouse. A decade later the bridge was replaced when the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad (later part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) laid a line through the area. Due to the demands of a steam haulage, the second bridge was a Howe truss type built of wood.
Foxburg Bridge (1921) | Predecessors
It was coincidental that the open truss structure supporting the deck is, by its nature, subject to fewer aerodynamic problems. This is because John Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge's truss system to be six to eight times as strong as he thought it needed to be. However, due to a supplier's fraudulent substitution of inferior-quality cable in the initial construction, the bridge was reappraised at the time as being only four times as strong as necessary. The main span and side spans are supported by a structure containing six trusses running parallel to the roadway, each of which is deep.
Brooklyn Bridge | Suspension span
The Queensboro Bridge is a two-level double cantilever bridge, with separate cantilevered spans over channels on each side of Roosevelt Island joined by a fixed central truss. In all it has five spans, including approaches between the cantilevered sections and each terminus. Their lengths are as follows: Until it was surpassed by the Quebec Bridge in 1917, the span between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island was the longest cantilever in North America.
Queensboro Bridge | Description
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ) (also referred to as the Verrazzano Bridge, locally as the Verrazzano, and formerly as the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge or Narrows Bridge) is a suspension bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed Upper New York Bay with Lower New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, and is the only fixed crossing of the Narrows. The double-deck bridge carries 13 lanes of Interstate 278, with seven lanes on the upper level and six on the lower level. The span is named for Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first documented European explorer to enter New York Harbor and the Hudson River in 1524.
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge | Introduction
The Acquackanonk Bridge was dismantled in 1776 as George Washington retreated from Fort Lee. Another with the same name at the crossing was lost to flooding in 1903. The first railroad swing bridge in the United States was built in 1833. Numerous bridges have been demolished or fallen into disuse, while others have had their swing spans removed, replaced or immobilized. The first new bridge to be built since 2002, the Passaic River Crossing, opened in 2014.
List of crossings of the Lower Passaic River | Introduction