New York City Region Bridges and Tunnels

[USDollar]

The Thread For the Bridges and Tunnels of the New YOrk City Metro Area

The George Washington Bridge (Upper Level)

The GWB is one of the three NJ-NY Hudson River Crossings (GWB, The Lincoln Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel). It was built in 1931 and is a double decker supension bridge.

(All the pictures of the GWB Upper Deck were taken on 5-13-07 on the inbound side (From NJ to NY)

Sign On NJ-4 About 2 miles from the I-95 GWB Toll Plaza


Sign On I-95 For The Bridge As Seen From NJ-4 Just Before the Merge With I-95 About 1 1/2 miles from the I-95 GWB Toll Plaza


Oversized Vehicle Sign In Front of the I-95 Toll Plaza With The Bridge Tower in the Corner of the Picture


View Just After The Toll About 1/4 of A Mile From the Bridge Deck


View Of the Bridge Just After Getting Onto the Bridge Deck


Midtown Manhatten As Seen From the GWB Upper Deck


The George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal Sits Above I-95 Just At The End of the Bridge. Behind It is 4 Massive Apartment Buildings That Also Have I-95 Under Them. By the Way The Bridge Ends In the Washington Heights Neighborhood of Manhatten

Eventually I Will Add More Pictures Of the George Washington Bridge Upper Level and I WIll Also Add Some Pics of the Tunnel Under the Bus Terminal and The 4 Apartment Buildings In the Picture Above.

COMING SOON: GWB Lower Level with the I-95 Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, Throggs Neck Bridge, Triboro Bridge, Midtown Tunnel, Harlem River Crossings

COMING MUCH LATER: Holland Tunnel, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Manhatten Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Queensboro Bridge, Henry Hudson Bridge

[Scruffy]

im the a huge fan of all bridges, but NYC bridges in particular. Verrazno, Bk, and Whitestone are my favorites. GWB and Manhattan close behind. They are amazing pieces of human imaginations. Consider for the Verrazano for instance, the main span, the piece of bridge between the support towers and suspends 250 feet over the water, if you took that main span and put it upright, it would be twice the height of Burj Dubai. Thats impressive stuff.

If you need any extra coverage, i spend half my time just taking pictures of bridges. I'm happy to contribute

[Matt]

^ Wish they wouldn't have disgraced the Whitestone Bridge by turning off its lights for the last 10 years!!!

[Scruffy]

you know what, i agree. i hate it when they keep the lights off and just have the red blinking ones at the top of an invisible tower at night. Especially the whitestone being its on the flight path to laguardia. but lately they have been doing a good job of keeping the lights on. Lucky for me from my apt I can see the Whitestone and the Throgs Neck.

[texcolo]

No poetry has been written about it, as Hart Crane did with the Brooklyn Bridge. No songs have been written about it, as Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel did with the 59th Street (Queensboro) Bridge. No one ever attempted to sell this bridge. Indeed, before it was ever completed, the span was described by John DeWitt Warner as a "surrender of the City Beautiful to the City Vulgar." While not renowned for its beauty, the Williamsburg Bridge has fulfilled its original mission to relieve traffic congestion on the Brooklyn Bridge, and to serve as an important link between Manhattan and the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.


NYC needs a cable stayed bridge, just like Boston.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Scruffy

you know what, i agree. i hate it when they keep the lights off and just have the red blinking ones at the top of an invisible tower at night. Especially the whitestone being its on the flight path to laguardia. but lately they have been doing a good job of keeping the lights on. Lucky for me from my apt I can see the Whitestone and the Throgs Neck.

I have never been able to get a solid answer from anybody about why the Whitestone Bridge has been in the dark for the last 10 years... all I was told was "construction work". Indeed, they removed the side trusses from the roadway portion of the bridge, and for a while I was actually concerned about whether or not the bridge was still viable to stand. Since I am from Whitestone, I have an emotional attachment to the bridge.

[elsonic]

for those interested in bridges/tunnels/expressways/housing... in NYC, there's a fascinating (and still running?) exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York at 5th/103rd. it's about the legacy of Robert Moses, the «master builder» of the city from the 1930s to the 1960s.

http://www.mcny.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses

[NYguy]

Probably one of the things I like best about the City other than the skyscrapers are the bridges.
Here's a short sampling of some of the photos I've taken...

Roosevelt Island Bridge













Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridges









Brooklyn Bridge






Manhattan Bridge



Williamsburgh Bridge



Queensboro (59th Street) Bridge








Harlem River Bridges (I always forget which is which, so I'll just post them here)





















Broadway Bridge


Henry Hudson Bridge


Railroad bridge





George Washington Bridge

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by texcolo

NYC needs a cable stayed bridge, just like Boston.

There's a smaller one planned for the Bronx. There were at least a couple proposed over the years...

[NYguy]

Triboro, Hellgate


citynoise.org

Triboro

ktransit.com

Verrazano Narrows

ronsaari.com



wikimedia.org



nymag.com



nyc.gov

[Swede]

The Verrazano is just SOOO big. The other are mostly just BIG (for being in a urban setting) but the Verazzano kinda reminds me of the Great Belt bridge in Denmark.

/taken the subway on the Williamsbourgh and walked both the Brooklyn and Manhattan.

[CGII]

My favourite is probably the Manhattan. Close second given to that closed down pedestrian one uptown (oldest bridge remaining, I believe).

[NYguy]

Two more bridges over the east river, connecting the Bronx and Queens...


en.structurae.de


Throgs Neck


stevegarufi.com



lgigraphics.com



wikimedia.org


Bronx-Whitestone Bridge


mta.info


A bonus shot of the Williamsburgh Bridge...


nytimes.com (via wirednewyork.com)


Bonus Hellgate and Triboro...


nyc-architecture.com



nyc-architecture.com

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by texcolo

NYC needs a cable stayed bridge, just like Boston.

I have to disagree. I realize their efficiency from a structural standpoint, but cable-stayed bridges just seem to be a dime-a-dozen these days. Boston, Tampa Bay, Houston, Dallas (planned), Charleston, Jacksonville, Savannah, and others have all built them somewhat recently (not to mention the fact that they are all over Europe, Canada, Asia).

Many of the designs of these bridge types are quite beautiful, but I also feel that many of them are overwrought to the point of being eyesores. The ones planned in Dallas are especially gaudy and quite humorous, being that they are totally unnecessary in providing crossings over what is basically a creek (Trinity River... river, yeah right). It just seems that they have become almost gimmicky... kind of like Frank Gehry's crap.

Some of them are very elegant in design and blend nicely with the surroundings. But I don't think Boston's is in that category. Overall, most of the styles I've seen of cable-stayed bridges are just so "not New York".

[CGII]

Milwaukee's got one too:

[Scruffy]

Manhattan does have cable stayed pedestrian bridges

[Scruffy]

Scruffy's bridge of the day

BROOKLYN BRIDGE
Plans for a crossing between the city of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan dated back to the early 1800's. When the East River crossing was planned, Brooklyn, with about 400,000 residents, was still more rural than urban. The city of New York - which at the time consisted only of Manhattan - had twice as many residents, and the bridge was seen as a solution to overcrowding in Manhattan while spurring development in Brooklyn. The bridge would enable people and goods to cross the East River quickly, regardless of weather conditions.
-nycroads.com

From The Great Bridge by David McCullough:
A bridge over the East River, joining the cities of New York and Brooklyn, had been talked about for nearly as long as anyone can remember… But nothing was done. The chief problem was always the East River, which is no river at all technically speaking, but a tidal strait and one of the most turbulent and in that day, especially, one of the busiest stretches of navigable salt water anywhere on earth. "If there is to be a bridge," wrote one man, "it must take one grand flying leap from shore to shore over the masts of the ships. There can be no piers or drawbridge. There must be only one great arch all the way across. Surely this must be a wonderful bridge."

The history behind the bridge and the seemingly cursed Roebling family is fascinating and far too intensive to go into here. Basically one would die, the next would take up the construction only to get sick and die and the lagacy moved on until it finished with the a Roebling wife.

Construction started Jan 3, 1870 and finally opened for traffic May 24th, 1883. Its main span is 1595 feet, 6 inches or roughly the u/c International Commerce Center in Hong Kong lying on its side suspended between the two support towers. It has 6 traffic lanes, no longer has any rail crossing it. It clears the river by 135 feet and its tower at 277 feet were the tallest structure in NYC at the time of completion, except for the spire of Trinity Church. Bridge just turned 124 years old 2 weeks ago.

Pics Ive taken over the past 3 years






film being shot at the oh so cliche' film location at Fulton Ferry State Park






























and an old pic I got off NYCRoads.com. A great site for history on all of NYC bridges and highways

[NYguy]

^ The Brooklyn Bridge is a favorite for so many reasons...

[NYguy]

E. 153 St Bridge, Bronx...
http://www.nyc.gov/html/artcom/html/.../slide_26.html

[USDollar]

I want to upload my pictures but I don't know how to upload the files from my computer to the thread. If anyone can tell me how to do this, I can upload my pictures

Thanks,
Sam