Manhattan Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge is a major suspension bridge in New York City. It spans the East River to connect Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension.

This structure is one of four vehicular bridges that link Manhattan Island directly to Long Island. The Brooklyn Bridge sits slightly further west, while the Williamsburg and Queensboro bridges are located to the north. As a vital piece of infrastructure, the bridge supports diverse modes of transportation. It carries vehicles, streetcars, and New York City Subway trains across the river.

To understand how the bridge stays standing, one must look at its complex engineering. The structure is a suspension bridge, which means its weight is supported by large cables. Four main cables carry the load between heavy masonry anchorages on either side of the river.

From these main cables, 1,400 vertical suspender cables hang down to support the deck. The bridge was also the first suspension bridge to utilize a Warren truss. A truss is a framework of connected parts that provides extra stiffness. This specific design helped influence the construction of many other long suspension bridges during the early 20th century.

The deck of the bridge is organized into different levels to manage traffic. There are seven vehicular lanes in total. Four of these lanes are located on an upper roadway, while three are on a lower level.

Additionally, the bridge carries four subway tracks. These tracks are positioned on either side of the lower-level roadway. This multi-level system allows the bridge to handle a massive amount of movement every day.

The history of the bridge began with many different plans and names. It was first proposed in 1898 and was originally called "Bridge No. 3." The name was changed to the Manhattan Bridge in 1902.

The design was eventually led by Leon Moisseiff. The project faced several delays due to disputes over whether to use wire cables or eyebars. The Municipal Art Commission eventually voted in 1904 to use wire cables. This decision helped move the project toward its eventual completion.

Construction was a massive undertaking that required significant time and money. Foundations for the suspension towers were finished in 1904. The anchorages were completed in 1907, and the towers themselves were finished in 1908.

The bridge finally opened to traffic on December 31, 1909. It began carrying streetcars in 1912 and subway trains in 1915. The western upper roadway was not completed until 1931, after streetcars stopped running in 1929. The total cost of the project grew to approximately $22 million.

Building such a large structure required moving many people and clearing much land. To create the approach paths, the city had to acquire many lots. Specifically, 145 lots were obtained in Brooklyn and 173 lots were obtained in Manhattan.

This process involved the relocation of nearly 1,000 families in Manhattan and several hundred families in Brooklyn. The construction also faced legal challenges. A New York Supreme Court judge once ruled a contract with the Pennsylvania Steel Company illegal. These complications added to the overall time and expense of the build.

Even after completion, the bridge required significant maintenance due to its heavy use. The weight of the subway trains was not distributed evenly. This uneven weight caused the bridge to tilt to one side.

To fix this problem, engineers performed an extensive reconstruction between 1982 and 2004. Today, the bridge remains a centerpiece of the city's transit system. You can still see the beautiful ornamental work at the ends of the bridge. The architects Carrère and Hastings designed plazas that include a famous arch and colonnade in Manhattan.