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Manhattan Bridge

February 15, 2024

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; the nearby Brooklyn Bridge is just slightly farther west, while the Queensboro and Williamsburg bridges are to the north.

Manhattan Bridge
View from Manhattan toward Brooklyn, 2022
Coordinates40°42′25″N 73°59′26″W / 40.7070°N 73.9905°W / 40.7070; -73.9905 (Manhattan Bridge)
Carries
CrossesEast River
LocaleNew York City (Manhattan–Brooklyn)
Maintained byNew York City Department of Transportation
ID number2240028 (upper)
2240027 (lower)[1]
Characteristics
DesignSuspension bridge
Total length6,855 ft (2,089 m)
Width120 feet (37 m)[2]
Height336 ft (102 m) (towers)[2]
Longest span1,480 feet (451 m)[3]
Clearance below135 ft (41.1 m)[2]
History
DesignerLeon Solomon Moisseiff[2]
Constructed byOthniel Foster Nichols[2]
Construction start1901[2]
Construction end1909[4]
OpenedDecember 31, 1909; 114 years ago (1909-12-31)[4]
Statistics
Daily traffic67,851 (2019)[5]
TollNone
DesignatedAugust 30, 1983[6]
Reference no.83001694
Designated entityManhattan Bridge
DesignatedJuly 6, 1983[7]
Reference no.04701.000010
DesignatedNovember 25, 1975
Reference no.0899
Designated entityManhattan Bridge Arch and Colonnade
Location

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 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 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 has influenced the design of other long suspension bridges in the early 20th century.

History edit

Development edit

The bridge was the last of the three suspension spans built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges.[8] 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.[9] From 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.[10]

In the earliest plans it was to have been called "Bridge No. 3", but was given the name Manhattan Bridge in 1902.[8] 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".[11] 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".[12]

Planning and caissons edit

The earliest plans for what became the Manhattan Bridge were designed by R. S. Buck.[13][14]: 548  These plans called for 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.[15] In early 1901, the city government approved a motion to acquire land for a suspension tower in Brooklyn;[16] the city shortly began soliciting bids for the tower's foundations.[17] The contract for the Brooklyn suspension tower was awarded in May 1901.[18]

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 which was completed in December 1902.[19] Three workers had died while working on the Brooklyn-side tower's caisson.[20] A plan for the bridge was announced in early 1903. Elevated and trolley routes would use the Manhattan Bridge, and there would be large balconies and enormous spaces within the towers' anchorages.[21] 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.[9] The foundations were completed in March 1904.[9] A $10 million grant for the bridge's construction was granted in May 1904 with the expectation that work on the bridge would start later that year.[22]

The Municipal Art Commission raised objections to one of the bridge's plans in June 1904, which delayed the start of construction.[23] Another set of plans was unveiled that month by New York City Bridge Commissioner Gustav Lindenthal, in conjunction with Henry Hornbostel.[24] The proposal also called for each of the suspension towers to be made of four columns, to be braced transversely and hinged to 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.[15] Additionally, the towers would have contained Modern French detail, while the anchorages would have been used for functions such as meeting halls.[13] Lindenthal's plan was also rejected[25] due to a dispute over whether his plan, which used eyebars, was better than the more established practice of using wire cables.[26] The Municipal Art Commission voted in September 1904 to use wire cables on the bridge.[27]

Lindenthal was ultimately dismissed and a new design was commissioned from Leon Moisseiff.[2][13] George Best replaced Lindenthal as the city's bridge commissioner[13][28] and discarded the eyebar plans in favor of the wire cables.[29] Hornbostel was replaced by Carrère and Hastings as architectural consultants.[30] By late 1904, the disputes over the types of cables had delayed the contract for the bridge's superstructure (composed of its towers and deck).[31] The bridge's completion had been delayed by two years, and its cost had increased by $2 million.[29] The cable dispute was not fully resolved until 1906, when Best's successor James W. Stevenson announced that the bridge would use wire cables.[32]

Anchorages, towers, and approach viaducts edit

Best reviewed bids for the construction of the anchorages in December 1904.[33] The Williams Engineering Company received the $2 million contract for the anchorages' construction.[34] Construction commenced on the Brooklyn anchorage in February 1905 and on the Manhattan anchorage that April.[35] The foundation subcontractors excavated the foundations of each anchorage using sheet pilings.[36][37] Barges were used to transport material from the East River to the anchorages' sites.[37] Mixers constructed the masonry for the anchorages at a rate of up to 550 cubic yards (420 m3) per day.[38] During mid-1905, officials condemned land in Manhattan and Brooklyn for the bridge's approaches;[39] the land acquisition was partially delayed because the contractors rented out houses that were supposed to be demolished.[40] By the end of the year, the city's bridge department was planning to erect streetcar terminal buildings at either end of the bridge.[10][41]

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.[42] He began soliciting bids for the metalwork in July 1905,[43] at which point the bridge was to use 44,000 short tons (39,000 long tons; 40,000 t) of metal.[44] The Pennsylvania Steel Company received the contract in August 1905 after submitting a low bid of $7.248 million,[45] and a competing bidder sued to prevent the contract from being awarded to Pennsylvania Steel.[46] 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.[47] Although Best tried to appeal the Supreme Court's decision,[48] the contract was re-advertised anyway; Pennsylvania Steel refused to submit another bid.[49] When Stevenson became the bridge commissioner at the beginning of 1906, he ordered that new bridge specifications be created.[50] Stevenson received bids for the steelwork in May 1906,[49][51] and the Ryan-Parker Construction Company received the contract the next month, following delays caused by an injunction and threats of lawsuits.[52]

The Ryan-Parker Company hired the Phoenix Bridge Company in September 1906 to fabricate the steelwork.[53] 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.[54] The anchorages were less than half complete, in part because of inclement weather and material shortages.[36] That November, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment approved $4 million for land acquisition in Manhattan and $300,000 for land acquisition in Brooklyn.[55] By early 1907, the city had spent over $6 million on the bridge;[56] the bridge's total cost was estimated at $20 million.[57] To speed up the bridge's completion, Manhattan borough president Bird Sim Coler considered implementing night shifts.[58] By February 1907, the Phoenix Bridge Company was manufacturing steel faster than it could be installed,[59] and the steel for the anchorages was done.[60] The company had also begun fabricating beams for the towers.[61] Land acquisition for an extension of Flatbush Avenue to the bridge began in March,[62] and the first steel girders of the towers were lifted in place the next month.[63] The first steel pedestals for the towers were installed on June 26, 1907.[64][65] The anchorages were nearly done by late 1907; they could not be completed until the cables were finished.[66]

The city government acquired land for the approaches in October 1907; this required the relocation of several hundred families in Brooklyn[67] and nearly 1,000 families in Manhattan.[68] In total, about 145 lots in Brooklyn and 173 lots in Manhattan were obtained for the bridge's approaches and plazas.[69] Some Brooklyn residents requested additional time to relocate.[67] Residents in the path of the Manhattan approach also protested efforts to evict them,[70] though they were relocated at the beginning of December 1907.[71] Later that month, four companies submitted bids for the construction of the bridge's Manhattan and Brooklyn approach spans.[72] John C. Rodgers submitted a low bid of $2.17 million for the viaducts,[73] and Stevenson requested that amount from the Board of Estimate.[74] 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.[75] The Manhattan tower was finished that March,[76] followed by the Brooklyn tower the next month.[77] Land acquisition was nearly done by the middle of that year.[69]

Cables and deck edit

 
The Manhattan Bridge under construction in March 1909

Andrew McC. Parker of the Ryan-Parker Company had predicted in January 1908 that the cables would be strung within two months.[78] The Roebling & Sons Company started manufacturing the wires for the cables before the towers were finished,[76] while the Glyndon Contracting Company was hired to lay the wires.[79][80] Around 8,500 short tons (7,600 long tons; 7,700 t) of nickel steel wires were manufactured at the Carbon Steel Works in Pittsburgh.[80][81] Workers began stringing temporary cables on June 15, 1908; the first wire broke loose while it was being strung, injuring two people.[82][83] By this time, the construction cost had increased to $22 million.[84] The temporary cables supported temporary footbridges between each tower,[85] which were completed in mid-July.[86] When the footbridges were finished, workers installed guide wires,[87] which were laid as continuous loops.[79] Two guide wheels, one at either end of each guide wire, carried the main cables' wires across the river between each anchorage.[79][88] These wheels were powered by a motor atop the Brooklyn anchorage. In addition, reels of wire were stored at both ends of the bridge.[79] The guide wheels laid up to 100 short tons (89 long tons; 91 t) of wire every day.[81]

The last wires for the main cables were strung in December 1908.[89] That month, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment hired engineer Ralph Modjeski to review the engineering drawings for the Manhattan Bridge,[90] after the City Club of New York expressed concerns over the bridge's safety.[91] Afterward, the Glyndon Construction Company installed the vertical suspender cables,[92] which were hung from the main cables.[93] 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.[94] Around 60 million pounds (27,000 long tons; 27,000 t) of red steel girders and floor panels for the bridge's deck had been delivered to a yard in Bayonne, New Jersey.[95] The girders and panels were delivered to the bridge's site starting in February 1909,[96] and the first floor panel in the main span was installed the same month.[97] 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.[98] It took workers three weeks to install the floor panels;[99][100] and the last panel was installed on April 7, 1909.[101]

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.[102] The trusses and side spans were built after the floor of the main span was completed.[100] Carbon Steel began wrapping the main cables together in May 1909;[103] the wrapping process required 140 short tons (120 long tons; 130 t) of wire, and the company was able to wrap five to seven segments of cables per day.[104] 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.[104][105] Workers then installed ornamentation on the tops of the towers and bronze collars on each of the main cables.[104] Modjeski reported that September that the bridge was safe.[106][107] At the time, the plazas were incomplete, and Flatbush Avenue Extension was unpaved;[107] the bridge commissioner was razing buildings near the Manhattan plaza by that November.[108] 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.[109]

Opening and early history edit

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.[110] One hundred prominent Brooklyn citizens walked over the bridge on December 4, 1909;[111][112] at the time, the subway tracks were unfinished, and there was uncertainty over which company would use the streetcar tracks.[112] Outgoing mayor George B. McClellan Jr. toured the bridge on December 24.[113] The span officially opened on December 31, 1909,[114] at a final cost of $26 million, although work was still incomplete.[115] Initially, motorists had to pay a ten-cent toll, the same as the toll on the Brooklyn Bridge.[116] 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.[117]

A fire on the Brooklyn side damaged the bridge in early 1910, necessitating the replacement of some cables and steel.[118] Though both of the Manhattan Bridge's footpaths were initially closed to the public, the northern footpath opened in July 1910;[119] the southern footpath was scheduled to be opened the next month.[120] 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.[121] Tolls on the Manhattan Bridge, as well as the Queensboro, Williamsburg, and Brooklyn bridges, were abolished in July 1911 as part of a populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor.[122] Streetcars began running across the bridge in September 1912,[123] and the bridge's subway tracks opened in June 1915.[124] By the mid-1910s, a food market operated under the bridge.[125] 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 was awarded just over $300,000 in 1912,[126] an amount that was increased to over $380,000 in 1916.[127]

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.[128] The city's Municipal Art Commission approved a $700,000 plan for the bridge's Manhattan approach in April 1910.[129] The final plans were approved in 1912,[130] and construction began the same year.[131] The city allocated $675,000 for a plaza at the Brooklyn end in March 1913, including a subway tunnel under the plaza,[132] and the Northeastern Construction Company submitted the low bid for the plaza's construction.[133] The arch and colonnade were completed in 1915,[134] while the pylons on the Brooklyn side were installed in November 1916.[128][135] The bridge approaches cost just over $1.53 million to construct.[136] In an attempt to speed up automotive traffic, in 1918, 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.[137] One of the two streetcar lines across the bridge was discontinued in 1919.[138]

1920s to 1940s edit

 
View down Pike Street toward the Manhattan Bridge, 1936, photograph by Berenice Abbott

During late 1920, the bridge's roadway was used as a reversible lane between 7 am and 7 pm each day;[139] this restriction caused heavy congestion.[140][141] Grover Whalen, the commissioner of Plant and Structures, announced that September that he would request funding to repaint the bridge.[141] The span was repainted during the next year at a cost of $240,000.[142] Meanwhile, the bridge was carrying 27,000 daily vehicles by the early 1920s,[143] and one traffic judge said the lower deck was too narrow to accommodate the increasing traffic levels on the bridge.[144] In March 1922, the city government started constructing the eastern upper-deck roadway at a cost of $300,000.[145] The roadway opened that June.[145][146] 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.[147] Whalen said the restriction would allow both levels to be used to their full capacity;[148] the decision ended up placing additional loads on the bridge.[149]

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.[150] Motorists continued to use the Manhattan Bridge even after the Brooklyn Bridge reopened to motorists in 1925, contributing to heavy congestion during rush hours.[151] At 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.[152] When the lower level was repaved in early 1927, Manhattan-bound traffic was temporarily banned from the lower level at night.[153] That October, Brooklyn borough president James J. Byrne proposed replacing the Three Cent Line's trolley tracks with 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.[154] The comptroller approved the plan in September 1928,[155] and the city formally voted to buy the Three Cent Line for just over $200,000 the following month.[156] The Three Cent Line was discontinued in November 1929.[157]

The Three Cent Line tracks were replaced by the western upper-deck roadway.[158] Initially scheduled to be completed by July 1930,[159] the roadway ultimately opened in June 1931 and carried Brooklyn-bound traffic.[158][160] The eastern upper-deck roadway was converted to carry Manhattan-bound traffic,[160] and the center roadway was turned into a lane for buses and trucks.[161] At the time, nearly 65,000 vehicles used the bridge every day, of which nearly a quarter were buses and trucks.[160] A set of 119 streetlights were installed on the upper level the following year.[162] To increase traffic flow, both upper roadways were temporarily converted to reversible lanes during rush hours in 1934;[163] the lower roadway was repaired,[164] and the bridge was repainted the same year.[165] The city's commissioner of plant and structures also requested $725,000 in federal funds for various repairs.[166] During 1937, the city awarded a contract to repair the bridge's steelwork[167] and raised the railings on the upper roadways.[168] The city government announced in 1938 that it would replace the lower deck's wooden pavement with a steel-and-concrete pavement;[169] the repaving was completed that December.[170] Simultaneously, the railings on the upper roadways were raised again.[171]

 
View from the Manhattan Bridge toward Lower Manhattan in 1938

As part of a Works Progress Administration project, a ramp at the Brooklyn end of the bridge was widened in 1941, replacing a dangerous reverse curve.[172][173] By then, 90,000 vehicles a day used the span.[173] An air raid siren was also installed on the bridge during World War II.[174] By the mid-1940s, the Brooklyn approach to the bridge was one of the most congested areas in New York City.[175]

1950s to 1970s edit

The upper roadways were repaired during 1950.[176] Similar repairs to the lower roadway were postponed until the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel opened, as the Brooklyn Bridge was also being rebuilt around the same time.[176][177] To ease congestion, the Manhattan Bridge's western upper roadway began carrying Manhattan-bound traffic during the morning in March 1950.[178] 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.[179][180] Manhattan-bound traffic stopped using 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.[181] 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.[182] In addition, the bridge carried nearly 79,000 cars, 18,000 trucks, and 200 buses on an average day.[183]

1950s repair project edit

 
View from Washington Street, Brooklyn

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.[184] A beam on the eastern side of the bridge cracked in April 1953[185][186] and was fixed within a month.[187] 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.[188][189] 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,[190][191] while another plan called for the construction of an entirely new tunnel for subway trains.[192][193] The administration of mayor Robert F. Wagner tentatively approved a $30 million renovation of the bridge in July 1954,[191] and a committee of engineers was hired to review alternate proposals for the bridge.[193] Zurmuhlen said the bridge's safety would be compromised within the next decade if subway trains continued to use the bridge.[194]

By February 1955, the city had hired a contractor to repair the Manhattan Bridge's cable bands and hangers for $2.2 million.[194] Before these repairs could begin, engineers surveyed the bridge.[195] When work on the cables began in June, access to the western upper roadway was severely reduced.[196] That September, the eastern upper roadway was closed for repairs;[197] the western upper roadway was used by Manhattan-bound traffic during weekday mornings and carried two-way traffic at other times.[198] The bridge was temporarily closed to all traffic in November 1955.[199] The eastern upper roadway was again closed during the midday in early 1956 for suspender cable repairs,[200] and the whole span was closed during nights in June 1956.[201] All lanes were again open by that August.[202] The city had still not decided whether to move the subway tracks to the middle of the bridge, even though that plan would have reduced strain on the cables. Had the subway tracks been moved, they would have been placed on two levels, since the central roadway was too narrow for all four subway tracks to share a single level.[203]

Other modifications edit

Plans for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn, which was constructed in the 1950s, included ramps to the Manhattan Bridge.[204] 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.[205] The same year, the city spent $50,000 on repairs after two boats collided on the East River, causing an explosion that scorched the bridge.[206] The city announced in 1959 that it would rebuild the upper roadways to accommodate trucks.[207] The Karl Koch Engineering Company received a contract to rebuild the upper roadways;[208] the project was planned to cost $6.377 million.[208][209] The eastern upper roadway was closed for repairs in September 1960; the project also included fixing the lower deck and building ramps from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.[210] 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.[211] Work proceeded several months ahead of schedule.[209]

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 the bridge to new expressways. The bridge would have linked the Lower Manhattan Expressway with the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway,[212][213] though the former was never built.[214] The city's art commission delayed the demolition of the plazas[215] before ruling that the pylons in the Brooklyn plaza be relocated to the Brooklyn Museum or another suitable location.[216] Wagner said in late 1962 that he would request $2.9 million to rebuild the approaches at both ends of the bridge;[217] the work included a widening of an approach road at the bridge's Manhattan end.[218] The pylons flanking the Brooklyn approach were moved to the Brooklyn Museum in 1963.[135] The western upper roadway was closed for repairs for a year beginning in August 1969.[219] Two of the lower roadway's lanes were closed for four months starting in November 1970 so workers could replace faulty joints.[220]

 
The deck and one of the towers as seen from ground level

In 1970, the federal government enacted the Clean Air Act, a series of federal air pollution regulations.[221] As part of a plan by mayor John Lindsay and the federal Environmental Protection Agency,[222] the city government considered implementing tolls on the four free East River bridges, including the Manhattan Bridge, in the early 1970s.[223][224] The plan would have raised money for New York City's transit system[225] and allowed the city to meet the Clean Air Act.[222] Abraham Beame, who became mayor in 1974, refused to implement the tolls,[226] and the United States Congress subsequently moved to forbid tolls on the free East River bridges.[222] 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.[227]

Late 20th and early 21st century renovation edit

The weight of the subway trains had caused deep and widespread cracks to form in the bridge's floor beams,[228] prompting the city government to replace 300 deteriorated beams during the late 1970s.[229] The deck twisted up to 8 feet (2.4 m) every time a train passed by,[230] and trains had to slow down on the bridge.[231] A New York Times reporter wrote that diagonal cable stays might eventually need to be installed;[229] the city government also contemplated installing support towers under the side spans.[232] 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.[233] The state government started inspecting the Manhattan Bridge and five others in 1978.[234] The same year, the United States Congress voted to allocate money to repair the bridge, as well as several others in New York City.[235] 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 of both the roadways and subway tracks.[235]

1980s and 1990s edit

By the early 1980s, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) planned to spend $100 million on bridge repairs.[236] The New York City government allocated $10.1 million for preliminary work on the bridge in March 1982,[237] and minor repair work started that year.[238] Workers planned to install brackets and supports under the deck.[239] The city received $60 million in federal funds for the renovations of the Queensboro, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges in 1985,[240] and the first phase of repairs started that year.[241] The eastern upper roadway was temporarily closed in April 1986.[242] The north-side subway tracks, underneath the Manhattan-bound roadway, were also closed during this time.[243]

In December 1987, inspectors also shut one lane of the lower level due to a crack in the deck.[244] The NYCDOT published a list of 17 structurally deficient bridges in the city. Among them was the Manhattan Bridge, which needed $166 million in repairs to fix "cable anchors and torsion of steel members as subways cross".[245] Repairs on the northern side of the Manhattan Bridge were complete by the end of 1988,[241] and the subway tracks on the north side were reopened. Simultaneous with the reopening of the north side, the south-side tracks were closed.[246] In 1991, trucks were banned from the lower level because they were too heavy for the decaying bridge.[247]

Major repair work on the western side began in 1992.[241] The Yonkers Construction Company was awarded a $97.8 million contract for the repair project in August 1992.[248] City Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman originally denied the contract to the company because of concerns about corruption,[249] but she was overridden by Mayor David Dinkins, who wanted to complete repairs quickly.[248] At the same time, the NYCDOT increased the frequency of maintenance inspections for the bridge, after inspectors found holes in beams that had been deemed structurally sound during previous inspections.[250] The Brooklyn-bound roadway on the upper level was closed from 1993 to 1996 so that side of the bridge could be repaired.[251] The bridge repairs were repeatedly delayed as the renovation process uncovered more serious structural problems underlying 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.[238]

2000s edit

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 the time, the NYCDOT had set a January 2004 deadline for the renovation.[252] The eastern upper roadway was closed for a renovation starting in 2002.[253]

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 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.[131] 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 the structures and installing 258 floodlights.[254]

The original pedestrian walkway on the west side of the bridge was reopened in June 2001, having been closed for 20 years.[255] 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 was poorly signed, leading to cyclist and pedestrian conflicts.[256] By the time work on the bridge was completed in 2004, the final cost of the renovation totaled $800 million.[179] The lower-level roadway was then renovated between 2004 and 2008.[257]


Late 2000s to present edit

 
Manhattan Bridge, looking northeast from Murry Bergtraum High School Field in 2021

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.[258] In 2009, the bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.[259] An $834 million project to replace the Manhattan Bridge's suspension cables was announced in 2010. The work was scheduled to take two years.[260]

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.[261] The same year, 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.[262] The Concord Street exit was again closed outside the afternoon rush hour in early 2016.[263] After rubble was found in Brooklyn Bridge Park under the Brooklyn approach in 2018, Skanska was given a contract to repair parts of 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.[264][265] For instance, the spherical finials atop the suspension towers were replaced with cast-iron copies.[266]

Description edit

The bridge, including approaches but excluding plazas, is about 6,855 feet (2,089 m) long.[35][267] The bridge reaches a maximum height of 134 ft (40.8 m) above mean high water at the middle of the river.[268] The main span between the two suspension towers is 1,470 feet (450 m) long.[142][269][270][271][a] The side spans, between the anchorages and the suspension towers on either side, are 725 feet (221 m) long.[269][270] When the bridge was built, the Manhattan approach and plaza were quoted as being 2,510 feet (770 m) long, while the Brooklyn approach and plaza were quoted as measuring 2,370 feet (720 m) long.[69] The bridge's dead load is 25,000 pounds per square foot (120,000 kg/m2), and its live load is 16,000 pounds per square foot (78,000 kg/m2).[272]

The bridge was designed by Leon Moisseiff.[2][13] The plans for Manhattan Bridge are sometimes mistakenly attributed to Gustav Lindenthal, who was the city's bridge commissioner before he was fired in 1904.[273] The steel was fabricated by the Phoenix Bridge Company.[274][275]

 
Cross section illustrating the bridge's lane layout, looking north

Deck edit

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[261]) and four rapid transit/subway tracks, two under each of the upper roadways.[276] Also on the lower level are a walkway on the south (geographically facing west) and a bikeway on the north side (geographically facing east).[277] Originally, there were four streetcar tracks above the four rapid transit tracks.[64][271] Although both levels could theoretically have accommodated either streetcars or elevated rapid transit,[278] subways could use only the lower level because subway trains would have needed to climb an excessively steep slope to reach the upper level.[10]

The deck is 120 feet (37 m) wide.[271] As designed, the lower-level roadway was 34 feet (10 m)[271] or 35 feet (11 m) wide.[272][279][280] The walkway and bikeway were each 10 feet (3.0 m)[280] or 12 feet (3.7 m) wide.[272][279] The Manhattan-bound (eastern) upper-level roadway is 24 feet (7.3 m) wide,[146] while the Brooklyn-bound (western) roadway is 22.5 feet (6.9 m) wide;[160] both roadways narrow to 19 feet (5.8 m) at the anchorages.[160][146] At the Brooklyn end of the south pathway, a staircase leads to the intersection of Jay and High streets.[255] Because the subway trains are on the outer edges of the deck, this causes torsional stresses every time a train crossed the bridge.[259][281] As built, the bridge sagged by as much as 3 feet (0.91 m) when a train crossed it,[281][282] and it took about 30 seconds for the deck to return to its normal position after a train had passed.[283]

The Manhattan Bridge was the first suspension bridge to employ Josef Melan's deflection theory for deck stiffening.[281][284][285] 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.[259][286] As such, the Manhattan Bridge was the first suspension bridge in the world to use a lightly-webbed weight-saving Warren truss.[259] 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)[279][280] or 26 feet (7.9 m) deep.[281] Each of the trusses is directly beneath one of the main cables.[259][279] The centerlines of the inner trusses are 40 feet (12 m) apart from each other, while the centerline of each of the outer trusses is spaced 28 feet (8.5 m) from the centerlines of the inner trusses.[280] 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.[276]

Towers edit

The Manhattan Bridge's suspension towers measure 330 feet (100 m) from the mean high water mark to the tops of the cables;[279][287] the ornamental finials atop each tower are 350 feet (110 m) above high water.[272][b] 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.[287] 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.[270] The foundations of each tower, consisting of the underwater section of each pier and a caisson below it, descend 92 feet (28 m) below mean high water.[270][288] The caissons measure 78 by 144 feet (24 by 44 m) across.[270][287] They have concrete walls and contained a working chamber divided into three compartments.[287]

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.[280] The towers are composed of four columns oriented transversely (perpendicularly) to the deck, one each flanking the north and south roadways.[64][270] 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.[270] The columns are braced by diagonal steel beams.[64][65] A publication from 1904 wrote that the central parts of each tower were designed like 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.[271]

The towers contain little decorative detail, except for spherical finials.[267] 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.[289] Saddles carry the main cables above the tops of each suspension tower.[64][78] Each saddle weighs 15 short tons (13 long tons; 14 t).[77] In contrast to the Williamsburg and Brooklyn bridges (where the saddles are placed on movable rollers), the saddles are fixed in place,[64][78] as the towers themselves were intended to flex slightly to accommodate the strains placed on each cable.[76] If the bridge was loaded to full capacity, the tops of the towers could bend up to 25 inches (640 mm) toward the center of the river.[280] The steel beams also expanded by up to 0.75 inches (19 mm) just sitting in the sun.[98]

Cables edit

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.[267] 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 the weight of the cables themselves.[290] The cables measure either 20.75 inches (527 mm),[87] 21 inches (533 mm),[271][272] or 21.25 inches (540 mm) in diameter.[280] Unlike the Williamsburg Bridge (but like other suspension bridges), the wires on the Manhattan Bridge's cables are galvanized to prevent rusting.[272][279] Each cable consists of 9,472 parallel wires,[272][269][280][c] which are grouped into 37 strands of 256 wires.[88][87][290] The wires measure 3⁄16 inch (4.8 mm) across.[87][280][290] The cables themselves are capable of resisting loads of up to 30,000 short tons (27,000 long tons; 27,000 t).[292]

There are 1,400 vertical suspender cables, which hang from the main cables and hold up the deck.[92] They measure about 5 inches (130 mm) in diameter[293] and weigh a total of 8,000 short tons (7,100 long tons; 7,300 t).[103] Each suspender can withstand up to 100 short tons per square inch (14 t/cm2) of pressure.[276] There are cable bands at the top of each suspender cable (where they attach to the main cable);[276][281] the suspenders are attached to the main cables using clamps.[276] The lower parts of the suspender cables pass through the trusses.[276][281] To reduce chafing on the lower parts of the suspender cables, workers installed wooden buffers between the suspender cables and the trusses after the bridge was completed.[281]

Anchorages edit

The cables are attached to stone anchorages on each side, measuring 237 feet (72 m) long, 182 feet (55 m) wide, and 135 feet (41 m) tall.[270][288] Each anchorage weighs 233,000 short tons (208,000 long tons; 211,000 t) and is filled with 115,000 cubic feet (3,300 m3) of concrete and rubble masonry.[270][288][292] Inside the anchorages are 36 anchor bars, nine for each cable. The ends of each strand are attached to the anchor bars, which in turn are attached to eyebars measuring 110 feet (34 m) long.[270] There are 37 eyebars connecting each cable to the anchor bars, distributing the loads on the cables across a larger area.[292]

The anchorages were intentionally wider than the deck, providing space for pedestrians to rest;[179][294] these pedestrian areas are 120 feet (37 m) above the ground.[294] The facade of each anchorage is made of concrete[270] and is topped by a colonnade measuring 40 feet (12 m) long.[295] Each colonnade is divided vertically into five bays.[296] The arches and colonnades are the only decorative elements of each anchorage.[297] Early proposals for the anchorages called for them to include auditoriums, but this proposal was never executed.[294] In a 1909 article for the Architectural Record, architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler described the anchorages as having "an aspect of Egyptian immobility",[179][298] and another author in 2006 similarly compared the anchorages to "vast, battered, Egyptian masses".[269]

At the base of the Manhattan anchorage is an arch measuring 46 feet (14 m) wide and 46 feet tall,[37] through which Cherry Street passes.[37][295] Water Street passes through a similar arch in Brooklyn.[295][296] The intersection of Adams and Water streets had to be relocated to make way for the Brooklyn anchorage.[66] The archway under the Brooklyn anchorage contains a 7,000-square-foot (650 m2) public plaza.[299] The sides of the anchorages have large buttresses that slope upward.[296]

Approach plazas edit

Carrère and Hastings designed approach plazas on both ends of the bridge. At the time of the bridge's opening, these plazas were meant to conceal views of the Manhattan Bridge from the streets on either end.[128][267] The Manhattan plaza connects directly with Canal Street and the Bowery, while the Brooklyn end of the bridge continues as Flatbush Avenue (which in turn intersects several other roads at Prospect Park).[300] The city paid Carl Augustus Heber, Charles Cary Rumsey, and Daniel Chester French a combined $41,000 (equivalent to $1,103,000 in 2022) to design sculptures around the approach plazas.[212]

Arch and colonnade edit

 
The Beaux Arts triumphal arch and colonnade at the Manhattan entrance

In Manhattan, the bridge terminates at a plaza originally bounded by the Bowery and Bayard, Division, Forsyth, and Canal streets.[9] This plot covered 400 by 750 feet (120 by 230 m).[131][301] The arch and colonnade were completed within this plaza in 1915;[134] they surround an elliptical plaza facing northwest toward the Bowery.[301]

Design edit

The arch and colonnade are made of white, fine-grained Hallowell granite.[301][302] They are decorated with two groups of allegorical sculptures by Heber and a frieze called "Buffalo Hunt" by Rumsey.[303][131][134][304] The design of the arch and colonnade reference the fact that the Manhattan Bridge continues into Brooklyn as Flatbush Avenue, which runs south to the Atlantic Ocean. The arch thus signified the Manhattan Bridge's role as an ocean "gateway".[303] The plaza was influenced by the New York Improvement Plan of 1907, which sought to create plazas and other open spaces at large intersections; a massive circular plaza, connecting the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, was never built.[303]

The arch was based on Paris's Porte Saint-Denis.[131][128][267] It is one of the city's three remaining triumphal arches, the others being the Washington Square Arch and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch.[267][303] The arch's opening measures 36 feet (11 m) high and 40 feet (12 m) wide.[301][267][303] On the northern side of the arch, the opening is flanked by carvings of classical ships, masks, shields, and oak leaves.[302] The western pier contains the sculptural group Spirit of Commerce, depicting a winged woman flanked by two figures. The eastern pier contains Spirit of Industry, depicting the god Mercury flanked by two figures.[304] The arch's keystone contains a depiction of a bison. Above is the "Buffalo Hunt" frieze, which depicts Native Americans hunting animals while on horseback.[305][303] The relief is topped by dentils and egg-and-dart ornamentation.[306] The cornice of the arch contains modillions as well as six lion heads.[306][303] The interior of the arch contains a coffered ceiling.[267] There are rosettes on the arch's soffit. The southern side of the arch, facing Brooklyn, is less ornately decorated but has rusticated stone blocks indicative of a Parisian or Florentine bank.[131] On the southern side, there are decorations of carved lions at the bases of each pier.[307]

The colonnade and plaza was modeled after the one surrounding St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.[131][128][267][307] The colonnade is elliptical and rises to 38 feet (12 m). It is supported by six pairs of 31-foot (9.4 m) Tuscan columns on either side, with each pair of columns flanking rusticated piers inside the colonnade.[308][301][267] Above each column is a stone with a classical motif, such as a boat or a cuirass.[307] There is an entablature above the columns, as well as a cornice and balustrade at the top of the colonnade.[308][301][267] The entablature contains roundels with floral motifs.[307] The arch and colonnade were initially surrounded by granite retaining walls that contained decorative balustrades surrounding parkland on either side of the arch and colonnade.[131][301] Only a small segment of parkland remains at Canal and Forsyth streets, while the south side of the park became Confucius Plaza.[131]

Reception and modifications edit
 
The Brooklyn Plaza of the bridge c.1917. Nassau Street is across the foreground. The Brooklyn Bridge is visible in the left background, and the Williamsburg Bridge in the right background.

American Architect and Architecture described the arch and colonnade in 1912 as "worthy of one of the principal gateways of a great modern city".[301] The arch and colonnade were described as a "complete, dignified and monumental ensemble, worthy of one of the principal gateways of a great modern city" in a New York Times article.[131] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote: "The Manhattan Bridge will he not only something to get across the East River upon, but the sight of it will be a joy even to those who have no occasion to cross it."[307][309] According to The Christian Science Monitor, the plaza's presence "has turned a section of the East Side, in one of its most squalid parts, into a veritable park where children can find on summer evenings a clean open place amid surroundings that will be in many ways the equal of any in New York".[136]

From the bridge's completion, the arch was heavily used by vehicular traffic.[310] When the second Madison Square Garden was being demolished in 1925, there was a proposal to relocate the arena's statue of Diana to the arch, but this dd not happen.[311] Part of the colonnade's eastern arm was removed and replaced in the 1970s for the construction of the incomplete Second Avenue Subway.[312][308] The arch and colonnade were designated a New York City landmark on November 25, 1975.[313] After many years of neglect and several attempts by traffic engineers to remove the structure (including a proposal for the unbuilt Lower Manhattan Expressway that would have required removing the arch), the arch and colonnade were repaired and restored in 2000.[134][314]

Brooklyn plaza edit

The Brooklyn approach to the Manhattan Bridge also contained a terraced plaza with balustrades.[307] The Brooklyn plaza was originally bounded by Sands, Bridge, Nassau, and Jay streets.[9] French designed a pair of 20-short-ton (18-long-ton; 18 t) pylons named Brooklyn and Manhattan on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge. These were installed in November 1916.[128][135][267] Each pylon measured 12 feet (3.7 m) high and rested on a base 15 feet (4.6 m) off the ground.[315][316] The statues on each pylon represented French's impressions of life in each borough. The Brooklyn pylon depicted a young woman with a child and symbols of art and progress, while the Manhattan pylon depicted a seated, upright woman with symbols of art and prosperity. There were granite railings and walkways at the base of either pylon.[315]

A bas-relief memorializing former mayor William Jay Gaynor was dedicated at the bridge's Brooklyn plaza in 1927;[317] it was relocated in 1939 to the nearby Brooklyn Bridge Plaza.[318] The pylons were relocated to the Brooklyn Museum in 1963.[135] The pylons never constituted a true portal, even when they were in place. Following their removal, the Brooklyn approach did not contain a formal entrance.[267]

Exits and entrances edit

Access to the Manhattan Bridge is provided by a series of ramps on both the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides of the river.

BoroughLocationmi[319]kmDestinationsNotes
BrooklynBrooklyn Heights0.00.0Flatbush Avenue ExtensionContinuation south
0.10.16Nassau StreetNorthbound upper level entrance and southbound upper level exit
0.20.32  I-278 (Brooklyn–Queens Expressway) – Triboro Bridge, Staten IslandNorthbound upper level entrance only
0.20.32Jay Street to   I-278 (Brooklyn–Queens Expressway) – Triboro Bridge, Staten IslandSouthbound upper level exit only
East River0.4–
1.0		0.64–
1.6		Suspension span
ManhattanChinatown1.32.1BowerySlip ramp from northbound Bowery to northbound upper level
1.42.3Bowery and Canal Street to   FDR Drive / Holland TunnelNorthbound lower level exit and southbound upper level entrance; at-grade intersection
Chrystie Street to   FDR Drive / Holland Tunnel / Canal Street westContinuation of northbound upper level
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Proposed I-478 designation edit

As early as the 1940s, there had been plans for an expressway running across Manhattan, connecting with the bridge.[320] As part of the Interstate Highway System, the I-478 route number was proposed in 1958 for a branch of the Lower Manhattan Expressway running along the Manhattan Bridge.[321] This highway would have run between I-78 (which would have split to another branch that used the Williamsburg Bridge) and I-278.[322] The state government solicited bids for a ramp connecting the expressway to the bridge's Manhattan end in 1965.[323] The Lower Manhattan Expressway project was canceled in March 1971,[214] and the I-478 designation was applied to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel.[324] A fragment of the never-built expressway's onramp still exists above the Manhattan side of the bridge's center roadway.[325]

Public transportation edit

The bridge was originally intended to carry four Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT) subway tracks on the lower level, as well as four trolley tracks on the upper level. The trolley tracks were carried around the Manhattan side's colonnade, while the subway tracks did not emerge from street level until south of the colonnade.[301][310]

Streetcar and bus service edit

Before the bridge opened, the BRT and the Coney Island and Brooklyn Rail Road (CI&B) both submitted bids to run streetcar service on the bridge,[326] as did the Triborough Railroad Company.[327] The Manhattan Bridge Three Cent Line received a permit to operate across the bridge in July 1910, despite opposition from the BRT and CI&B.[328] The Three Cent Line still had not begun operating by 1911, when another firm, the Manhattan Bridge Service Company, applied for a franchise to operate streetcars across the bridge.[329] After a subcommittee of the Board of Estimate recommended that the Brooklyn and North River Line receive a franchise,[330] both the Three Cent Line and the Brooklyn and North River Line received franchises to operate across the bridge in mid-1912.[331]

Due to disputes over the franchises, the Three Cent Line did not run across the bridge until September 1912; it carried passengers between either of the bridge's terminals.[123] The Brooklyn and North River Line began operating in December 1915,[332] and a bus route started running across the bridge after the Brooklyn and North River Railroad Company stopped operating streetcars across the bridge in October 1919.[138] The Three Cent Line trolley was discontinued in November 1929[157] and replaced by a bus.[333] A tour bus service, Culture Bus Loop II, began running across the bridge in 1973[334] and was discontinued in 1982.[335] The B51 bus began running across the bridge in 1985 as part of an pilot program;[336] the route was discontinued in 2010.[337] As of 2024, no MTA Regional Bus Operations routes use the bridge.[338]

Subway service edit

Four subway tracks are located on the lower deck of the bridge, two on each side of the lower roadway. The two tracks on the west side of the bridge (known as the south tracks) are used by the Q train at all times and the N train at all times except late nights, when it uses the Montague Street Tunnel. The tracks on the east side (known as the north tracks) are used by the D train at all times and the B train on weekdays.[339] On the Manhattan side, the south tracks connect to Canal Street and become the express tracks of the BMT Broadway Line, while the north tracks connect to the Chrystie Street Connection through Grand Street and become the express tracks on the IND Sixth Avenue Line. On the Brooklyn side, the two pairs merge under Flatbush Avenue to a large junction with the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and BMT Brighton Line at DeKalb Avenue.[340]

In Brooklyn, the tracks have always connected to the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and the BMT Brighton Line; the junction between the lines was reconstructed in the 1950s.[341] On the Manhattan side, the two north tracks originally connected to the BMT Broadway Line (where the south tracks now connect) while the two south tracks curved south to join the BMT Nassau Street Line towards Chambers Street.[340] As a result of the Chrystie Street Connection, which linked the north tracks to the Sixth Avenue Line upon completion in 1967,[342] the Nassau Street connection was severed.[340] There were also unbuilt plans in the 1960s to have Long Island Rail Road trains use the subway tracks.[343]

Trackage history edit

 
A Manhattan-bound D train of R68 cars crosses the bridge on the north tracks

The New York City Rapid Transit Commission recommended the construction of a subway line across the Manhattan Bridge in 1905,[344] and this line was approved in 1907 as part of the Nassau Street Loop.[345] Unsuccessful proposals for rapid transit across the bridge included a two-track line for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company[346] and a two-track extension of a four-track BRT elevated line.[347] The New York City Public Service Commission requested permission to start constructing the subway tracks in March 1909.[348] Amid financial difficulties, and uncertainty over what subway lines would connect to the bridge in Brooklyn,[349] the subway tracks were approved in May 1909.[350] The subway tracks on the Manhattan Bridge opened on June 22, 1915, along with the Fourth Avenue Line and the Sea Beach Line.[124] Initially, the north tracks carried trains to Midtown Manhattan via the Broadway Line, while the south tracks carried Sea Beach trains that terminated at Chambers Street.[351]

When the Nassau Street Loop was completed on May 29, 1931, service on the south tracks declined,[352] and traffic disproportionately used the north tracks.[186][282] Trains from the Sea Beach, Brighton, and West End lines used the north tracks, while the south tracks were used only by short-turning trains from the West End and Culver lines.[186] Approximately three times as many trains were using the north tracks than the south tracks by 1953,[188] and 92 percent of subway trains used the north tracks by 1956.[353] The Chrystie Street Connection opened on November 26, 1967, with a connection to the north tracks;[354] the south tracks were rerouted to the Broadway Line, while the Nassau Line was disconnected from the bridge.[340]

Repairs to the tracks commenced in August 1983,[355] requiring closures of some subway tracks for three months.[356] Further repairs occurred in 1985.[357] The north tracks were closed for a longer-term repair in April 1986.[243] The north tracks were reopened and the south tracks were closed simultaneously in December 1988.[246] After an 18-month delay for procuring contracts, service on the south tracks resumed in December 1990, despite warnings the structure was unsafe;[358][359] they had to be closed again after the discovery of corroded support beams and missing steel plates.[358] In the aftermath of the dispute, two city officials were fired,[360] 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.[361] They found that the NYCDOT and MTA's lack of cooperation contributed significantly to the deteriorating conditions.[362][233]

A projection for a reopening date was initially made for 1995.[363] That year, the north tracks were closed during off-peak hours for six months. The south tracks finally reopened on July 22, 2001, whereby the north tracks were again closed.[364] The south tracks was closed on weekends from April to November 2003. On February 22, 2004, the north tracks were reopened.[365]

Tracks used edit

Impact edit

When the Manhattan Bridge was being developed, the Brooklyn Standard Union described it as "of greater capacity than either the Williamsburg or Brooklyn bridges, yet lighter and more artistic".[279] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle predicted that the bridge's completion would spur the redevelopment of residential areas in Downtown Brooklyn,[367] and the New-York Tribune said that warehouses would be developed in Lower Manhattan when the Manhattan Bridge opened.[368] The bridge's opening significantly reduced patronage on several ferry lines that had traveled between Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn.[369]

One local civic group predicted that large numbers of Jewish residents would move from Manhattan's Lower East Side to Brooklyn as a result of the bridge's opening.[370] These included numerous Jewish families displaced by the bridge's construction.[371] In addition, numerous industrial and factory buildings were built around the bridge's Brooklyn approach in the 1910s.[372] Some of the land under the bridge's approaches was leased out;[373] for example, a Chinese theater was built under the Manhattan approach in the 1940s,[374] and a shopping mall was built there in the 1980s.[375] The area under the Brooklyn approach became known as Dumbo, short for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass", in the late 20th century[376] and became an upscale residential neighborhood by the 2010s.[377]

In the two decades following the Manhattan Bridge's completion, few bridges with longer spans were constructed.[284] Nonetheless, the use of the deflection theory enabled the construction of longer suspension bridges in the early 20th century.[259] Two of the world's largest suspension bridge spans built in the 1930s, the Golden Gate Bridge and the George Washington Bridge, incorporated deflection theory into their designs.[285]

The bridge was the subject of American artist Edward Hopper's 1928 painting Manhattan Bridge Loop.[378]

Gallery edit

 
The full span, with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground
  •  
    Cross section of the bridge
  •  
    Manhattan-bound lower level
  •  
    One of the pedestrian walkways
  •  
    Bikeway in Manhattan

See also edit

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ One source gives an alternate measurement of 1,480 feet (450 m).[3]
  2. ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote in 1908 that the tops of the towers were 322.5 feet (98.3 m) high and that the finials were 340 feet (100 m) high.[76] The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission gives a height of 336 feet (102 m).[269] One source gives a figure as low as 321 feet (98 m).[283]
  3. ^ This is incorrectly cited in one New-York Tribune article as 4,972 wires.[291] Another article from the same newspaper gives a calculation of 37 strands, each with 256 wires, for a total of 9,472 wires.[290] Other sources corroborate the 9,472-wire figure.[88]

Citations edit

  1. ^ "NYC DOT Bridges & Tunnels Annual Condition Report 2015" (PDF). City of New York.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Manhattan Bridge at Structurae
  3. ^ a b Jackson, Donald C. (1988). Great American Bridges and Dams. Wiley. p. 136. ISBN 0-471-14385-5.
  4. ^ a b "Manhattan Bridge Opened to Traffic – Mayor McClellan's Last Act in Public Was to Lead a Procession on Wheels Across – Brooklyn Men Celebrate – New Structure Has the Largest Carrying Capacity of Any Crossing the River – The Span Is 1,470 Feet" (PDF). The New York Times. January 1, 1910. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  5. ^ "NYC DOT – Data feeds". New York City Department of Transportation. 2019. NYC Bridge & Screenline Traffic Volumes Dashboard. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  6. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  7. ^ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. November 7, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Aldermen's Lively War – New East River Bridges Named by the Board – Commissioner Woodbury Attacked and His Resolution for a Brooklyn Deputy Lost – The Chairman Denounced" (PDF). The New York Times. March 19, 1902. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Manhattan Bridge Ready by January; Builders Rushing Work on Fourth River Span Between Manhattan and Long Island". The New York Times. June 6, 1909. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c "New Bridge Terminals: Buildings on Manhattan Side Will Cost More Than $1,000,000 Proposed Terminals of the New Manhattan Bridge". New-York Tribune. November 29, 1905. p. 4. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571667503; "Terminals of the Manhattan Bridge". Railroad Gazette. Vol. 39, no. 22. December 1, 1905. p. 510. ProQuest 571667503.
  11. ^ "Manhattan Bridge" (PDF). The New York Times. June 19, 1904. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  12. ^ "Manhattan Bridge" (PDF). The New York Times. December 9, 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  13. ^ a b c d e Stern, Gilmartin & Massengale 1983, p. 51.
  14. ^ "The New Manhattan Bridge; A Bridge Beautiful As Well As Useful". Architects' and Builder's Magazine. Vol. 36, no. 12. September 1904. pp. 547–554.
  15. ^ a b Architects' and Builders' Magazine 1904, p. 548.
  16. ^ "Mayor Chafes at Delay on Bridge". The Standard Union. January 18, 1901. p. 2. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  17. ^ "Bids On Bridge No. 3. – All the Propositions for Building Tower Foundations Will Be Rejected" (PDF). The New York Times. March 26, 1901. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  18. ^ "Bridge Contract Awarded". The Standard Union. May 6, 1901. p. 1. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  19. ^ Engineering Record, Building Record and Sanitary Engineer 1904, p. 334.
  20. ^ "Work in the Caisson of Third East River Bridge – Death of Three Laborers Employed in Making Foundations for the Brooklyn Tower Causes Contractors to Desist from Their Attempt to Reach the Actual Rock Bottom" (PDF). The New York Times. February 22, 1903. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  21. ^ "Plans for Third Bridge – The Manhattan to be Ornamental as Well as Useful – Halls in Anchorages to be Larger Than Cooper Union Auditorium – Globular Lights on High Pinnacles" (PDF). The New York Times. February 4, 1903. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  22. ^ "Grants $10,000,000 for World's Biggest Bridge – Board of Estimate Authorizes Expenditure for Manhattan Span – Aldermen Will Act Next Week – Work on Superstructure Will Begin July 1 – Will Be Finished in 1909 – Most Capacious Bridge on Earth" (PDF). The New York Times. May 7, 1904. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  23. ^ "Manhattan Bridge" (PDF). The New York Times. June 25, 1904. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  24. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Plans – Lindenthal Design Promises Structure of Lasting Credit to City (letter)" (PDF). The New York Times. June 30, 1904. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  25. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Plans" (PDF). The New York Times. July 14, 1904. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  26. ^ "Lindenthal Objects to Wire Gable Plan – Should Not Be Used on Manhattan Bridge – Warns Art Commission – Says New Plan Would Cost More, Would Make Bridge Less Rigid, and Be Inferior in Many Ways" (PDF). The New York Times. July 14, 1904. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  27. ^ "Wire Cables Approved: for the New Bridge Only One Vote of Art Commission Against Best's Plan". New-York Tribune. September 16, 1904. p. 4. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571602354; "Adopts Wire Cables for Manhattan Bridge – Art Commission Sustains Commissioner Best – Turns Down Eye-Bar Plan – John De Witt Warner Protests Against Action – Bids to be Advertised For at Once" (PDF). The New York Times. September 16, 1904. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  28. ^ National Park Service 1983, p. 3.
  29. ^ a b "Roeblings Win Again: Big Hole in Contract Contractors May Take Their Own Time—City Helpless". New-York Tribune. September 15, 1905. p. 2. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  30. ^ Stern, Gilmartin & Massengale 1983, pp. 51–52.
  31. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Delay". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 8, 1904. p. 3. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  32. ^ "Eye-bar Advocates Fail to Appear: Manhattan Bridge Cables to Be of Wire. Says Commissioner Stevenson". New-York Tribune. March 24, 1906. p. 4. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571786490; "Biggest of River Bridges Should Be Open in 1910". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 10, 1906. p. 5. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  33. ^ "Bridge Anchorage Bids". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 25, 1904. p. 42. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  34. ^ "Tammany Firm's Big Plum". The New York Times. February 16, 1905. p. 6. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  35. ^ a b "Manhattan Bridge Is Seen as Monument to M'Clellan Former Mayor of New York". The Standard Union. June 18, 1931. p. 15. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  36. ^ a b "Pushing Work on Anchorage". The Standard Union. July 9, 1906. p. 3. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  37. ^ a b c d Ripley 1907, p. 204.
  38. ^ Ripley 1907, p. 205.
  39. ^ "Making Good Progress in Condemnation of Land". The Brooklyn Citizen. May 6, 1905. p. 2. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  40. ^ "Why New Bridge Waits". The New York Times. March 30, 1905. p. 7. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 12, 2024; "On Bridge 3 Approaches Some Houses Are Rented". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 29, 1905. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  41. ^ "The Manhattan Bridge Terminals" (PDF). The New York Times. December 20, 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  42. ^ "To Advertise by May 1 Plans for Bridge No. 3". The Brooklyn Citizen. February 20, 1905. p. 2. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  43. ^ "Bids for Manhattan Bridge". New-York Tribune. July 23, 1905. p. 5. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "New Bridge Plans Ready". The New York Times. July 23, 1905. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  44. ^ "Steel for Manhattan Bridge.: Greater New York Wants Nearly 44,000 Tons". The Wall Street Journal. July 21, 1905. p. 5. ISSN 0099-9660. ProQuest 129000387. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  45. ^ "Prison Commission Named; To Consider New Sites and Plans to Abolish Sing Sing and Auburn". The New York Times. August 16, 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "Contract for $7,284,000". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 16, 1905. p. 16. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  46. ^ "Suit to Enjoin Mr. Best Will Be Heard on Sept. 6". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 17, 1905. p. 3. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "More Trouble for Bridge Department". The Standard Union. August 18, 1905. p. 5. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  47. ^ "Court Holds Up Work on Manhattan Bridge; Contract with Pennsylvania Steel Company Declared Illegal". The New York Times. November 22, 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "Manhattan Bridge Contract Enjoined". The Evening World. November 21, 1905. p. 2. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  48. ^ "Appeals Bridge Contract; City Hopes to Give the Work to the Pennsylvania Steel Company". The New York Times. December 8, 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "Best to Appeal Contract". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 7, 1905. p. 1. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  49. ^ a b "Topics in New York: Lassoed Would-be Suicide Who Leaped From a Boat Steel for the New Bridge Pennsylvania Steel Co. Refuses to Enter Competition for the Manhattan Span's Superstructure". The Sun. May 8, 1906. p. 5. ProQuest 537167327.
  50. ^ "Will Include Eye-bars in Bridge Specifications". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 3, 1906. p. 10. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  51. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Contract.: Lowest Bid on Big New York Structure Was $6,493,223". The Washington Post. May 8, 1906. p. 9. ISSN 0190-8286. ProQuest 144643797; "Bridge Bids Opened: Ryan-Parker Company Offers Lowest Figures for Steel Work". New-York Tribune. May 8, 1906. p. 12. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571832220.
  52. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Contract Awarded". The Standard Union. June 16, 1906. p. 1. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "Manhattan Bridge Work Begun". New-York Tribune. June 17, 1906. p. 5. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  53. ^ "Manhattan Bridge". The Wall Street Journal. September 1, 1906. p. 5. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  54. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Work Pushed by Phoenixville Steel Mills". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 17, 1907. p. 50. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  55. ^ "Millions for New Bridge Approaches". The Wall Street Journal. November 24, 1906. p. 7. ISSN 0099-9660. ProQuest 129105464; "To Acquire Approaches". The Brooklyn Citizen. November 23, 1906. p. 2. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  56. ^ "Cost of the Third Bridge". The Brooklyn Citizen. February 6, 1907. p. 12. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  57. ^ "Panama Outdone in New York". The Sun. April 7, 1907. p. 38. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  58. ^ "To Hurry Bridge Work: Coler Wants to Know if Night Shifts Can Be Used on Manhattan". New-York Tribune. February 2, 1907. p. 3. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571947857; "Favors Union Square Site for Court House; Board of Estimate Likely to Accept Commission's Report". The New York Times. February 2, 1907. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  59. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Steel". Times Union. February 21, 1907. p. 10. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  60. ^ "Extra Shifts Required on Manhattan Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 14, 1907. p. 3. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  61. ^ "First Completed Section of Manhattan Bridge Tower". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 19, 1907. p. 23. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  62. ^ "To Cut a Wide Swath in Brooklyn's Heart". The Brooklyn Citizen. March 3, 1907. p. 13. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  63. ^ "Setting Up the Towers for the Manhattan Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 5, 1907. p. 25. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  64. ^ a b c d e f "Real Work Begins on New Bridge To-day". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 26, 1907. p. 20. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  65. ^ a b "Manhattan Bridge Work". Times Union. June 26, 1907. p. 12. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  66. ^ a b "New Bridge Approach: Changes in Brooklyn in Preparation for Manhattan Structure". New-York Tribune. September 8, 1907. p. B6. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571995180.
  67. ^ a b "City's Tenants to Beg for Extension of Time". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 13, 1907. p. 5. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  68. ^ "1,000 Families Must Move". The Sun. October 29, 1907. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  69. ^ a b c "Manhattan Bridge: Clearing Ground for the Approaches Almost Completed". New-York Tribune. August 2, 1908. p. C7. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572045467.
  70. ^ "Put Off Moving Day: Tenants in Condemned Buildings Oppose Wreckers". New-York Tribune. November 25, 1907. p. 4. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571981215; "Tenants Won't Move". The New York Times. November 25, 1907. p. 16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  71. ^ "Tenements Give Way to New Bridge; Last Moving Day for Tenants Along the Line of the Manhattan's Approach". The New York Times. December 3, 1907. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  72. ^ "New Bridge Approaches". The Wall Street Journal. December 10, 1907. p. 7. ISSN 0099-9660. ProQuest 129028537; "Opens Bids for Steel on Manhattan Bridge". The Standard Union. December 12, 1907. p. 10. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  73. ^ "Approaches for New Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 17, 1907. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  74. ^ "To Finish 3d Bridge by 1910 Is the Plan". The Brooklyn Citizen. December 17, 1907. p. 10. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  75. ^ "The Manhattan Bridge May Be Ready in Two Years". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 9, 1908. p. 28. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  76. ^ a b c d "Towers Quickly Built for Manhattan Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 21, 1908. p. 2. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  77. ^ a b "Last Saddle in Place on New Bridge Tower". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 28, 1908. p. 3. Retrieved January 12, 2024; "New Bridge Towers Practically Completed". The Standard Union. April 28, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  78. ^ a b c "About to String Cables". New-York Tribune. January 22, 1908. p. 5. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572009250; "To String Cables March 1". The Brooklyn Citizen. January 23, 1908. p. 7. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  79. ^ a b c d "Cable Hauling on the New Manhattan Bridge". Railroad Age Gazette. Vol. 45, no. 16. September 18, 1908. pp. 946–947. ProQuest 882958340.
  80. ^ a b "Manhattan Bridge Steel a High Grade Product". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 27, 1908. p. 11. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  81. ^ a b "Pushing Work on Manhattan Bridge". The Standard Union. October 17, 1908. p. 10. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  82. ^ "First New Bridge Link: Temporary Cable Strung Between Manhattan Structure's Towers". New-York Tribune. June 16, 1908. p. 3. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572056742; "Another Aerial Link Across the East River". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 15, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  83. ^ "Bridge Cable Falls, Injuring Two Men – Lashing End Strikes Them as Heavy Wire Spins Over Top of Tower – Runaway Hits a Horse, Too – Workmen Capture It Just in Time to Save It from Slipping Full Length Into the River" (PDF). The New York Times. June 17, 1908. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  84. ^ "New Bridge Towers Joined – First Rope of Temporary Cable for Manhattan Structure Hits a Schooner" (PDF). The New York Times. June 16, 1908. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017. During the next fortnight sixteen steel wire ropes will be stretched across the East River. They will be passed over the towers and, after being bound together in four cables, will be cleated to the anchorages. From the four cables temporary foot bridges will be suspended. Then the record-breaking 21½ inch permanent cables will be strung.
  85. ^ "Preparing to Lay Cables on Manhattan Bridge". The Standard Union. July 8, 1908. p. 3. Retrieved January 12, 2024; "Footpath Building Rapid". New-York Tribune. July 9, 1908. p. 5. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  86. ^ "Workmen Now May Walk From Manhattan to Brooklyn Across New Manhattan Bridge". Detroit Free Press. July 19, 1908. p. 2. ProQuest 564190408.
  87. ^ a b c d "To Stretch Guide Wires for New Bridge Cables". The Brooklyn Citizen. July 31, 1908. p. 2. Retrieved January 12, 2024; "Manhattan Bridge Work". Times Union. July 31, 1908. p. 10. Retrieved January 12, 2024; "To Spin First Cable Within a Few Days". The Standard Union. July 31, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  88. ^ a b c "Working at a Dizzy Height". The Sun. August 2, 1908. p. 28. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  89. ^ "Last Wire Over River: Record on New Bridge Mayor Presides at Ceremony on Manhattan Structure". New-York Tribune. December 11, 1908. p. 3. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572203060; "Last Wire Is Strung for Our Biggest Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 10, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024; "Mayor Completes Last Bridge Strand – Pulls a Lever Which Spins It on Its Journey on the Great Manhattan Structure – Workmen Make a Record – When Completed, It Will Be the Largest Bridge of Its Kind in the World" (PDF). The New York Times. December 11, 1908. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  90. ^ "Bridge Expert Hired: for Manhattan Span Ralph Modjeski, Rebuilder of the Quebec Bridge, Coming Here". New-York Tribune. December 12, 1908. p. 14. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572215430.
  91. ^ "Mayor Answers Folks". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 11, 1908. p. 2. Retrieved January 12, 2024; "New Manhattan Bridge Test for Strength Ordered". The Evening World. December 11, 1908. p. 6. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  92. ^ a b "Cables About Finished; Rushing New Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 31, 1909. p. 11. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  93. ^ "New Manhattan Bridge, Showing Suspender Cables Outlining Bridge Structure". New-York Tribune. February 5, 1909. p. 3. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  94. ^ "No Vehicles May Cross New Manhattan Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 27, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  95. ^ "Steel for Manhattan Bridge; 60,000,000 Pounds Now Stored in Bayonne". The New York Times. February 28, 1909. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  96. ^ "Steel for Bridge at New York". The Christian Science Monitor. February 16, 1909. p. 5. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 507919377; "Fast Work on New Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 11, 1909. p. 2. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  97. ^ "Engineers Assured Lock Plan Will Fail; H.G. Granger Attacks President's Board and the Report in Favor of Lock Canal". The New York Times. February 25, 1909. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 10, 2024; "Flooring of New Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 25, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024; "Manhattan Bridge Done for New Year". The Evening World. February 25, 1909. p. 6. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  98. ^ a b "Laying Bridge Floor: Girders Are Being Buttoned to Manhattan Structure's Suspenders". New-York Tribune. March 21, 1909. p. A8. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572236963. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  99. ^ "To Join Manhattan Bridge Arms". New-York Tribune. April 3, 1909. p. 3. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572139521; "Big Bridge Spans Near Completion – Engineers Expect to Close the Gaps on Manhattan Bridge This Week – Record Job in 22 Days – Perfect Scale Balance Maintained in Extending the Steel Structure from Each Side of the Towers" (PDF). The New York Times. April 4, 1909. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  100. ^ a b "Only 36 Feet to Go". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 5, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  101. ^ "Manhattan Span Steel Floor Laid". The Christian Science Monitor. April 8, 1909. p. 4. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 507935457; "River Spanned Again: Last Floor Section of New Manhattan Bridge in Place Putting the First Connecting Girder of the Manhattan Bridge in Place Yesterday". New-York Tribune. April 8, 1909. p. 8. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572272082; "Manhattan Bridge Linked". The New York Times. April 8, 1909. p. 4. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  102. ^ "Big Items Approved: Appropriation of $1,000,000 for Manhattan Bridge". New-York Tribune. April 3, 1909. p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2024; "$1,000,000 to Finish New Manhattan Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 2, 1909. p. 3. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  103. ^ a b "Manhattan Bridge Cables". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 13, 1909. p. 18. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  104. ^ a b c "Manhattan Bridge Cables Completed on First Anniversary of Stringing of Wires". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 10, 1909. p. 15. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  105. ^ "Bridge Cables Strung: Important Part of the New Structure Completed in Record Time". New-York Tribune. August 15, 1909. p. C6. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572294694; "Cable Work Nearly Done". The Brooklyn Citizen. August 10, 1909. p. 7. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "Weave Final Strands of Big Bridge Cables". The Standard Union. August 10, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  106. ^ "Says Bridge is Safe: Manhattan Span O.K'd. Consulting Engineer Finds Structure is Right in All Important Parts". New-York Tribune. September 19, 1909. p. 5. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 572268958.
  107. ^ a b "Manhattan Bridge Ready by Dec. 15". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 19, 1909. pp. 1, 7. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  108. ^ "New Manhattan Bridge to Be Open". The Christian Science Monitor. November 23, 1909. p. 5. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 508018831.
  109. ^ "Brooklynites Enraged at New Bridge Fiasco". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 18, 1909. p. 11. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  110. ^ "Manhattan Bridge to Be Opened Dec. 24". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 29, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved January 13, 2024; "Manhattan Bridge to Be Christmas Present to the Greater City". The Brooklyn Citizen. November 29, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  111. ^ "One Hundred Cross Manhattan Bridge – Brooklyn Inspection Party Walks Over the New Twenty-Million-Dollar Link – A Remarkable Structure – Official Opening Set for Three Weeks Hence – Interesting Facts About Its Building" (PDF). The New York Times. December 5, 1909. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017; "New Manhattan Bridge Pronounced a Success". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 5, 1909. p. 51. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  112. ^ a b "B'klyn Leaguers See New Bridge". The Brooklyn Citizen. December 5, 1909. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  113. ^ "Inspect Manhattan Bridge; Mayor and His Party Believe It Will Be Opened Within Ten Days". The New York Times. December 25, 1909. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 10, 2024; "Over New Bridge in Auto". The Sun. December 25, 1909. p. 10. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  114. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Opened to Traffic – Mayor McClellan's Last Act in Public Was to Lead a Procession on Wheels Across – Brooklyn Men Celebrate – New Structure Has the Largest Carrying Capacity of Any Crossing the River – The Span Is 1,470 Feet" (PDF). The New York Times. January 1, 1910. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017; "Manhattan Bridge Is Declared Open". Times Union. December 31, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  115. ^ "Open New Bridge". New-York Tribune. January 1, 1910. p. 3. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  116. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Proves Vast Help". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 2, 1910. p. 8. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  117. ^ "Asks a Million for Bridge Department". Times Union. August 17, 1910. p. 2. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  118. ^ "Spectacular Midair Fire.: Firemen Have Difficulty in Quelling Flames on Manhattan Bridge". The Washington Post. March 26, 1910. p. 5. ISSN 0190-8286. ProQuest 145031390; "Fire Weakens New Manhattan Bridge – Steel Work and Cables, Warped and Twisted, May Have to Be Replaced – Damage $50,000" (PDF). The New York Times. March 26, 1910. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  119. ^ "To Open Two Bridges; Footway of the Manhattan and a New Harlem River Span Ready". The New York Times. July 15, 1910. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "Manhattan Bridge Opening". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 14, 1910. p. 3. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  120. ^ "Slowly Completing Span". Times Union. July 15, 1910. p. 10. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  121. ^ "To Abolish Tolls On City Bridges; Mayor Gaynor Believes There Is No Legal Warrant for Taxing Vehicle Traffic". The New York Times. July 7, 1911. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  122. ^ "Prize Fund for Atwood; Talk of One After Washington Commerce Chamber Refuses to Help". The New York Times. July 19, 1911. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 1, 2019; "Aldermen Abolish Tolls for Wagons on Bridges". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 18, 1911. p. 1. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  123. ^ a b "Manhattan Bridge Operation.: Court Upholds the Three-cent Fare Line and Cars Are Rushed Across". The Wall Street Journal. September 6, 1912. p. 8. ISSN 0099-9660. ProQuest 129312013; "New Bridge Line's Big Day; Carries 3,500 Riders Over Manhattan Span – Rivals Give Up Fight". The New York Times. September 6, 1912. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  124. ^ a b "Through Tube to Coney, 48 Minutes: First Train on Fourth Avenue Route Beats West End Line Eleven Minutes". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 22, 1915. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  125. ^ "Site of the New East Harlem Market". The New York Times. August 30, 1914. p. X9. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 97561411. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "New Public Food Markets Doing a Brisk Business: One at Fort Lee Ferry Selling Vegetables and Groceries at Greatly Reduced Prices". The Wall Street Journal. September 2, 1914. p. 3. ISSN 0099-9660. ProQuest 129441670.
  126. ^ "Gets $301,719 Verdict". New-York Tribune. April 11, 1912. p. 14. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "C. J. Sullivan Gets Verdict". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 11, 1912. p. 5. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  127. ^ "C. J. Sullivan Wins Suit". New-York Tribune. January 14, 1916. p. 7. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  128. ^ a b c d e f Landmarks Preservation Commission 1975, p. 1.
  129. ^ "New York Bridge Plans Approved: Municipal Art Commission Passes on Drawings of Proposed Approaches to Manhattan Structure". The Christian Science Monitor. April 23, 1910. p. 9. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 508094628; "Bridge Approach Drawings Approved". The Standard Union. April 14, 1910. p. 8. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  130. ^ "Bridge Approach Design Approved". Times Union. August 14, 1912. p. 6. Retrieved May 25, 2022; "Approaches Approved: Art Commission O. K.'s Design for Manhattan Bridge Cost Will Be $800,000 Structure Opened January 1, 1910, Now Represents an Outlay of $26,000,000". New-York Tribune. August 14, 1912. p. 5. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 574948699.
  131. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gray, Christopher (June 23, 1996). "Streetscapes/Manhattan Bridge Plaza;Noble Monument to the City Is in Ignoble Condition". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  132. ^ "$675,000 for Bridge Plaza.: Money Available for Brooklyn End of Manhattan Bridge". The New York Times. March 30, 1913. p. XX1. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 97394049. Retrieved January 11, 2024; "Spend $675,000 on Manhattan Bridge". Times Union. March 27, 1913. p. 16. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  133. ^ "4th Ave. Subway Ready in 5 Months". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 23, 1913. p. 20. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  134. ^ a b c d New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
  135. ^ a b c d "Bridge Traffic Was Too Much, So the Ladies Moved to a Museum". The New York Times. April 8, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  136. ^ a b "New York Bridge Approaches Draw Near Completion: Entrances of Manhattan Structure Are Constructed With View to Artistic Effect". The Christian Science Monitor. October 20, 1915. p. 11. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 509557732.
  137. ^ "Horse Traffic Off Manhattan Bridge". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 20, 1918. p. 16. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  138. ^ a b "City Busses Begin Manhattan Bridge Operation Today". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 5, 1919. p. 5. Retrieved January 13, 2024; "Manhattan Bridge to Have Bus Service". The Brooklyn Citizen. October 2, 1919. p. 10. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  139. ^ "City Bus Service Stops Tonight; New Rules for Bridges". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 7, 1920. p. 1. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  140. ^ "One-Way Traffic Will Continue on Bridges Despite Jam". New-York Tribune. September 8, 1920. p. 4. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  141. ^ a b "Brooklyn Bridge Badly Overloaded, Engineer Asserts". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 22, 1920. p. 2. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  142. ^ a b "Quite a Job to Paint Manhattan Bridge Like New". New York Daily News. November 6, 1921. p. 11. ISSN 2692-1251. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  143. ^ Hurley, William I. (June 18, 1922). "Keeping Up With the Town". Times Union. p. 15. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  144. ^ Fish, Lawrence C. (March 6, 1921). "Brooklyn Traffic Court Magistrate Starting a 'Safety First' Campaign". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 61. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  145. ^ a b "Hylan Opens New Bridge Roadway". Times Union. June 16, 1922. p. 6. Retrieved January 13, 2024; "$300,000 Roadway on Manhattan Bridge Put in Operation". The Brooklyn Citizen. June 16, 1922. p. 2. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  146. ^ a b c "New Roadway Opened on Manhattan Bridge – Mayor and Other City Officials Attend Event—Only Passenger Cars Allowed" (PDF). The New York Times. June 16, 1922. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
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  149. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Carrying Too Much Weight, Is Report; Need for Quick Relief Seen". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 21, 1924. p. 9. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  150. ^ "Some Questions Answered by the Eagle". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 7, 1923. p. 39. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  151. ^ "Police Calling for Autoists To Utilize Brooklyn Bridge: Traffic Congestion Is Terrific at Manhattan Span, While Other Structure Is Deserted; Signs To Be Posted as Guides to Travel". The New York Herald, New York Tribune. June 14, 1925. p. G11. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1113175935; "Motorists Urged to Use Old Bridge". The Standard Union. June 16, 1925. p. 8. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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  153. ^ "One Way Traffic on Bridge; New York Bound Cars Barred From Manhattan Span Pending Paving". The New York Times. January 11, 1927. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024; "Can't Drive at Night Over Manhattan Bridge". The Standard Union. January 11, 1927. p. 1. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  154. ^ "Favors Buying Trolley; Byrne Urges Acceptance of Manhattan Bridge Line's Offer". The New York Times. October 25, 1927. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024; "Byrne Wants City to Buy 3-Cent Line". Times Union. October 18, 1927. p. 31. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  155. ^ "Bridge Trolley Line Scrapping Urged by Berry: Comptroller Urges Purchase by City to Clear Traffic Jam on Manhattan Span". New York Herald Tribune. September 15, 1928. p. 21. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1113578973; "Boro Victory Seen in Berry Bridge Plan". The Brooklyn Citizen. September 15, 1928. p. 3. Retrieved January 14, 2024; "Berry Approves New Bridge Lanes". Times Union. September 14, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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  161. ^ "Manhattan Bridge Roadway For Light Cars Completed: Goldman Announces Opening of New $800,000 Lane Thursday New Traffic Lane to Brooklyn Is Ready". New York Herald Tribune. June 15, 1931. p. 19. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1114107738.
  162. ^ "New Bridge Lights On; Illumination Doubled In Roadways of Manhattan Span". The New York Times. June 21, 1932. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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  164. ^ "Warped Pavement Cuts Manhattan Bridge Traffic: Rains Buckle Wooden Blocks Alons Entire Main Roadway". New York Herald Tribune. September 10, 1934. p. 17. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1242981411; "Manhattan Bridge Repairs Speeded". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 10, 1934. p. 4. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  165. ^ "Manhattan Span Perfectly Safe, Kracke Reports". New York Daily News. August 11, 1934. p. 241. ISSN 2692-1251. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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  167. ^ "Bridge Bids Submitted; $279,700 Figure Is Low One for Altering Manhattan Span". The New York Times. April 7, 1937. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  168. ^ "Bridge is Made Safer; 21-Inch Curbing Is Installed on Manhattan Structure". The New York Times. April 22, 1937. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024; "New Manhattan Bridge Curb Expected to Cut Accidents". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 22, 1937. p. 7. Retrieved January 14, 2024; "Raise Parapet on Manhattan Bridge". New York Daily News. April 22, 1937. p. 344. ISSN 2692-1251. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  169. ^ "Manhattan Bridge to Get New Lane; Steel and Concrete Structure on Lower Deck of Span Will Cost $750,000 Work on Supports to Continue Special Appropriation to Be Ready". The New York Times. March 27, 1938. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  170. ^ "BridgeRoadwayFinished; Traffic Not Interrupted". The New York Times. December 5, 1938. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024; "Non-Skid Road Laid on Manhattan Bridge Without Hindering Traffic". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 5, 1938. p. 8. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  171. ^ "Speed Repair of Manhattan Bridge Span". New York Daily News. August 14, 1938. p. 126. ISSN 2692-1251. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  172. ^ "To Eliminate Bridge Bottleneck; WPA Will Improve East End of Manhattan Span – Other Street Work". The New York Times. August 17, 1941. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024; "Start of Traffic Improvement on Manhattan Bridge". New York Herald Tribune. July 31, 1941. p. 32. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1320057002.
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  174. ^ "New Air Raid Siren Does Best Job Yet; Experimental Device, Sounded From Manhattan Bridge, Is Heard Below Canal St". The New York Times. March 5, 1942. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2024; "City's Newest Siren Loud Enough But Some Think It Boat or Shop". New York Herald Tribune. March 5, 1942. p. 1. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1264963711.
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February 15, 2024
manhattan, bridge, suspension, bridge, that, crosses, east, river, york, city, connecting, lower, manhattan, canal, street, with, downtown, brooklyn, flatbush, avenue, extension, designed, leon, moisseiff, built, phoenix, bridge, company, bridge, total, length. 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 the nearby Brooklyn Bridge is just slightly farther west while the Queensboro and Williamsburg bridges are to the north Manhattan BridgeView from Manhattan toward Brooklyn 2022Coordinates40 42 25 N 73 59 26 W 40 7070 N 73 9905 W 40 7070 73 9905 Manhattan Bridge Carries7 lanes of roadway 4 tracks of the trains of the New York City Subway Pedestrians and bicycles Streetcars until 1929 CrossesEast RiverLocaleNew York City Manhattan Brooklyn Maintained byNew York City Department of TransportationID number2240028 upper 2240027 lower 1 CharacteristicsDesignSuspension bridgeTotal length6 855 ft 2 089 m Width120 feet 37 m 2 Height336 ft 102 m towers 2 Longest span1 480 feet 451 m 3 Clearance below135 ft 41 1 m 2 HistoryDesignerLeon Solomon Moisseiff 2 Constructed byOthniel Foster Nichols 2 Construction start1901 2 Construction end1909 4 OpenedDecember 31 1909 114 years ago 1909 12 31 4 StatisticsDaily traffic67 851 2019 5 TollNoneU S National Register of Historic PlacesDesignatedAugust 30 1983 6 Reference no 83001694Designated entityManhattan BridgeNew York State Register of Historic PlacesDesignatedJuly 6 1983 7 Reference no 04701 000010New York City LandmarkDesignatedNovember 25 1975Reference no 0899Designated entityManhattan Bridge Arch and ColonnadeLocationThe 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 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 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 Carrere 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 has influenced the design of other long suspension bridges in the early 20th century Contents 1 History 1 1 Development 1 1 1 Planning and caissons 1 1 2 Anchorages towers and approach viaducts 1 1 3 Cables and deck 1 2 Opening and early history 1 3 1920s to 1940s 1 4 1950s to 1970s 1 4 1 1950s repair project 1 4 2 Other modifications 1 5 Late 20th and early 21st century renovation 1 5 1 1980s and 1990s 1 5 2 2000s 1 6 Late 2000s to present 2 Description 2 1 Deck 2 2 Towers 2 3 Cables 2 4 Anchorages 2 5 Approach plazas 2 5 1 Arch and colonnade 2 5 1 1 Design 2 5 1 2 Reception and modifications 2 5 2 Brooklyn plaza 2 6 Exits and entrances 2 7 Proposed I 478 designation 3 Public transportation 3 1 Streetcar and bus service 3 2 Subway service 3 2 1 Trackage history 3 2 2 Tracks used 4 Impact 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Notes 7 2 Citations 7 3 Sources 8 External linksHistory editDevelopment edit The bridge was the last of the three suspension spans built across the lower East River following the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges 8 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 9 From 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 10 In the earliest plans it was to have been called Bridge No 3 but was given the name Manhattan Bridge in 1902 8 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 11 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 12 Planning and caissons edit The earliest plans for what became the Manhattan Bridge were designed by R S Buck 13 14 548 These plans called for 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 15 In early 1901 the city government approved a motion to acquire land for a suspension tower in Brooklyn 16 the city shortly began soliciting bids for the tower s foundations 17 The contract for the Brooklyn suspension tower was awarded in May 1901 18 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 which was completed in December 1902 19 Three workers had died while working on the Brooklyn side tower s caisson 20 A plan for the bridge was announced in early 1903 Elevated and trolley routes would use the Manhattan Bridge and there would be large balconies and enormous spaces within the towers anchorages 21 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 9 The foundations were completed in March 1904 9 A 10 million grant for the bridge s construction was granted in May 1904 with the expectation that work on the bridge would start later that year 22 The Municipal Art Commission raised objections to one of the bridge s plans in June 1904 which delayed the start of construction 23 Another set of plans was unveiled that month by New York City Bridge Commissioner Gustav Lindenthal in conjunction with Henry Hornbostel 24 The proposal also called for each of the suspension towers to be made of four columns to be braced transversely and hinged to 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 15 Additionally the towers would have contained Modern French detail while the anchorages would have been used for functions such as meeting halls 13 Lindenthal s plan was also rejected 25 due to a dispute over whether his plan which used eyebars was better than the more established practice of using wire cables 26 The Municipal Art Commission voted in September 1904 to use wire cables on the bridge 27 Lindenthal was ultimately dismissed and a new design was commissioned from Leon Moisseiff 2 13 George Best replaced Lindenthal as the city s bridge commissioner 13 28 and discarded the eyebar plans in favor of the wire cables 29 Hornbostel was replaced by Carrere and Hastings as architectural consultants 30 By late 1904 the disputes over the types of cables had delayed the contract for the bridge s superstructure composed of its towers and deck 31 The bridge s completion had been delayed by two years and its cost had increased by 2 million 29 The cable dispute was not fully resolved until 1906 when Best s successor James W Stevenson announced that the bridge would use wire cables 32 Anchorages towers and approach viaducts edit Best reviewed bids for the construction of the anchorages in December 1904 33 The Williams Engineering Company received the 2 million contract for the anchorages construction 34 Construction commenced on the Brooklyn anchorage in February 1905 and on the Manhattan anchorage that April 35 The foundation subcontractors excavated the foundations of each anchorage using sheet pilings 36 37 Barges were used to transport material from the East River to the anchorages sites 37 Mixers constructed the masonry for the anchorages at a rate of up to 550 cubic yards 420 m3 per day 38 During mid 1905 officials condemned land in Manhattan and Brooklyn for the bridge s approaches 39 the land acquisition was partially delayed because the contractors rented out houses that were supposed to be demolished 40 By the end of the year the city s bridge department was planning to erect streetcar terminal buildings at either end of the bridge 10 41 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 42 He began soliciting bids for the metalwork in July 1905 43 at which point the bridge was to use 44 000 short tons 39 000 long tons 40 000 t of metal 44 The Pennsylvania Steel Company received the contract in August 1905 after submitting a low bid of 7 248 million 45 and a competing bidder sued to prevent the contract from being awarded to Pennsylvania Steel 46 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 47 Although Best tried to appeal the Supreme Court s decision 48 the contract was re advertised anyway Pennsylvania Steel refused to submit another bid 49 When Stevenson became the bridge commissioner at the beginning of 1906 he ordered that new bridge specifications be created 50 Stevenson received bids for the steelwork in May 1906 49 51 and the Ryan Parker Construction Company received the contract the next month following delays caused by an injunction and threats of lawsuits 52 The Ryan Parker Company hired the Phoenix Bridge Company in September 1906 to fabricate the steelwork 53 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 54 The anchorages were less than half complete in part because of inclement weather and material shortages 36 That November the Board of Estimate and Apportionment approved 4 million for land acquisition in Manhattan and 300 000 for land acquisition in Brooklyn 55 By early 1907 the city had spent over 6 million on the bridge 56 the bridge s total cost was estimated at 20 million 57 To speed up the bridge s completion Manhattan borough president Bird Sim Coler considered implementing night shifts 58 By February 1907 the Phoenix Bridge Company was manufacturing steel faster than it could be installed 59 and the steel for the anchorages was done 60 The company had also begun fabricating beams for the towers 61 Land acquisition for an extension of Flatbush Avenue to the bridge began in March 62 and the first steel girders of the towers were lifted in place the next month 63 The first steel pedestals for the towers were installed on June 26 1907 64 65 The anchorages were nearly done by late 1907 they could not be completed until the cables were finished 66 The city government acquired land for the approaches in October 1907 this required the relocation of several hundred families in Brooklyn 67 and nearly 1 000 families in Manhattan 68 In total about 145 lots in Brooklyn and 173 lots in Manhattan were obtained for the bridge s approaches and plazas 69 Some Brooklyn residents requested additional time to relocate 67 Residents in the path of the Manhattan approach also protested efforts to evict them 70 though they were relocated at the beginning of December 1907 71 Later that month four companies submitted bids for the construction of the bridge s Manhattan and Brooklyn approach spans 72 John C Rodgers submitted a low bid of 2 17 million for the viaducts 73 and Stevenson requested that amount from the Board of Estimate 74 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 75 The Manhattan tower was finished that March 76 followed by the Brooklyn tower the next month 77 Land acquisition was nearly done by the middle of that year 69 Cables and deck edit nbsp The Manhattan Bridge under construction in March 1909Andrew McC Parker of the Ryan Parker Company had predicted in January 1908 that the cables would be strung within two months 78 The Roebling amp Sons Company started manufacturing the wires for the cables before the towers were finished 76 while the Glyndon Contracting Company was hired to lay the wires 79 80 Around 8 500 short tons 7 600 long tons 7 700 t of nickel steel wires were manufactured at the Carbon Steel Works in Pittsburgh 80 81 Workers began stringing temporary cables on June 15 1908 the first wire broke loose while it was being strung injuring two people 82 83 By this time the construction cost had increased to 22 million 84 The temporary cables supported temporary footbridges between each tower 85 which were completed in mid July 86 When the footbridges were finished workers installed guide wires 87 which were laid as continuous loops 79 Two guide wheels one at either end of each guide wire carried the main cables wires across the river between each anchorage 79 88 These wheels were powered by a motor atop the Brooklyn anchorage In addition reels of wire were stored at both ends of the bridge 79 The guide wheels laid up to 100 short tons 89 long tons 91 t of wire every day 81 The last wires for the main cables were strung in December 1908 89 That month the Board of Estimate and Apportionment hired engineer Ralph Modjeski to review the engineering drawings for the Manhattan Bridge 90 after the City Club of New York expressed concerns over the bridge s safety 91 Afterward the Glyndon Construction Company installed the vertical suspender cables 92 which were hung from the main cables 93 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 94 Around 60 million pounds 27 000 long tons 27 000 t of red steel girders and floor panels for the bridge s deck had been delivered to a yard in Bayonne New Jersey 95 The girders and panels were delivered to the bridge s site starting in February 1909 96 and the first floor panel in the main span was installed the same month 97 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 98 It took workers three weeks to install the floor panels 99 100 and the last panel was installed on April 7 1909 101 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 102 The trusses and side spans were built after the floor of the main span was completed 100 Carbon Steel began wrapping the main cables together in May 1909 103 the wrapping process required 140 short tons 120 long tons 130 t of wire and the company was able to wrap five to seven segments of cables per day 104 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 104 105 Workers then installed ornamentation on the tops of the towers and bronze collars on each of the main cables 104 Modjeski reported that September that the bridge was safe 106 107 At the time the plazas were incomplete and Flatbush Avenue Extension was unpaved 107 the bridge commissioner was razing buildings near the Manhattan plaza by that November 108 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 109 Opening and early history edit 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 110 One hundred prominent Brooklyn citizens walked over the bridge on December 4 1909 111 112 at the time the subway tracks were unfinished and there was uncertainty over which company would use the streetcar tracks 112 Outgoing mayor George B McClellan Jr toured the bridge on December 24 113 The span officially opened on December 31 1909 114 at a final cost of 26 million although work was still incomplete 115 Initially motorists had to pay a ten cent toll the same as the toll on the Brooklyn Bridge 116 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 117 A fire on the Brooklyn side damaged the bridge in early 1910 necessitating the replacement of some cables and steel 118 Though both of the Manhattan Bridge s footpaths were initially closed to the public the northern footpath opened in July 1910 119 the southern footpath was scheduled to be opened the next month 120 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 121 Tolls on the Manhattan Bridge as well as the Queensboro Williamsburg and Brooklyn bridges were abolished in July 1911 as part of a populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor 122 Streetcars began running across the bridge in September 1912 123 and the bridge s subway tracks opened in June 1915 124 By the mid 1910s a food market operated under the bridge 125 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 was awarded just over 300 000 in 1912 126 an amount that was increased to over 380 000 in 1916 127 After the bridge opened Carrere 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 128 The city s Municipal Art Commission approved a 700 000 plan for the bridge s Manhattan approach in April 1910 129 The final plans were approved in 1912 130 and construction began the same year 131 The city allocated 675 000 for a plaza at the Brooklyn end in March 1913 including a subway tunnel under the plaza 132 and the Northeastern Construction Company submitted the low bid for the plaza s construction 133 The arch and colonnade were completed in 1915 134 while the pylons on the Brooklyn side were installed in November 1916 128 135 The bridge approaches cost just over 1 53 million to construct 136 In an attempt to speed up automotive traffic in 1918 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 137 One of the two streetcar lines across the bridge was discontinued in 1919 138 1920s to 1940s edit nbsp View down Pike Street toward the Manhattan Bridge 1936 photograph by Berenice AbbottDuring late 1920 the bridge s roadway was used as a reversible lane between 7 am and 7 pm each day 139 this restriction caused heavy congestion 140 141 Grover Whalen the commissioner of Plant and Structures announced that September that he would request funding to repaint the bridge 141 The span was repainted during the next year at a cost of 240 000 142 Meanwhile the bridge was carrying 27 000 daily vehicles by the early 1920s 143 and one traffic judge said the lower deck was too narrow to accommodate the increasing traffic levels on the bridge 144 In March 1922 the city government started constructing the eastern upper deck roadway at a cost of 300 000 145 The roadway opened that June 145 146 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 147 Whalen said the restriction would allow both levels to be used to their full capacity 148 the decision ended up placing additional loads on the bridge 149 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 150 Motorists continued to use the Manhattan Bridge even after the Brooklyn Bridge reopened to motorists in 1925 contributing to heavy congestion during rush hours 151 At 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 152 When the lower level was repaved in early 1927 Manhattan bound traffic was temporarily banned from the lower level at night 153 That October Brooklyn borough president James J Byrne proposed replacing the Three Cent Line s trolley tracks with a roadway he estimated that it would cost 9 million to construct a brand new roadway while converting the trolley tracks would cost only 600 000 154 The comptroller approved the plan in September 1928 155 and the city formally voted to buy the Three Cent Line for just over 200 000 the following month 156 The Three Cent Line was discontinued in November 1929 157 The Three Cent Line tracks were replaced by the western upper deck roadway 158 Initially scheduled to be completed by July 1930 159 the roadway ultimately opened in June 1931 and carried Brooklyn bound traffic 158 160 The eastern upper deck roadway was converted to carry Manhattan bound traffic 160 and the center roadway was turned into a lane for buses and trucks 161 At the time nearly 65 000 vehicles used the bridge every day of which nearly a quarter were buses and trucks 160 A set of 119 streetlights were installed on the upper level the following year 162 To increase traffic flow both upper roadways were temporarily converted to reversible lanes during rush hours in 1934 163 the lower roadway was repaired 164 and the bridge was repainted the same year 165 The city s commissioner of plant and structures also requested 725 000 in federal funds for various repairs 166 During 1937 the city awarded a contract to repair the bridge s steelwork 167 and raised the railings on the upper roadways 168 The city government announced in 1938 that it would replace the lower deck s wooden pavement with a steel and concrete pavement 169 the repaving was completed that December 170 Simultaneously the railings on the upper roadways were raised again 171 nbsp View from the Manhattan Bridge toward Lower Manhattan in 1938As part of a Works Progress Administration project a ramp at the Brooklyn end of the bridge was widened in 1941 replacing a dangerous reverse curve 172 173 By then 90 000 vehicles a day used the span 173 An air raid siren was also installed on the bridge during World War II 174 By the mid 1940s the Brooklyn approach to the bridge was one of the most congested areas in New York City 175 1950s to 1970s edit The upper roadways were repaired during 1950 176 Similar repairs to the lower roadway were postponed until the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel opened as the Brooklyn Bridge was also being rebuilt around the same time 176 177 To ease congestion the Manhattan Bridge s western upper roadway began carrying Manhattan bound traffic during the morning in March 1950 178 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 179 180 Manhattan bound traffic stopped using 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 181 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 182 In addition the bridge carried nearly 79 000 cars 18 000 trucks and 200 buses on an average day 183 1950s repair project edit nbsp View from Washington Street BrooklynThe 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 184 A beam on the eastern side of the bridge cracked in April 1953 185 186 and was fixed within a month 187 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 188 189 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 190 191 while another plan called for the construction of an entirely new tunnel for subway trains 192 193 The administration of mayor Robert F Wagner tentatively approved a 30 million renovation of the bridge in July 1954 191 and a committee of engineers was hired to review alternate proposals for the bridge 193 Zurmuhlen said the bridge s safety would be compromised within the next decade if subway trains continued to use the bridge 194 By February 1955 the city had hired a contractor to repair the Manhattan Bridge s cable bands and hangers for 2 2 million 194 Before these repairs could begin engineers surveyed the bridge 195 When work on the cables began in June access to the western upper roadway was severely reduced 196 That September the eastern upper roadway was closed for repairs 197 the western upper roadway was used by Manhattan bound traffic during weekday mornings and carried two way traffic at other times 198 The bridge was temporarily closed to all traffic in November 1955 199 The eastern upper roadway was again closed during the midday in early 1956 for suspender cable repairs 200 and the whole span was closed during nights in June 1956 201 All lanes were again open by that August 202 The city had still not decided whether to move the subway tracks to the middle of the bridge even though that plan would have reduced strain on the cables Had the subway tracks been moved they would have been placed on two levels since the central roadway was too narrow for all four subway tracks to share a single level 203 Other modifications edit Plans for the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Brooklyn which was constructed in the 1950s included ramps to the Manhattan Bridge 204 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 205 The same year the city spent 50 000 on repairs after two boats collided on the East River causing an explosion that scorched the bridge 206 The city announced in 1959 that it would rebuild the upper roadways to accommodate trucks 207 The Karl Koch Engineering Company received a contract to rebuild the upper roadways 208 the project was planned to cost 6 377 million 208 209 The eastern upper roadway was closed for repairs in September 1960 the project also included fixing the lower deck and building ramps from the Brooklyn Queens Expressway 210 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 211 Work proceeded several months ahead of schedule 209 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 the bridge to new expressways The bridge would have linked the Lower Manhattan Expressway with the Brooklyn Queens Expressway 212 213 though the former was never built 214 The city s art commission delayed the demolition of the plazas 215 before ruling that the pylons in the Brooklyn plaza be relocated to the Brooklyn Museum or another suitable location 216 Wagner said in late 1962 that he would request 2 9 million to rebuild the approaches at both ends of the bridge 217 the work included a widening of an approach road at the bridge s Manhattan end 218 The pylons flanking the Brooklyn approach were moved to the Brooklyn Museum in 1963 135 The western upper roadway was closed for repairs for a year beginning in August 1969 219 Two of the lower roadway s lanes were closed for four months starting in November 1970 so workers could replace faulty joints 220 nbsp The deck and one of the towers as seen from ground levelIn 1970 the federal government enacted the Clean Air Act a series of federal air pollution regulations 221 As part of a plan by mayor John Lindsay and the federal Environmental Protection Agency 222 the city government considered implementing tolls on the four free East River bridges including the Manhattan Bridge in the early 1970s 223 224 The plan would have raised money for New York City s transit system 225 and allowed the city to meet the Clean Air Act 222 Abraham Beame who became mayor in 1974 refused to implement the tolls 226 and the United States Congress subsequently moved to forbid tolls on the free East River bridges 222 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 227 Late 20th and early 21st century renovation edit The weight of the subway trains had caused deep and widespread cracks to form in the bridge s floor beams 228 prompting the city government to replace 300 deteriorated beams during the late 1970s 229 The deck twisted up to 8 feet 2 4 m every time a train passed by 230 and trains had to slow down on the bridge 231 A New York Times reporter wrote that diagonal cable stays might eventually need to be installed 229 the city government also contemplated installing support towers under the side spans 232 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 233 The state government started inspecting the Manhattan Bridge and five others in 1978 234 The same year the United States Congress voted to allocate money to repair the bridge as well as several others in New York City 235 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 of both the roadways and subway tracks 235 1980s and 1990s edit By the early 1980s the New York City Department of Transportation NYCDOT planned to spend 100 million on bridge repairs 236 The New York City government allocated 10 1 million for preliminary work on the bridge in March 1982 237 and minor repair work started that year 238 Workers planned to install brackets and supports under the deck 239 The city received 60 million in federal funds for the renovations of the Queensboro Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges in 1985 240 and the first phase of repairs started that year 241 The eastern upper roadway was temporarily closed in April 1986 242 The north side subway tracks underneath the Manhattan bound roadway were also closed during this time 243 In December 1987 inspectors also shut one lane of the lower level due to a crack in the deck 244 The NYCDOT published a list of 17 structurally deficient bridges in the city Among them was the Manhattan Bridge which needed 166 million in repairs to fix cable anchors and torsion of steel members as subways cross 245 Repairs on the northern side of the Manhattan Bridge were complete by the end of 1988 241 and the subway tracks on the north side were reopened Simultaneous with the reopening of the north side the south side tracks were closed 246 In 1991 trucks were banned from the lower level because they were too heavy for the decaying bridge 247 Major repair work on the western side began in 1992 241 The Yonkers Construction Company was awarded a 97 8 million contract for the repair project in August 1992 248 City Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman originally denied the contract to the company because of concerns about corruption 249 but she was overridden by Mayor David Dinkins who wanted to complete repairs quickly 248 At the same time the NYCDOT increased the frequency of maintenance inspections for the bridge after inspectors found holes in beams that had been deemed structurally sound during previous inspections 250 The Brooklyn bound roadway on the upper level was closed from 1993 to 1996 so that side of the bridge could be repaired 251 The bridge repairs were repeatedly delayed as the renovation process uncovered more serious structural problems underlying 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 238 2000s edit 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 the time the NYCDOT had set a January 2004 deadline for the renovation 252 The eastern upper roadway was closed for a renovation starting in 2002 253 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 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 131 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 the structures and installing 258 floodlights 254 The original pedestrian walkway on the west side of the bridge was reopened in June 2001 having been closed for 20 years 255 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 was poorly signed leading to cyclist and pedestrian conflicts 256 By the time work on the bridge was completed in 2004 the final cost of the renovation totaled 800 million 179 The lower level roadway was then renovated between 2004 and 2008 257 Late 2000s to present edit nbsp Manhattan Bridge looking northeast from Murry Bergtraum High School Field in 2021To 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 258 In 2009 the bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers 259 An 834 million project to replace the Manhattan Bridge s suspension cables was announced in 2010 The work was scheduled to take two years 260 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 261 The same year 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 262 The Concord Street exit was again closed outside the afternoon rush hour in early 2016 263 After rubble was found in Brooklyn Bridge Park under the Brooklyn approach in 2018 Skanska was given a contract to repair parts of 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 264 265 For instance the spherical finials atop the suspension towers were replaced with cast iron copies 266 Description editThe bridge including approaches but excluding plazas is about 6 855 feet 2 089 m long 35 267 The bridge reaches a maximum height of 134 ft 40 8 m above mean high water at the middle of the river 268 The main span between the two suspension towers is 1 470 feet 450 m long 142 269 270 271 a The side spans between the anchorages and the suspension towers on either side are 725 feet 221 m long 269 270 When the bridge was built the Manhattan approach and plaza were quoted as being 2 510 feet 770 m long while the Brooklyn approach and plaza were quoted as measuring 2 370 feet 720 m long 69 The bridge s dead load is 25 000 pounds per square foot 120 000 kg m2 and its live load is 16 000 pounds per square foot 78 000 kg m2 272 The bridge was designed by Leon Moisseiff 2 13 The plans for Manhattan Bridge are sometimes mistakenly attributed to Gustav Lindenthal who was the city s bridge commissioner before he was fired in 1904 273 The steel was fabricated by the Phoenix Bridge Company 274 275 nbsp Cross section illustrating the bridge s lane layout looking northDeck edit 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 261 and four rapid transit subway tracks two under each of the upper roadways 276 Also on the lower level are a walkway on the south geographically facing west and a bikeway on the north side geographically facing east 277 Originally there were four streetcar tracks above the four rapid transit tracks 64 271 Although both levels could theoretically have accommodated either streetcars or elevated rapid transit 278 subways could use only the lower level because subway trains would have needed to climb an excessively steep slope to reach the upper level 10 The deck is 120 feet 37 m wide 271 As designed the lower level roadway was 34 feet 10 m 271 or 35 feet 11 m wide 272 279 280 The walkway and bikeway were each 10 feet 3 0 m 280 or 12 feet 3 7 m wide 272 279 The Manhattan bound eastern upper level roadway is 24 feet 7 3 m wide 146 while the Brooklyn bound western roadway is 22 5 feet 6 9 m wide 160 both roadways narrow to 19 feet 5 8 m at the anchorages 160 146 At the Brooklyn end of the south pathway a staircase leads to the intersection of Jay and High streets 255 Because the subway trains are on the outer edges of the deck this causes torsional stresses every time a train crossed the bridge 259 281 As built the bridge sagged by as much as 3 feet 0 91 m when a train crossed it 281 282 and it took about 30 seconds for the deck to return to its normal position after a train had passed 283 The Manhattan Bridge was the first suspension bridge to employ Josef Melan s deflection theory for deck stiffening 281 284 285 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 259 286 As such the Manhattan Bridge was the first suspension bridge in the world to use a lightly webbed weight saving Warren truss 259 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 279 280 or 26 feet 7 9 m deep 281 Each of the trusses is directly beneath one of the main cables 259 279 The centerlines of the inner trusses are 40 feet 12 m apart from each other while the centerline of each of the outer trusses is spaced 28 feet 8 5 m from the centerlines of the inner trusses 280 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 276 Towers edit The Manhattan Bridge s suspension towers measure 330 feet 100 m from the mean high water mark to the tops of the cables 279 287 the ornamental finials atop each tower are 350 feet 110 m above high water 272 b 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 287 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 270 The foundations of each tower consisting of the underwater section of each pier and a caisson below it descend 92 feet 28 m below mean high water 270 288 The caissons measure 78 by 144 feet 24 by 44 m across 270 287 They have concrete walls and contained a working chamber divided into three compartments 287 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 280 The towers are composed of four columns oriented transversely perpendicularly to the deck one each flanking the north and south roadways 64 270 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 270 The columns are braced by diagonal steel beams 64 65 A publication from 1904 wrote that the central parts of each tower were designed like 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 271 The towers contain little decorative detail except for spherical finials 267 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 289 Saddles carry the main cables above the tops of each suspension tower 64 78 Each saddle weighs 15 short tons 13 long tons 14 t 77 In contrast to the Williamsburg and Brooklyn bridges where the saddles are placed on movable rollers the saddles are fixed in place 64 78 as the towers themselves were intended to flex slightly to accommodate the strains placed on each cable 76 If the bridge was loaded to full capacity the tops of the towers could bend up to 25 inches 640 mm toward the center of the river 280 The steel beams also expanded by up to 0 75 inches 19 mm just sitting in the sun 98 Cables edit 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 267 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 the weight of the cables themselves 290 The cables measure either 20 75 inches 527 mm 87 21 inches 533 mm 271 272 or 21 25 inches 540 mm in diameter 280 Unlike the Williamsburg Bridge but like other suspension bridges the wires on the Manhattan Bridge s cables are galvanized to prevent rusting 272 279 Each cable consists of 9 472 parallel wires 272 269 280 c which are grouped into 37 strands of 256 wires 88 87 290 The wires measure 3 16 inch 4 8 mm across 87 280 290 The cables themselves are capable of resisting loads of up to 30 000 short tons 27 000 long tons 27 000 t 292 There are 1 400 vertical suspender cables which hang from the main cables and hold up the deck 92 They measure about 5 inches 130 mm in diameter 293 and weigh a total of 8 000 short tons 7 100 long tons 7 300 t 103 Each suspender can withstand up to 100 short tons per square inch 14 t cm2 of pressure 276 There are cable bands at the top of each suspender cable where they attach to the main cable 276 281 the suspenders are attached to the main cables using clamps 276 The lower parts of the suspender cables pass through the trusses 276 281 To reduce chafing on the lower parts of the suspender cables workers installed wooden buffers between the suspender cables and the trusses after the bridge was completed 281 Anchorages edit The cables are attached to stone anchorages on each side measuring 237 feet 72 m long 182 feet 55 m wide and 135 feet 41 m tall 270 288 Each anchorage weighs 233 000 short tons 208 000 long tons 211 000 t and is filled with 115 000 cubic feet 3 300 m3 of concrete and rubble masonry 270 288 292 Inside the anchorages are 36 anchor bars nine for each cable The ends of each strand are attached to the anchor bars which in turn are attached to eyebars measuring 110 feet 34 m long 270 There are 37 eyebars connecting each cable to the anchor bars distributing the loads on the cables across a larger area 292 The anchorages were intentionally wider than the deck providing space for pedestrians to rest 179 294 these pedestrian areas are 120 feet 37 m above the ground 294 The facade of each anchorage is made of concrete 270 and is topped by a colonnade measuring 40 feet 12 m long 295 Each colonnade is divided vertically into five bays 296 The arches and colonnades are the only decorative elements of each anchorage 297 Early proposals for the anchorages called for them to include auditoriums but this proposal was never executed 294 In a 1909 article for the Architectural Record architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler described the anchorages as having an aspect of Egyptian immobility 179 298 and another author in 2006 similarly compared the anchorages to vast battered Egyptian masses 269 At the base of the Manhattan anchorage is an arch measuring 46 feet 14 m wide and 46 feet tall 37 through which Cherry Street passes 37 295 Water Street passes through a similar arch in Brooklyn 295 296 The intersection of Adams and Water streets had to be relocated to make way for the Brooklyn anchorage 66 The archway under the Brooklyn anchorage contains a 7 000 square foot 650 m2 public plaza 299 The sides of the anchorages have large buttresses that slope upward 296 Approach plazas edit Carrere and Hastings designed approach plazas on both ends of the bridge At the time of the bridge s opening these plazas were meant to conceal views of the Manhattan Bridge from the streets on either end 128 267 The Manhattan plaza connects directly with Canal Street and the Bowery while the Brooklyn end of the bridge continues as Flatbush Avenue which in turn intersects several other roads at Prospect Park 300 The city paid Carl Augustus Heber Charles Cary Rumsey and Daniel Chester French a combined 41 000 equivalent to 1 103 000 in 2022 to design sculptures around the approach plazas 212 Arch and colonnade edit nbsp The Beaux Arts triumphal arch and colonnade at the Manhattan entranceIn Manhattan the bridge terminates at a plaza originally bounded by the Bowery and Bayard Division Forsyth and Canal streets 9 This plot covered 400 by 750 feet 120 by 230 m 131 301 The arch and colonnade were completed within this plaza in 1915 134 they surround an elliptical plaza facing northwest toward the Bowery 301 Design edit The arch and colonnade are made of white fine grained Hallowell granite 301 302 They are decorated with two groups of allegorical sculptures by Heber and a frieze called Buffalo Hunt by Rumsey 303 131 134 304 The design of the arch and colonnade reference the fact that the Manhattan Bridge continues into Brooklyn as Flatbush Avenue which runs south to the Atlantic Ocean The arch thus signified the Manhattan Bridge s role as an ocean gateway 303 The plaza was influenced by the New York Improvement Plan of 1907 which sought to create plazas and other open spaces at large intersections a massive circular plaza connecting the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges was never built 303 The arch was based on Paris s Porte Saint Denis 131 128 267 It is one of the city s three remaining triumphal arches the others being the Washington Square Arch and the Soldiers and Sailors Arch 267 303 The arch s opening measures 36 feet 11 m high and 40 feet 12 m wide 301 267 303 On the northern side of the arch the opening is flanked by carvings of classical ships masks shields and oak leaves 302 The western pier contains the sculptural group Spirit of Commerce depicting a winged woman flanked by two figures The eastern pier contains Spirit of Industry depicting the god Mercury flanked by two figures 304 The arch s keystone contains a depiction of a bison Above is the Buffalo Hunt frieze which depicts Native Americans hunting animals while on horseback 305 303 The relief is topped by dentils and egg and dart ornamentation 306 The cornice of the arch contains modillions as well as six lion heads 306 303 The interior of the arch contains a coffered ceiling 267 There are rosettes on the arch s soffit The southern side of the arch facing Brooklyn is less ornately decorated but has rusticated stone blocks indicative of a Parisian or Florentine bank 131 On the southern side there are decorations of carved lions at the bases of each pier 307 The colonnade and plaza was modeled after the one surrounding St Peter s Square in Vatican City 131 128 267 307 The colonnade is elliptical and rises to 38 feet 12 m It is supported by six pairs of 31 foot 9 4 m Tuscan columns on either side with each pair of columns flanking rusticated piers inside the colonnade 308 301 267 Above each column is a stone with a classical motif such as a boat or a cuirass 307 There is an entablature above the columns as well as a cornice and balustrade at the top of the colonnade 308 301 267 The entablature contains roundels with floral motifs 307 The arch and colonnade were initially surrounded by granite retaining walls that contained decorative balustrades surrounding parkland on either side of the arch and colonnade 131 301 Only a small segment of parkland remains at Canal and Forsyth streets while the south side of the park became Confucius Plaza 131 Reception and modifications edit nbsp The Brooklyn Plaza of the bridge c 1917 Nassau Street is across the foreground The Brooklyn Bridge is visible in the left background and the Williamsburg Bridge in the right background American Architect and Architecture described the arch and colonnade in 1912 as worthy of one of the principal gateways of a great modern city 301 The arch and colonnade were described as a complete dignified and monumental ensemble worthy of one of the principal gateways of a great modern city in a New York Times article 131 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote The Manhattan Bridge will he not only something to get across the East River upon but the sight of it will be a joy even to those who have no occasion to cross it 307 309 According to The Christian Science Monitor the plaza s presence has turned a section of the East Side in one of its most squalid parts into a veritable park where children can find on summer evenings a clean open place amid surroundings that will be in many ways the equal of any in New York 136 From the bridge s completion the arch was heavily used by vehicular traffic 310 When the second Madison Square Garden was being demolished in 1925 there was a proposal to relocate the arena s statue of Diana to the arch but this dd not happen 311 Part of the colonnade s eastern arm was removed and replaced in the 1970s for the construction of the incomplete Second Avenue Subway 312 308 The arch and colonnade were designated a New York City landmark on November 25 1975 313 After many years of neglect and several attempts by traffic engineers to remove the structure including a proposal for the unbuilt Lower Manhattan Expressway that would have required removing the arch the arch and colonnade were repaired and restored in 2000 134 314 Brooklyn plaza edit The Brooklyn approach to the Manhattan Bridge also contained a terraced plaza with balustrades 307 The Brooklyn plaza was originally bounded by Sands Bridge Nassau and Jay streets 9 French designed a pair of 20 short ton 18 long ton 18 t pylons named Brooklyn and Manhattan on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge These were installed in November 1916 128 135 267 Each pylon measured 12 feet 3 7 m high and rested on a base 15 feet 4 6 m off the ground 315 316 The statues on each pylon represented French s impressions of life in each borough The Brooklyn pylon depicted a young woman with a child and symbols of art and progress while the Manhattan pylon depicted a seated upright woman with symbols of art and prosperity There were granite railings and walkways at the base of either pylon 315 A bas relief memorializing former mayor William Jay Gaynor was dedicated at the bridge s Brooklyn plaza in 1927 317 it was relocated in 1939 to the nearby Brooklyn Bridge Plaza 318 The pylons were relocated to the Brooklyn Museum in 1963 135 The pylons never constituted a true portal even when they were in place Following their removal the Brooklyn approach did not contain a formal entrance 267 Exits and entrances edit Access to the Manhattan Bridge is provided by a series of ramps on both the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides of the river BoroughLocationmi 319 kmDestinationsNotesBrooklynBrooklyn Heights0 00 0Flatbush Avenue ExtensionContinuation south0 10 16Nassau StreetNorthbound upper level entrance and southbound upper level exit0 20 32 nbsp I 278 Brooklyn Queens Expressway Triboro Bridge Staten IslandNorthbound upper level entrance only0 20 32Jay Street to nbsp I 278 Brooklyn Queens Expressway Triboro Bridge Staten IslandSouthbound upper level exit onlyEast River0 4 1 00 64 1 6Suspension spanManhattanChinatown1 32 1BowerySlip ramp from northbound Bowery to northbound upper level1 42 3Bowery and Canal Street to nbsp FDR Drive Holland TunnelNorthbound lower level exit and southbound upper level entrance at grade intersectionChrystie Street to nbsp FDR Drive Holland Tunnel Canal Street westContinuation of northbound upper level1 000 mi 1 609 km 1 000 km 0 621 miProposed I 478 designation edit As early as the 1940s there had been plans for an expressway running across Manhattan connecting with the bridge 320 As part of the Interstate Highway System the I 478 route number was proposed in 1958 for a branch of the Lower Manhattan Expressway running along the Manhattan Bridge 321 This highway would have run between I 78 which would have split to another branch that used the Williamsburg Bridge and I 278 322 The state government solicited bids for a ramp connecting the expressway to the bridge s Manhattan end in 1965 323 The Lower Manhattan Expressway project was canceled in March 1971 214 and the I 478 designation was applied to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel 324 A fragment of the never built expressway s onramp still exists above the Manhattan side of the bridge s center roadway 325 Public transportation editThe bridge was originally intended to carry four Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company BRT later Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT subway tracks on the lower level as well as four trolley tracks on the upper level The trolley tracks were carried around the Manhattan side s colonnade while the subway tracks did not emerge from street level until south of the colonnade 301 310 Streetcar and bus service edit Before the bridge opened the BRT and the Coney Island and Brooklyn Rail Road CI amp B both submitted bids to run streetcar service on the bridge 326 as did the Triborough Railroad Company 327 The Manhattan Bridge Three Cent Line received a permit to operate across the bridge in July 1910 despite opposition from the BRT and CI amp B 328 The Three Cent Line still had not begun operating by 1911 when another firm the Manhattan Bridge Service Company applied for a franchise to operate streetcars across the bridge 329 After a subcommittee of the Board of Estimate recommended that the Brooklyn and North River Line receive a franchise 330 both the Three Cent Line and the Brooklyn and North River Line received franchises to operate across the bridge in mid 1912 331 Due to disputes over the franchises the Three Cent Line did not run across the bridge until September 1912 it carried passengers between either of the bridge s terminals 123 The Brooklyn and North River Line began operating in December 1915 332 and a bus route started running across the bridge after the Brooklyn and North River Railroad Company stopped operating streetcars across the bridge in October 1919 138 The Three Cent Line trolley was discontinued in November 1929 157 and replaced by a bus 333 A tour bus service Culture Bus Loop II began running across the bridge in 1973 334 and was discontinued in 1982 335 The B51 bus began running across the bridge in 1985 as part of an pilot program 336 the route was discontinued in 2010 337 As of 2024 update no MTA Regional Bus Operations routes use the bridge 338 Subway service edit Four subway tracks are located on the lower deck of the bridge two on each side of the lower roadway The two tracks on the west side of the bridge known as the south tracks are used by the Q train at all times and the N train at all times except late nights when it uses the Montague Street Tunnel The tracks on the east side known as the north tracks are used by the D train at all times and the B train on weekdays 339 On the Manhattan side the south tracks connect to Canal Street and become the express tracks of the BMT Broadway Line while the north tracks connect to the Chrystie Street Connection through Grand Street and become the express tracks on the IND Sixth Avenue Line On the Brooklyn side the two pairs merge under Flatbush Avenue to a large junction with the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and BMT Brighton Line at DeKalb Avenue 340 In Brooklyn the tracks have always connected to the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and the BMT Brighton Line the junction between the lines was reconstructed in the 1950s 341 On the Manhattan side the two north tracks originally connected to the BMT Broadway Line where the south tracks now connect while the two south tracks curved south to join the BMT Nassau Street Line towards Chambers Street 340 As a result of the Chrystie Street Connection which linked the north tracks to the Sixth Avenue Line upon completion in 1967 342 the Nassau Street connection was severed 340 There were also unbuilt plans in the 1960s to have Long Island Rail Road trains use the subway tracks 343 Trackage history edit nbsp A Manhattan bound D train of R68 cars crosses the bridge on the north tracksThe New York City Rapid Transit Commission recommended the construction of a subway line across the Manhattan Bridge in 1905 344 and this line was approved in 1907 as part of the Nassau Street Loop 345 Unsuccessful proposals for rapid transit across the bridge included a two track line for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company 346 and a two track extension of a four track BRT elevated line 347 The New York City Public Service Commission requested permission to start constructing the subway tracks in March 1909 348 Amid financial difficulties and uncertainty over what subway lines would connect to the bridge in Brooklyn 349 the subway tracks were approved in May 1909 350 The subway tracks on the Manhattan Bridge opened on June 22 1915 along with the Fourth Avenue Line and the Sea Beach Line 124 Initially the north tracks carried trains to Midtown Manhattan via the Broadway Line while the south tracks carried Sea Beach trains that terminated at Chambers Street 351 When the Nassau Street Loop was completed on May 29 1931 service on the south tracks declined 352 and traffic disproportionately used the north tracks 186 282 Trains from the Sea Beach Brighton and West End lines used the north tracks while the south tracks were used only by short turning trains from the West End and Culver lines 186 Approximately three times as many trains were using the north tracks than the south tracks by 1953 188 and 92 percent of subway trains used the north tracks by 1956 353 The Chrystie Street Connection opened on November 26 1967 with a connection to the north tracks 354 the south tracks were rerouted to the Broadway Line while the Nassau Line was disconnected from the bridge 340 Repairs to the tracks commenced in August 1983 355 requiring closures of some subway tracks for three months 356 Further repairs occurred in 1985 357 The north tracks were closed for a longer term repair in April 1986 243 The north tracks were reopened and the south tracks were closed simultaneously in December 1988 246 After an 18 month delay for procuring contracts service on the south tracks resumed in December 1990 despite warnings the structure was unsafe 358 359 they had to be closed again after the discovery of corroded support beams and missing steel plates 358 In the aftermath of the dispute two city officials were fired 360 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 361 They found that the NYCDOT and MTA s lack of cooperation contributed significantly to the deteriorating conditions 362 233 A projection for a reopening date was initially made for 1995 363 That year the north tracks were closed during off peak hours for six months The south tracks finally reopened on July 22 2001 whereby the north tracks were again closed 364 The south tracks was closed on weekends from April to November 2003 On February 22 2004 the north tracks were reopened 365 Tracks used edit 1967 1986 Service Time period Tracks usedWeekdays Weekends Late nights nbsp north no service nbsp north no service nbsp north nbsp south no service nbsp nbsp south no service1986 1988 North tracks closed Service Time period Tracks usedWeekdays Weekends Late nights nbsp south no service nbsp south nbsp no service south nbsp south no service1988 2001 South tracks closed Service Time period Tracks usedWeekdays Weekends Late nights nbsp north no service nbsp north nbsp north no service 2001 2004 North tracks closed Service Time period Tracks usedWeekdays Weekends Late nights nbsp south nbsp south no service nbsp south no service2013 2014 Montague Street Tunnel closed 366 Service Time period Tracks usedWeekdays Weekends Late nights nbsp north no service nbsp north nbsp south nbsp south nbsp no service south no service2004 2013 and 2014 Present Service Time period Tracks usedWeekdays Weekends Late nights nbsp north no service nbsp north nbsp south no service nbsp southImpact editWhen the Manhattan Bridge was being developed the Brooklyn Standard Union described it as of greater capacity than either the Williamsburg or Brooklyn bridges yet lighter and more artistic 279 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle predicted that the bridge s completion would spur the redevelopment of residential areas in Downtown Brooklyn 367 and the New York Tribune said that warehouses would be developed in Lower Manhattan when the Manhattan Bridge opened 368 The bridge s opening significantly reduced patronage on several ferry lines that had traveled between Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn 369 One local civic group predicted that large numbers of Jewish residents would move from Manhattan s Lower East Side to Brooklyn as a result of the bridge s opening 370 These included numerous Jewish families displaced by the bridge s construction 371 In addition numerous industrial and factory buildings were built around the bridge s Brooklyn approach in the 1910s 372 Some of the land under the bridge s approaches was leased out 373 for example a Chinese theater was built under the Manhattan approach in the 1940s 374 and a shopping mall was built there in the 1980s 375 The area under the Brooklyn approach became known as Dumbo short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass in the late 20th century 376 and became an upscale residential neighborhood by the 2010s 377 In the two decades following the Manhattan Bridge s completion few bridges with longer spans were constructed 284 Nonetheless the use of the deflection theory enabled the construction of longer suspension bridges in the early 20th century 259 Two of the world s largest suspension bridge spans built in the 1930s the Golden Gate Bridge and the George Washington Bridge incorporated deflection theory into their designs 285 The bridge was the subject of American artist Edward Hopper s 1928 painting Manhattan Bridge Loop 378 Gallery edit nbsp The full span with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground nbsp Cross section of the bridge nbsp Manhattan bound lower level nbsp One of the pedestrian walkways nbsp Bikeway in ManhattanSee also editPortals nbsp Engineering nbsp National Register of Historic Places nbsp New York state nbsp New York City nbsp Transport List of bridges and tunnels in New York City List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street National Register of Historic Places listings in Brooklyn National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th StreetReferences editNotes edit One source gives an alternate measurement of 1 480 feet 450 m 3 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote in 1908 that the tops of the towers were 322 5 feet 98 3 m high and that the finials were 340 feet 100 m high 76 The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission gives a height of 336 feet 102 m 269 One source gives a figure as low as 321 feet 98 m 283 This is incorrectly cited in one New York Tribune article as 4 972 wires 291 Another article from the same newspaper gives a calculation of 37 strands each with 256 wires for a total of 9 472 wires 290 Other sources corroborate the 9 472 wire figure 88 Citations edit NYC DOT Bridges amp Tunnels Annual Condition Report 2015 PDF City of New York a b c d e f g h Manhattan Bridge at Structurae a b Jackson Donald C 1988 Great American Bridges and Dams Wiley p 136 ISBN 0 471 14385 5 a b Manhattan Bridge Opened to Traffic Mayor McClellan s Last Act in Public Was to Lead a Procession on Wheels Across Brooklyn Men Celebrate New Structure Has the Largest Carrying Capacity of Any Crossing the River The Span Is 1 470 Feet PDF The New York Times January 1 1910 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 NYC DOT Data feeds New York City Department of Transportation 2019 NYC Bridge amp Screenline Traffic Volumes Dashboard Retrieved May 21 2022 National Register Information System National Register of Historic Places National Park Service November 2 2013 Cultural Resource Information System CRIS New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation November 7 2014 Retrieved July 20 2023 a b Aldermen s Lively War New East River Bridges Named by the Board Commissioner Woodbury Attacked and His Resolution for a Brooklyn Deputy Lost The Chairman Denounced PDF The New York Times March 19 1902 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 a b c d e Manhattan Bridge Ready by January Builders Rushing Work on Fourth River Span Between Manhattan and Long Island The New York Times June 6 1909 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 10 2024 a b c New Bridge Terminals Buildings on Manhattan Side Will Cost More Than 1 000 000 Proposed Terminals of the New Manhattan Bridge New York Tribune November 29 1905 p 4 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 571667503 Terminals of the Manhattan Bridge Railroad Gazette Vol 39 no 22 December 1 1905 p 510 ProQuest 571667503 Manhattan Bridge PDF The New York Times June 19 1904 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 Manhattan Bridge PDF The New York Times December 9 1905 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 a b c d e Stern Gilmartin amp Massengale 1983 p 51 The New Manhattan Bridge A Bridge Beautiful As Well As Useful Architects and Builder s Magazine Vol 36 no 12 September 1904 pp 547 554 a b Architects and Builders Magazine 1904 p 548 Mayor Chafes at Delay on Bridge The Standard Union January 18 1901 p 2 Retrieved December 18 2023 Bids On Bridge No 3 All the Propositions for Building Tower Foundations Will Be Rejected PDF The New York Times March 26 1901 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 Bridge Contract Awarded The Standard Union May 6 1901 p 1 Retrieved January 10 2024 Engineering Record Building Record and Sanitary Engineer 1904 p 334 Work in the Caisson of Third East River Bridge Death of Three Laborers Employed in Making Foundations for the Brooklyn Tower Causes Contractors to Desist from Their Attempt to Reach the Actual Rock Bottom PDF The New York Times February 22 1903 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 Plans for Third Bridge The Manhattan to be Ornamental as Well as Useful Halls in Anchorages to be Larger Than Cooper Union Auditorium Globular Lights on High Pinnacles PDF The New York Times February 4 1903 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 Grants 10 000 000 for World s Biggest Bridge Board of Estimate Authorizes Expenditure for Manhattan Span Aldermen Will Act Next Week Work on Superstructure Will Begin July 1 Will Be Finished in 1909 Most Capacious Bridge on Earth PDF The New York Times May 7 1904 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 Manhattan Bridge PDF The New York Times June 25 1904 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 Manhattan Bridge Plans Lindenthal Design Promises Structure of Lasting Credit to City letter PDF The New York Times June 30 1904 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 Manhattan Bridge Plans PDF The New York Times July 14 1904 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 Lindenthal Objects to Wire Gable Plan Should Not Be Used on Manhattan Bridge Warns Art Commission Says New Plan Would Cost More Would Make Bridge Less Rigid and Be Inferior in Many Ways PDF The New York Times July 14 1904 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 Wire Cables Approved for the New Bridge Only One Vote of Art Commission Against Best s Plan New York Tribune September 16 1904 p 4 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 571602354 Adopts Wire Cables for Manhattan Bridge Art Commission Sustains Commissioner Best Turns Down Eye Bar Plan John De Witt Warner Protests Against Action Bids to be Advertised For at Once PDF The New York Times September 16 1904 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 National Park Service 1983 p 3 a b Roeblings Win Again Big Hole in Contract Contractors May Take Their Own Time City Helpless New York Tribune September 15 1905 p 2 Retrieved January 11 2024 Stern Gilmartin amp Massengale 1983 pp 51 52 Manhattan Bridge Delay The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 8 1904 p 3 Retrieved January 11 2024 Eye bar Advocates Fail to Appear Manhattan Bridge Cables to Be of Wire Says Commissioner Stevenson New York Tribune March 24 1906 p 4 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 571786490 Biggest of River Bridges Should Be Open in 1910 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle April 10 1906 p 5 Retrieved January 12 2024 Bridge Anchorage Bids The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 25 1904 p 42 Retrieved January 11 2024 Tammany Firm s Big Plum The New York Times February 16 1905 p 6 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 11 2024 a b Manhattan Bridge Is Seen as Monument to M Clellan Former Mayor of New York The Standard Union June 18 1931 p 15 Retrieved January 11 2024 a b Pushing Work on Anchorage The Standard Union July 9 1906 p 3 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b c d Ripley 1907 p 204 Ripley 1907 p 205 Making Good Progress in Condemnation of Land The Brooklyn Citizen May 6 1905 p 2 Retrieved January 11 2024 Why New Bridge Waits The New York Times March 30 1905 p 7 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 12 2024 On Bridge 3 Approaches Some Houses Are Rented The Brooklyn Daily Eagle March 29 1905 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 The Manhattan Bridge Terminals PDF The New York Times December 20 1905 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2017 To Advertise by May 1 Plans for Bridge No 3 The Brooklyn Citizen February 20 1905 p 2 Retrieved January 11 2024 Bids for Manhattan Bridge New York Tribune July 23 1905 p 5 Retrieved January 11 2024 New Bridge Plans Ready The New York Times July 23 1905 p 12 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 11 2024 Steel for Manhattan Bridge Greater New York Wants Nearly 44 000 Tons The Wall Street Journal July 21 1905 p 5 ISSN 0099 9660 ProQuest 129000387 Retrieved January 11 2024 Prison Commission Named To Consider New Sites and Plans to Abolish Sing Sing and Auburn The New York Times August 16 1905 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 11 2024 Contract for 7 284 000 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle August 16 1905 p 16 Retrieved January 11 2024 Suit to Enjoin Mr Best Will Be Heard on Sept 6 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle August 17 1905 p 3 Retrieved January 11 2024 More Trouble for Bridge Department The Standard Union August 18 1905 p 5 Retrieved January 11 2024 Court Holds Up Work on Manhattan Bridge Contract with Pennsylvania Steel Company Declared Illegal The New York Times November 22 1905 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 11 2024 Manhattan Bridge Contract Enjoined The Evening World November 21 1905 p 2 Retrieved January 11 2024 Appeals Bridge Contract City Hopes to Give the Work to the Pennsylvania Steel Company The New York Times December 8 1905 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 11 2024 Best to Appeal Contract The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 7 1905 p 1 Retrieved January 11 2024 a b Topics in New York Lassoed Would be Suicide Who Leaped From a Boat Steel for the New Bridge Pennsylvania Steel Co Refuses to Enter Competition for the Manhattan Span s Superstructure The Sun May 8 1906 p 5 ProQuest 537167327 Will Include Eye bars in Bridge Specifications The Brooklyn Daily Eagle January 3 1906 p 10 Retrieved January 12 2024 Manhattan Bridge Contract Lowest Bid on Big New York Structure Was 6 493 223 The Washington Post May 8 1906 p 9 ISSN 0190 8286 ProQuest 144643797 Bridge Bids Opened Ryan Parker Company Offers Lowest Figures for Steel Work New York Tribune May 8 1906 p 12 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 571832220 Manhattan Bridge Contract Awarded The Standard Union June 16 1906 p 1 Retrieved January 11 2024 Manhattan Bridge Work Begun New York Tribune June 17 1906 p 5 Retrieved January 11 2024 Manhattan Bridge The Wall Street Journal September 1 1906 p 5 ISSN 0099 9660 Retrieved January 12 2024 Manhattan Bridge Work Pushed by Phoenixville Steel Mills The Brooklyn Daily Eagle February 17 1907 p 50 Retrieved January 12 2024 Millions for New Bridge Approaches The Wall Street Journal November 24 1906 p 7 ISSN 0099 9660 ProQuest 129105464 To Acquire Approaches The Brooklyn Citizen November 23 1906 p 2 Retrieved January 12 2024 Cost of the Third Bridge The Brooklyn Citizen February 6 1907 p 12 Retrieved January 12 2024 Panama Outdone in New York The Sun April 7 1907 p 38 Retrieved January 12 2024 To Hurry Bridge Work Coler Wants to Know if Night Shifts Can Be Used on Manhattan New York Tribune February 2 1907 p 3 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 571947857 Favors Union Square Site for Court House Board of Estimate Likely to Accept Commission s Report The New York Times February 2 1907 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 12 2024 Manhattan Bridge Steel Times Union February 21 1907 p 10 Retrieved January 12 2024 Extra Shifts Required on Manhattan Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle February 14 1907 p 3 Retrieved January 12 2024 First Completed Section of Manhattan Bridge Tower The Brooklyn Daily Eagle February 19 1907 p 23 Retrieved January 12 2024 To Cut a Wide Swath in Brooklyn s Heart The Brooklyn Citizen March 3 1907 p 13 Retrieved January 12 2024 Setting Up the Towers for the Manhattan Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle April 5 1907 p 25 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b c d e f Real Work Begins on New Bridge To day The Brooklyn Daily Eagle June 26 1907 p 20 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b Manhattan Bridge Work Times Union June 26 1907 p 12 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b New Bridge Approach Changes in Brooklyn in Preparation for Manhattan Structure New York Tribune September 8 1907 p B6 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 571995180 a b City s Tenants to Beg for Extension of Time The Brooklyn Daily Eagle November 13 1907 p 5 Retrieved January 12 2024 1 000 Families Must Move The Sun October 29 1907 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b c Manhattan Bridge Clearing Ground for the Approaches Almost Completed New York Tribune August 2 1908 p C7 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572045467 Put Off Moving Day Tenants in Condemned Buildings Oppose Wreckers New York Tribune November 25 1907 p 4 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 571981215 Tenants Won t Move The New York Times November 25 1907 p 16 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 12 2024 Tenements Give Way to New Bridge Last Moving Day for Tenants Along the Line of the Manhattan s Approach The New York Times December 3 1907 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 12 2024 New Bridge Approaches The Wall Street Journal December 10 1907 p 7 ISSN 0099 9660 ProQuest 129028537 Opens Bids for Steel on Manhattan Bridge The Standard Union December 12 1907 p 10 Retrieved January 12 2024 Approaches for New Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 17 1907 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 To Finish 3d Bridge by 1910 Is the Plan The Brooklyn Citizen December 17 1907 p 10 Retrieved January 12 2024 The Manhattan Bridge May Be Ready in Two Years The Brooklyn Daily Eagle January 9 1908 p 28 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b c d Towers Quickly Built for Manhattan Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle March 21 1908 p 2 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b Last Saddle in Place on New Bridge Tower The Brooklyn Daily Eagle April 28 1908 p 3 Retrieved January 12 2024 New Bridge Towers Practically Completed The Standard Union April 28 1908 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b c About to String Cables New York Tribune January 22 1908 p 5 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572009250 To String Cables March 1 The Brooklyn Citizen January 23 1908 p 7 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b c d Cable Hauling on the New Manhattan Bridge Railroad Age Gazette Vol 45 no 16 September 18 1908 pp 946 947 ProQuest 882958340 a b Manhattan Bridge Steel a High Grade Product The Brooklyn Daily Eagle September 27 1908 p 11 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b Pushing Work on Manhattan Bridge The Standard Union October 17 1908 p 10 Retrieved January 12 2024 First New Bridge Link Temporary Cable Strung Between Manhattan Structure s Towers New York Tribune June 16 1908 p 3 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572056742 Another Aerial Link Across the East River The Brooklyn Daily Eagle June 15 1908 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 Bridge Cable Falls Injuring Two Men Lashing End Strikes Them as Heavy Wire Spins Over Top of Tower Runaway Hits a Horse Too Workmen Capture It Just in Time to Save It from Slipping Full Length Into the River PDF The New York Times June 17 1908 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 New Bridge Towers Joined First Rope of Temporary Cable for Manhattan Structure Hits a Schooner PDF The New York Times June 16 1908 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 During the next fortnight sixteen steel wire ropes will be stretched across the East River They will be passed over the towers and after being bound together in four cables will be cleated to the anchorages From the four cables temporary foot bridges will be suspended Then the record breaking 21 inch permanent cables will be strung Preparing to Lay Cables on Manhattan Bridge The Standard Union July 8 1908 p 3 Retrieved January 12 2024 Footpath Building Rapid New York Tribune July 9 1908 p 5 Retrieved January 12 2024 Workmen Now May Walk From Manhattan to Brooklyn Across New Manhattan Bridge Detroit Free Press July 19 1908 p 2 ProQuest 564190408 a b c d To Stretch Guide Wires for New Bridge Cables The Brooklyn Citizen July 31 1908 p 2 Retrieved January 12 2024 Manhattan Bridge Work Times Union July 31 1908 p 10 Retrieved January 12 2024 To Spin First Cable Within a Few Days The Standard Union July 31 1908 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b c Working at a Dizzy Height The Sun August 2 1908 p 28 Retrieved January 12 2024 Last Wire Over River Record on New Bridge Mayor Presides at Ceremony on Manhattan Structure New York Tribune December 11 1908 p 3 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572203060 Last Wire Is Strung for Our Biggest Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 10 1908 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 Mayor Completes Last Bridge Strand Pulls a Lever Which Spins It on Its Journey on the Great Manhattan Structure Workmen Make a Record When Completed It Will Be the Largest Bridge of Its Kind in the World PDF The New York Times December 11 1908 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 Bridge Expert Hired for Manhattan Span Ralph Modjeski Rebuilder of the Quebec Bridge Coming Here New York Tribune December 12 1908 p 14 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572215430 Mayor Answers Folks The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 11 1908 p 2 Retrieved January 12 2024 New Manhattan Bridge Test for Strength Ordered The Evening World December 11 1908 p 6 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b Cables About Finished Rushing New Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle January 31 1909 p 11 Retrieved January 12 2024 New Manhattan Bridge Showing Suspender Cables Outlining Bridge Structure New York Tribune February 5 1909 p 3 Retrieved January 12 2024 No Vehicles May Cross New Manhattan Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle January 27 1909 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 Steel for Manhattan Bridge 60 000 000 Pounds Now Stored in Bayonne The New York Times February 28 1909 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 10 2024 Steel for Bridge at New York The Christian Science Monitor February 16 1909 p 5 ISSN 0882 7729 ProQuest 507919377 Fast Work on New Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle February 11 1909 p 2 Retrieved January 10 2024 Engineers Assured Lock Plan Will Fail H G Granger Attacks President s Board and the Report in Favor of Lock Canal The New York Times February 25 1909 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 10 2024 Flooring of New Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle February 25 1909 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 Manhattan Bridge Done for New Year The Evening World February 25 1909 p 6 Retrieved January 10 2024 a b Laying Bridge Floor Girders Are Being Buttoned to Manhattan Structure s Suspenders New York Tribune March 21 1909 p A8 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572236963 Retrieved January 12 2024 To Join Manhattan Bridge Arms New York Tribune April 3 1909 p 3 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572139521 Big Bridge Spans Near Completion Engineers Expect to Close the Gaps on Manhattan Bridge This Week Record Job in 22 Days Perfect Scale Balance Maintained in Extending the Steel Structure from Each Side of the Towers PDF The New York Times April 4 1909 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 a b Only 36 Feet to Go The Brooklyn Daily Eagle April 5 1909 p 1 Retrieved January 12 2024 Manhattan Span Steel Floor Laid The Christian Science Monitor April 8 1909 p 4 ISSN 0882 7729 ProQuest 507935457 River Spanned Again Last Floor Section of New Manhattan Bridge in Place Putting the First Connecting Girder of the Manhattan Bridge in Place Yesterday New York Tribune April 8 1909 p 8 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572272082 Manhattan Bridge Linked The New York Times April 8 1909 p 4 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 10 2024 Big Items Approved Appropriation of 1 000 000 for Manhattan Bridge New York Tribune April 3 1909 p 3 Retrieved January 10 2024 1 000 000 to Finish New Manhattan Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle April 2 1909 p 3 Retrieved January 10 2024 a b Manhattan Bridge Cables The Brooklyn Daily Eagle May 13 1909 p 18 Retrieved January 12 2024 a b c Manhattan Bridge Cables Completed on First Anniversary of Stringing of Wires The Brooklyn Daily Eagle August 10 1909 p 15 Retrieved January 13 2024 Bridge Cables Strung Important Part of the New Structure Completed in Record Time New York Tribune August 15 1909 p C6 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572294694 Cable Work Nearly Done The Brooklyn Citizen August 10 1909 p 7 Retrieved January 11 2024 Weave Final Strands of Big Bridge Cables The Standard Union August 10 1909 p 1 Retrieved January 11 2024 Says Bridge is Safe Manhattan Span O K d Consulting Engineer Finds Structure is Right in All Important Parts New York Tribune September 19 1909 p 5 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 572268958 a b Manhattan Bridge Ready by Dec 15 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle September 19 1909 pp 1 7 Retrieved January 13 2024 New Manhattan Bridge to Be Open The Christian Science Monitor November 23 1909 p 5 ISSN 0882 7729 ProQuest 508018831 Brooklynites Enraged at New Bridge Fiasco The Brooklyn Daily Eagle October 18 1909 p 11 Retrieved January 13 2024 Manhattan Bridge to Be Opened Dec 24 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle November 29 1909 p 1 Retrieved January 13 2024 Manhattan Bridge to Be Christmas Present to the Greater City The Brooklyn Citizen November 29 1909 p 1 Retrieved January 13 2024 One Hundred Cross Manhattan Bridge Brooklyn Inspection Party Walks Over the New Twenty Million Dollar Link A Remarkable Structure Official Opening Set for Three Weeks Hence Interesting Facts About Its Building PDF The New York Times December 5 1909 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 New Manhattan Bridge Pronounced a Success The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 5 1909 p 51 Retrieved January 10 2024 a b B klyn Leaguers See New Bridge The Brooklyn Citizen December 5 1909 pp 1 3 Retrieved January 10 2024 Inspect Manhattan Bridge Mayor and His Party Believe It Will Be Opened Within Ten Days The New York Times December 25 1909 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 10 2024 Over New Bridge in Auto The Sun December 25 1909 p 10 Retrieved January 10 2024 Manhattan Bridge Opened to Traffic Mayor McClellan s Last Act in Public Was to Lead a Procession on Wheels Across Brooklyn Men Celebrate New Structure Has the Largest Carrying Capacity of Any Crossing the River The Span Is 1 470 Feet PDF The New York Times January 1 1910 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 Manhattan Bridge Is Declared Open Times Union December 31 1909 p 1 Retrieved January 11 2024 Open New Bridge New York Tribune January 1 1910 p 3 Retrieved January 11 2024 Manhattan Bridge Proves Vast Help The Brooklyn Daily Eagle January 2 1910 p 8 Retrieved January 11 2024 Asks a Million for Bridge Department Times Union August 17 1910 p 2 Retrieved January 11 2024 Spectacular Midair Fire Firemen Have Difficulty in Quelling Flames on Manhattan Bridge The Washington Post March 26 1910 p 5 ISSN 0190 8286 ProQuest 145031390 Fire Weakens New Manhattan Bridge Steel Work and Cables Warped and Twisted May Have to Be Replaced Damage 50 000 PDF The New York Times March 26 1910 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 To Open Two Bridges Footway of the Manhattan and a New Harlem River Span Ready The New York Times July 15 1910 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 11 2024 Manhattan Bridge Opening The Brooklyn Daily Eagle July 14 1910 p 3 Retrieved January 11 2024 Slowly Completing Span Times Union July 15 1910 p 10 Retrieved January 11 2024 To Abolish Tolls On City Bridges Mayor Gaynor Believes There Is No Legal Warrant for Taxing Vehicle Traffic The New York Times July 7 1911 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved June 28 2019 Prize Fund for Atwood Talk of One After Washington Commerce Chamber Refuses to Help The New York Times July 19 1911 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved July 1 2019 Aldermen Abolish Tolls for Wagons on Bridges Brooklyn Daily Eagle July 18 1911 p 1 Retrieved July 1 2019 a b Manhattan Bridge Operation Court Upholds the Three cent Fare Line and Cars Are Rushed Across The Wall Street Journal September 6 1912 p 8 ISSN 0099 9660 ProQuest 129312013 New Bridge Line s Big Day Carries 3 500 Riders Over Manhattan Span Rivals Give Up Fight The New York Times September 6 1912 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 11 2024 a b Through Tube to Coney 48 Minutes First Train on Fourth Avenue Route Beats West End Line Eleven Minutes Brooklyn Daily Eagle June 22 1915 Retrieved June 29 2015 Site of the New East Harlem Market The New York Times August 30 1914 p X9 ISSN 0362 4331 ProQuest 97561411 Retrieved January 11 2024 New Public Food Markets Doing a Brisk Business One at Fort Lee Ferry Selling Vegetables and Groceries at Greatly Reduced Prices The Wall Street Journal September 2 1914 p 3 ISSN 0099 9660 ProQuest 129441670 Gets 301 719 Verdict New York Tribune April 11 1912 p 14 Retrieved January 11 2024 C J Sullivan Gets Verdict The Brooklyn Daily Eagle April 11 1912 p 5 Retrieved January 11 2024 C J Sullivan Wins Suit New York Tribune January 14 1916 p 7 Retrieved January 11 2024 a b c d e f Landmarks Preservation Commission 1975 p 1 New York Bridge Plans Approved Municipal Art Commission Passes on Drawings of Proposed Approaches to Manhattan Structure The Christian Science Monitor April 23 1910 p 9 ISSN 0882 7729 ProQuest 508094628 Bridge Approach Drawings Approved The Standard Union April 14 1910 p 8 Retrieved January 11 2024 Bridge Approach Design Approved Times Union August 14 1912 p 6 Retrieved May 25 2022 Approaches Approved Art Commission O K s Design for Manhattan Bridge Cost Will Be 800 000 Structure Opened January 1 1910 Now Represents an Outlay of 26 000 000 New York Tribune August 14 1912 p 5 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 574948699 a b c d e f g h i j Gray Christopher June 23 1996 Streetscapes Manhattan Bridge Plaza Noble Monument to the City Is in Ignoble Condition The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved August 5 2020 675 000 for Bridge Plaza Money Available for Brooklyn End of Manhattan Bridge The New York Times March 30 1913 p XX1 ISSN 0362 4331 ProQuest 97394049 Retrieved January 11 2024 Spend 675 000 on Manhattan Bridge Times Union March 27 1913 p 16 Retrieved January 11 2024 4th Ave Subway Ready in 5 Months The Brooklyn Daily Eagle May 23 1913 p 20 Retrieved January 11 2024 a b c d New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Dolkart Andrew S Postal Matthew A 2009 Postal Matthew A ed Guide to New York City Landmarks 4th ed New York John Wiley amp Sons pp 45 46 ISBN 978 0 470 28963 1 a b c d Bridge Traffic Was Too Much So the Ladies Moved to a Museum The New York Times April 8 1964 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved August 5 2020 a b New York Bridge Approaches Draw Near Completion Entrances of Manhattan Structure Are Constructed With View to Artistic Effect The Christian Science Monitor October 20 1915 p 11 ISSN 0882 7729 ProQuest 509557732 Horse Traffic Off Manhattan Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 20 1918 p 16 Retrieved January 13 2024 a b City Busses Begin Manhattan Bridge Operation Today The Brooklyn Daily Eagle October 5 1919 p 5 Retrieved January 13 2024 Manhattan Bridge to Have Bus Service The Brooklyn Citizen October 2 1919 p 10 Retrieved January 13 2024 City Bus Service Stops Tonight New Rules for Bridges The Brooklyn Daily Eagle September 7 1920 p 1 Retrieved January 13 2024 One Way Traffic Will Continue on Bridges Despite Jam New York Tribune September 8 1920 p 4 Retrieved January 13 2024 a b Brooklyn Bridge Badly Overloaded Engineer Asserts The Brooklyn Daily Eagle September 22 1920 p 2 Retrieved January 13 2024 a b Quite a Job to Paint Manhattan Bridge Like New New York Daily News November 6 1921 p 11 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 13 2024 Hurley William I June 18 1922 Keeping Up With the Town Times Union p 15 Retrieved January 13 2024 Fish Lawrence C March 6 1921 Brooklyn Traffic Court Magistrate Starting a Safety First Campaign The Brooklyn Daily Eagle p 61 Retrieved January 13 2024 a b Hylan Opens New Bridge Roadway Times Union June 16 1922 p 6 Retrieved January 13 2024 300 000 Roadway on Manhattan Bridge Put in Operation The Brooklyn Citizen June 16 1922 p 2 Retrieved January 13 2024 a b c New Roadway Opened on Manhattan Bridge Mayor and Other City Officials Attend Event Only Passenger Cars Allowed PDF The New York Times June 16 1922 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 Brooklyn Bridge Closed to Motor Traffic Manhattan Bridge to Horse Drawn Vehicles The New York Times July 7 1922 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 13 2024 Peck Robert B July 7 1922 Autos Banished Brooklyn Bridge Made Horse Haven New York Tribune p 1 Retrieved January 13 2024 Part of Load Lifted from Old Bridge Is Span in Its Dotage The Brooklyn Daily Eagle July 9 1922 p 24 Retrieved January 13 2024 Bars Mail Motors on Brooklyn Bridge Postmaster Burton s Plea for an Exception to New Rule is Denied The New York Times July 9 1922 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 13 2024 Manhattan Bridge Carrying Too Much Weight Is Report Need for Quick Relief Seen The Brooklyn Daily Eagle September 21 1924 p 9 Retrieved January 14 2024 Some Questions Answered by the Eagle The Brooklyn Daily Eagle January 7 1923 p 39 Retrieved January 14 2024 Police Calling for Autoists To Utilize Brooklyn Bridge Traffic Congestion Is Terrific at Manhattan Span While Other Structure Is Deserted Signs To Be Posted as Guides to Travel The New York Herald New York Tribune June 14 1925 p G11 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1113175935 Motorists Urged to Use Old Bridge The Standard Union June 16 1925 p 8 Retrieved January 14 2024 Says Low speed Law Clogs Bridge Traffic Mills Wants Limit on Brooklyn Span Raised From Eight to Fifteen Miles an Hour The New York Times October 27 1925 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 One Way Traffic on Bridge New York Bound Cars Barred From Manhattan Span Pending Paving The New York Times January 11 1927 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Can t Drive at Night Over Manhattan Bridge The Standard Union January 11 1927 p 1 Retrieved January 14 2024 Favors Buying Trolley Byrne Urges Acceptance of Manhattan Bridge Line s Offer The New York Times October 25 1927 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Byrne Wants City to Buy 3 Cent Line Times Union October 18 1927 p 31 Retrieved January 14 2024 Bridge Trolley Line Scrapping Urged by Berry Comptroller Urges Purchase by City to Clear Traffic Jam on Manhattan Span New York Herald Tribune September 15 1928 p 21 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1113578973 Boro Victory Seen in Berry Bridge Plan The Brooklyn Citizen September 15 1928 p 3 Retrieved January 14 2024 Berry Approves New Bridge Lanes Times Union September 14 1928 p 1 Retrieved January 14 2024 Approves Purchase of Bridge Trolley City Will Raze Manhattan Span Line to Make Room for More Traffic Lanes The New York Times March 12 1929 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 3 Cent Bridge Line Is Bought by City Times Union March 12 1929 p 50 Retrieved January 14 2024 a b Manhattan Bridge Line Runs New York Herald Tribune November 14 1929 p 25 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1111747012 Three Cent Trolleys Make Last Manhattan Bridge Trip The New York Times November 14 1929 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 a b Walker Opens Traffic Lane on Manhattan Span New Roadway to Brooklyn Expected to Carry 30 000 Automobiles Daily Parade First to Cross Kings County Hails Link at Luncheon of 1 500 New York Herald Tribune June 19 1931 p 3 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1114109302 New Bridge LInk Affords Much Needed Traffic Relief The Standard Union June 18 1931 p 12 Retrieved January 14 2024 Manhattan Bridge Roadway Will Be Ready by Summer Times Union February 17 1930 p 20 Retrieved January 14 2024 a b c d e Upper Deck Opened on Manhattan Span the Mayor Opening a New Roadway to Brooklyn The New York Times June 19 1931 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 13 2024 Manhattan Bridge Roadway For Light Cars Completed Goldman Announces Opening of New 800 000 Lane Thursday New Traffic Lane to Brooklyn Is Ready New York Herald Tribune June 15 1931 p 19 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1114107738 New Bridge Lights On Illumination Doubled In Roadways of Manhattan Span The New York Times June 21 1932 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Manhattan Bridge Traffic Speeded by New Rules The New York Times September 25 1934 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Traffic Speeded by One Third on Manhattan Bridge New York Daily News September 25 1934 p 89 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 14 2024 Warped Pavement Cuts Manhattan Bridge Traffic Rains Buckle Wooden Blocks Alons Entire Main Roadway New York Herald Tribune September 10 1934 p 17 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1242981411 Manhattan Bridge Repairs Speeded The Brooklyn Daily Eagle September 10 1934 p 4 Retrieved January 14 2024 Manhattan Span Perfectly Safe Kracke Reports New York Daily News August 11 1934 p 241 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 14 2024 Manhattan Bridge 25 Years Old Today Mayor to Mark Anniversary by Speeches at Span Which Is the City s Busiest The New York Times December 31 1934 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Manhattan Bridge 25 Years Old New York Daily News December 30 1934 p 53 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 14 2024 Bridge Bids Submitted 279 700 Figure Is Low One for Altering Manhattan Span The New York Times April 7 1937 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Bridge is Made Safer 21 Inch Curbing Is Installed on Manhattan Structure The New York Times April 22 1937 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 New Manhattan Bridge Curb Expected to Cut Accidents The Brooklyn Daily Eagle April 22 1937 p 7 Retrieved January 14 2024 Raise Parapet on Manhattan Bridge New York Daily News April 22 1937 p 344 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 14 2024 Manhattan Bridge to Get New Lane Steel and Concrete Structure on Lower Deck of Span Will Cost 750 000 Work on Supports to Continue Special Appropriation to Be Ready The New York Times March 27 1938 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 BridgeRoadwayFinished Traffic Not Interrupted The New York Times December 5 1938 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Non Skid Road Laid on Manhattan Bridge Without Hindering Traffic The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 5 1938 p 8 Retrieved January 14 2024 Speed Repair of Manhattan Bridge Span New York Daily News August 14 1938 p 126 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 14 2024 To Eliminate Bridge Bottleneck WPA Will Improve East End of Manhattan Span Other Street Work The New York Times August 17 1941 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Start of Traffic Improvement on Manhattan Bridge New York Herald Tribune July 31 1941 p 32 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1320057002 a b Manhattan Bridge Exit to Be Wider New York Daily News October 2 1941 p 610 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 14 2024 New Air Raid Siren Does Best Job Yet Experimental Device Sounded From Manhattan Bridge Is Heard Below Canal St The New York Times March 5 1942 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 City s Newest Siren Loud Enough But Some Think It Boat or Shop New York Herald Tribune March 5 1942 p 1 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1264963711 Use Brooklyn Bridge Autoists Are Urged The New York Times April 5 1946 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 a b Repairs Are Postponed On Manhattan Bridge New York Herald Tribune April 18 1950 p 25 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 448817053 Begin Work Soon on B klyn Bridge New York Daily News February 22 1950 p 770 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 15 2024 Action on Needed Improvements in Interborough Traffic Links The Brooklyn Daily Eagle March 1 1950 p 16 Retrieved January 15 2024 Brooklyn Bridge Traffic Will Undergo Changes The New York Times March 3 1950 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 a b c d Gray Christopher January 18 2004 Streetscapes The Giant Granite Anchorages of the Manhattan Bridge A Moody Craggy Majesty Like That of Lost Ruins The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 Eckenberg William C April 11 1951 War Barricades Set Up on Bridges Floodlights Are Also Being Installed There to Thwart Possible Sabotage Barbed Wire for Cables Chief Attention Given Vital Manhattan Brooklyn Spans Close to Naval Ship Yard PDF The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 24 2017 City Will Realign Traffic on Bridge Brooklyn Bound Vehicles to Get Extra Lane During Morning Rush on Manhattan Span The New York Times August 12 1952 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 Traffic Change Aids Manhattan Bridge in Rush Cars to Brooklyn Get Extra A M Lane Grand Army Plaza Plan Starts Today New York Herald Tribune August 14 1952 p 19 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1322331111 Manhattan Bridge 3 Yr Accident Toll 9 Killed 411 Injured The Brooklyn Daily Eagle January 24 1955 p 22 Retrieved January 15 2024 Edelsburg amp Cane 1956 pp 278 280 Manhattan Bridge May Be Repaired Board of Estimate Is Asked to Approve 80 000 Pact to Study East River Span The New York Times April 27 1952 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 B M T Traffic Slowed Subway Trains Affected After Manhattan Bridge Cracks The New York Times April 10 1953 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 a b c Crack in Manhattan Bridge Reshuffles B M T Trains New York Herald Tribune April 10 1953 p 1 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1322303107 Manhattan Bridge Break Fixed The New York Times May 18 1953 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 a b Repair of Manhattan Bridge And City Hall Termed Urgent The New York Times August 18 1953 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 City Seeks to Ease Strain On Manhattan Bridge New York Herald Tribune August 18 1953 p 1 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1322339872 Manhattan Bridge City Hall Repair Funds Requested The Brooklyn Daily Eagle August 18 1953 p 3 Retrieved January 15 2024 Manhattan Bridge Creaking at Joints New York Daily News August 23 1953 p 146 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 15 2024 a b City Set to Refit Manhattan Span Mayor and Aides Tentatively Approve 30 000 000 Plan for 45 Year Old Bridge The New York Times July 29 1954 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 14 2024 Manhattan Span Stirs City Dispute Transit Body Would Continue Subway Runs Zurmuhlen Favors New River Tunnel The New York Times November 24 1954 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 a b Priority Given to Manhattan Bridge Work The Brooklyn Daily Eagle August 14 1954 p 10 Retrieved January 15 2024 a b Use of Manhattan Span Into City Extended Hour The New York Times October 14 1955 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 Subways Peril Manhattan Bridge New York Daily News February 17 1955 p 59 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 15 2024 Tests of Span Slated Survey of Manhattan Bridge Due to Begin March 14 The New York Times February 27 1955 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 Manhattan Bridge Survey Delayed New York Herald Tribune February 26 1955 p 4 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1327679917 Manhattan Span Repairs Speeded New York Herald Tribune August 12 1955 p 13 ISSN 1941 0646 ProQuest 1328071519 Work Starts on Manhattan Bridge Today New York Daily News June 15 1955 p 740 ISSN 2692 1251 Retrieved January 15 2024 Bridge Repairs to Slow Traffic Restrictions on Manhattan and Harlem Ship Canal Spans Start Tomorrow The New York Times September 25 1955 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 Use of Manhattan Span Into City Extended Hour The New York Times October 14 1955 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 Span Closing Delayed Manhattan Bridge Renovation to Start Tomorrow The New York Times November 22 1955 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 15 2024 span, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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