(Update: RoadTraffic-Technology article)
One of the important design considerations concerning suspension bridges is anchoring the suspension cables.
The subway traffic hastened the deterioration of the bridge because the concentrated load of a train twisted the deck. Over a half-billion dollars was spent during the 1990s and 2000s to reconstruct the deck. It had already been reconfigured from four streetcar and four vehicle lanes to seven vehicle lanes. Each streetcar level carries two lanes and the center part now carries three reversible lanes. And, of course, the vehicles are no longer horse&buggies. [NYCroads]
Fred Hadley posted four photos with the comment:
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Photo from HAER NY,31-NEYO,164--1 from ny09801. VIEW LOOKING TOWARDS MANHATTAN WITH BROOKLYN BRIDGE ON RIGHT - Manhattan Bridge, Spanning East River at Flatbush Avenue, between New York City & Brooklyn, New York County, NY
[It looks like the World Trade Towers are still standing on the left. Brooklyn Bridge is on the left, not the right.]
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This single span suspension bridge contains one of the longest suspension spans in the U.S., and had the largest carrying capacity in the country when it was built. It is unusual in that it was designed as a dual-level bridge; carrying street-cars on the upper level and subway tracks on the lower, with roadways in the center of each level. The approaches to the bridge were designed by Carrere and Hastings, and incorporated allegorical figures of Manhattan and Brooklyn by Daniel Chester French, which have since been removed to the Brooklyn Museum. [HAER]
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| Arthur Overdijk posted New York |
Obviously, the above image was cropped from the following.
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| History Daily photo The Manhattan Bridge under construction, 1909. Mike Breski shared Postcards from old New York posted Manhattan Bridge under construction, New York City 1909 |
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| Highway Engineering Discoveries posted Manhattan Bridge ✈️ |
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| Postcards from old New York posted Manhattan Bridge under construction, New York City 1909 |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted New York City's Manhattan Bridge under construction, c. 1908. (Brooklyn Historical Society) |
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| Brooklyn New York Baby Boomers and Everyone Who Loves Brooklyn posted early construction Manhattan Bridge Fast Facts Type of bridge: Suspension Construction started 10.1.1901 Opened to traffic 12.31.1909 Length of main span 1,470 ft. Total length of bridge including approaches 6,855 ft. Location Connects Flatbush Ave in Downtown Brooklyn with Canal St in Chinatown Clearance at center above mean high water 135 ft. Diameter of each of the four main cables 21.25 ins. Length of each of the four main cables 3,224 ft. Cost of original structure $31,000,000 Bridges Now and Then shared Dave Frieder: Opened to Traffic on 12/31/09. But Bridge was NOT completed until 1912. FIRST, Modern suspension bridge. Engineer of design, Leon Moisseiff. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted "Building The Manhattan Bridge." Oil on canvas by Gerrit A. Beneker, 1909. |
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| 1910 Postcard via Bridge Hunter |
One of the important design considerations concerning suspension bridges is anchoring the suspension cables.
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| Photo taken by Geoff Hubbs in March 2019, License: Released into public domain |
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| NYCroads Original cross-section of the roadway on the Manhattan Bridge. (Figure by Paul Phillipe Cret and Rudolphe Modjeski.) [The lower rails were for subways and the upper rails were for streetcars.] |
Fred Hadley posted four photos with the comment:
One feature of the Manhattan Bridge, under construction in 1908, which has attracted much attention in and called for considerable comment is the apparently light construction, and the certainly light appearance of the towers. This is noticeable if they are compared with the massive masonry towers of the adjoining Brooklyn Bridge, or the bulky and very inartistic towers of the Williamsburg Bridge farther up the river.As a matter of fact, the Manhattan Bridge towers are of particularly strong and stiff construction. The weight is carried on four closed, plate-steel, box columns, which rise uninterruptedly from base to top.They are built of heavy plating, upon the cellular system, heavy transverse diaphragms running throughout the full height of each tower, and assisting to give the required amount of cross-sectional area of steel and the necessary stiffness, to prevent distortion by buckling under the heavy loads imposed.To preserve the four legs in the true vertical position and resist all tendency to displacement by wind pressure, the whole of which on the full length of the bridge will be communicated to and must be resisted by the towers, each pair of legs is heavily braced together by transverse trussing. In addition to this, each pair of legs, as thus braced, is strongly tied together at the top, at the mid-height, and at the level of the floor system by massive trussing and knee bracing.Traffic will be carried upon two decks, and the bridge will accommodate four rapid transit tracks, four surface tracks, one 35-foot roadway, and two ll-foot footwalks. Construction work was commenced in 1901, and, as we have said, it will be completed toward the close of 1909.Scientific American excerpt, April 10, 1909
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The Manhattan Bridge looking at the Brooklyn end, 1909. (Old Images of New York) Bridges Now and Then posted The Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge, NYC, c. 1909. (Library of Congress) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The Manhattan Bridge is seen during construction, c. 1908. |
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| Comments on the above post |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted New York City's Manhattan Bridge, 1987. (Anko Photography) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The Manhattan Bridge, 1946. (Ed Clark) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The Manhattan Bridge under construction, c. 1905. (Brooklyn Historical Society) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Manhattan Bridge, 1953 (Neal Boenzi, New York Times) |
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| c Riding on the Manhattan Bridge, New York City, 1946. (Ed Clark) Dave Frieder: At this time the bridge had the Original suspenders and cable bands. Those were replaced in 1955 with Again, Roebling wire rope. They were replaced back in the early 2000's with another brand. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Manhattan Bridge construction, New York, c. 1908. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted New York City's Manhattan Bridge, 1911. (Museum of Modern Art) Bridges Now and Then: Of course, the Brooklyn Bridge is seen in the background. |
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| Jack Bobby Lou Mulreavy updated, cropped B&O tug with 2 carfloats on the East River. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted New York City's Manhattan Bridge, November, 1925. |
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| Comments on the above post |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted, cropped Manhattan Bridge, 1987, (Janet Delaney) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Building the Manhattan Bridge, from Cassier's Magazine, 1912. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The Manhattan tower of the Manhattan Bridge is seen under construction in a photo from Cassier's Magazine, 1912. The bridge had opened in 1909, but this photo wasn't published until 1912. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Manhattan Bridge under construction. February 11, 1909 |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Manhattan Bridge construction, 1908. Dave Frieder: Leon S. Moisseiff, engineer of design. O.F. Nichols, engineer in charge of construction. The Sockets at the end of the suspenders were originally attached to the Lower Chord. During the recent rehab work the New suspenders are now attached to the upper Chord. This prevents chaffing of the ropes when the deck twists. The twisting or torsional movement used to be 4-6 feet! But now it has been reduced to about one foot. This is the 3rd set of suspenders on this bridge. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted New York's Manhattan Bridge is seen here in a March 23, 1909 photo by Irving Underhill. Bridges Now and Then posted A nice look at construction progress on New York's Manhattan Bridge, c. 1908. |
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| Comments on the first post for the above photo |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted New York City's Manhattan Bridge, c. 1908. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Found this pic of the Manhattan Bridge in the same box of photos taken by my mom. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted A classic photo of the Manhattan Bridge from 1974 by Danny Lyon. Dave Frieder: If you notice the bridge is still the Original medium Gray! It was not "Manhattan Bridge Blue" [According to some comments, it was taken from Brooklyn.] |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Construction on New York's Manhattan Bridge, c. 1907. Bridges Now and Then posted Manhattan Bridge construction, New York City, c. 1909. (Monovisions) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted A view across the Manhattan Bridge, June 14, 1922. (Eugene de Salignac) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted USS Wyoming passes under the Manhattan Bridge, in this c. 1915 photo taken from the Brooklyn Bridge. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The East River and the Manhattan Bridge, 1948. (Harold Roth) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted A view of the Manhattan Bridge from the Brooklyn Bridge, 1955. (Mario de Biasi) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted USS Bennington passes under the Manhattan Bridge, New York, July, 1953. (Charles L Koenig) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Berenice Abbott, Manhattan Bridge, 1936. Dave Frieder: She used her 8x10 Camera. Jim Mmee: no ugly cage over the walkway Bridges Now and Then posted Manhattan Bridge, 1936. (Berenice Abbott) Bill Campbell: Still had the flags on the tower tops. Dave Frieder: Original suspenders and cable bands. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted A Manhattan Bridge 3¢ Line streetcar on the bridge, 1917. (Smithsonian Libraries) |
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| MJM Photo Co. posted The Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn looking into NYC. Bridges Now and Then shared |
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| Dave Frieder commented on the above share I have climbed Everywhere on this bridge! Really miss all of that! View of base of Brooklyn Tower. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted A photo of the Manhattan Bridge titled "A normal day on the job, February 12, 1948." (Irving Kaufman) |
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| Dave Frieder commented on the above post I made this image back in 1996! |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The Manhattan Bridge, NYC, c. 1908. (International Images) |
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| Old New York City posted Riggers Eddie Fennery and Frank Harvey preparing the cables of the Manhattan Bridge for painting as News photographer Bill Meurer sits on a cable and prepares to shoot a picture. Foreman Frank Callahan stands behind Meurer. (Photo by Charles Hoff/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) 1940 Bridges Now and Then shared |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and the Brooklyn Bridge can be seen from atop the World Trade Center during its construction, New York City, 1971. (Photo by A. Vine/Daily Express/Getty Images) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Here's a photo contributed by our friend Dave Frieder that he took on top of NYC's Manhattan Bridge. Don't forget, Dave is selling his book on New York City bridges, look in the comments for more details. Thanks, Dave! [I looked in the comments, but I could not find any details about the book. Bummer!] |
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