"The George Washington Bridge is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge, carrying over 103 million vehicles in 2016." It opened on Oct 25, 1931, and the lower deck was opened on Aug 29, 1962. It has 14 lanes of traffic and the length of the main span is 3,500' (1067m). [BridgeHunter]
But when it opened it had only 4 lanes because the designed capacity wasn't needed back then. [baruch]
Roebling's Kinkora plant made all of the wire for the suspension cables.
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| LC-DIG-highsm- 45282 (ONLINE) [P&P] Credit line: West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Carol M. Highsmith's photographs are in the public domain. [Carol took several more photos of this bridge.] |
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| 1 of 3 photos posted by Bridges & Tunnels From the archives: The latest article at Bridges & Tunnels covers the massive George Washington Bridge, a double-decked suspension bridge that carries Interstate 95, and US Routes 1 and 9 over the Hudson River, connecting New York City, New York and Fort Lee, New Jersey. The six-lane bridge was dedicated on October 24, 1931 but was quickly expanded with two reversible lanes in 1946. A lower deck was opened in 1962. View an extensive history and many more photos of the bridge at Dave Frieder: Engineer of design, Allston Dana with the Collaboration of Othmar Ammann. |
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| Dave Frieder commented on B&T's post [11 of Dave's photos of this bridge] |
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| John P. Grieco posted George Washington Bridge Over the Hudson River. |
A lot of concrete was needed to anchor the cables. In fact, "it consisted of 110,000 cubic yards of concrete weighing up to 260,000 tons." [baruch]
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| Street View, Nov 2022 |
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| Postcard via BridgeHunter [The deck looks rather frail when it had just one traffic level.] |
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| π₯π²πΊπ²πΊπ―π²πΏ πͺπ΅π²π»: π‘π²π ππ²πΏππ²π & π‘π²π π¬πΌπΏπΈ posted George Washington Bridge • 1940s • New York! Anthony DeStefano: Before the Lower Level was added |
I remember reading that the design included a stone cladding, but construction ended in the depression so they decided to open without the added expense of the cladding. Later, people liked the raw strength look so much that they scrapped the plans to add a cladding. This is the first time I've seen what it was envisioned to be.
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| Wurts Bros. (New York, N.Y.) via mcny via Bridge Hunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA) Photo from 1926 rendering "In pencil, on verso: 120081 Wurts Neg Number / Label on original envelope / "Rendering of F.G. Stickel- "Hudson River Bridge Tower" / Cass Gilbert / 1926 (Feb. 26)." |
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| HAER NY,31-NEYO,161--68 (CT) VIEW FROM TOP OF NEW JERSEY TOWER TO NEW YORK TOWER - George Washington Bridge, Spanning Hudson River between Manhattan & Fort Lee, NJ, New York County, NY [BridgeHunter has the entire selection of HAER photos including several showing the inside of the cable anchorage.] |
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| New York Top Photo posted George Washington Bridge, https://www.instagram.com/mingomatic/ Roger Aldridge: https://youtu.be/NHppx3uCxxM "George Washington Bridge - W. Schuman (1910-1992)" [It is an orchestral performance.] |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted A beautiful Autumn pic on the George Washington Bridge from our friend Vinny Pasculli, that's him on the cable. Thanks, Vinny! |
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| Dave Frieder commented on the above post MY view from 1996. NJ side span length, 610 feet [186m]. NY side span length 650 feet [198m]. The side spans are short so the Main Cables act as ridge Back Stays. Only the NJ side Main cables are anchored into the Trap Rock. The NY side had a separate Anchorage constructed. |
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| New York Top Photo posted George Washington Bridge, https://www.instagram.com/the_acphotos/ |
Stephen Wilson posted two images with the comment: "I absolutely love this spot on the Palisades in New Jersey overlooking the GWB. Such an impressive perspective of the bridge, and an important spot in American history during the revolutionary war. If you have the opportunity, def check it out."
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| New York History posted The George Washington Bridge under construction, New York (1928) In 1928, the George Washington Bridge was taking shape, its massive steel cables and towers rising over the Hudson River. As construction progressed, the bridge became a symbol of engineering prowess and modern infrastructure, connecting New York City to New Jersey in a way that had never been done before. The bridge’s Art Deco design and innovative construction methods made it a marvel of its time, with its main span set to be the longest in the world upon completion. Workers toiled high above the river, assembling the cables and roadways that would soon carry thousands of vehicles daily. The George Washington Bridge was a transformative project, reshaping regional transportation and urban development. [There are comments about inbound delays. Up to two hours.] |
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| Larry Nuesch commented on the above post From another angle. My grandfather, August Nuesch Sr, took these from the beach below the artist colony, just south of the bridge on the NJ side. If you look close, you can see the cables running over both towers so these two photos must have been taken just before the picture in the above post. Born in 1896, my grandfather immigrated here from St Galen Switzerland on September 1, 1921 and to work for his friend Hans Tobler at Stein-Tobler embroidery in Union City. He was around 32 years old at the time he took these and according to my dad, he also swam across the Hudson River to Manhattan and back that day. |
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| Ranje Singh commented on the above post [Other comments explain that the towers were supposed to be covered with Palisades granite. There were three designs. The most favored was Art Deco. But the depression canceled the plans for a stone covering.] |
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| Dave Frieder commented on the above photo FOUR lanes of light rail traffic. A shuttle between NY and NJ. [Other comments explain that the lower roadway was added in 1962. Not adding the stone cladding to the towers saved enough weight that they were able to change the plans and add more lanes on the lower level.] |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted "New York Daily News photographer Harry Warnecke is pictured on the catwalk of the George Washington Bridge during its construction in 1929." (NY Daily News) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted "The main cable of the George Washington Bridge is being laid as construction of the suspension bridge connecting New York and New Jersey continues on October 23, 1929. AP Photo." (Time Magazine) James Torgeson posted Ironworkers from John A. Roebling's Sons spin/fabricate the four main cables for the George Washington Bridge in 1929. While only two would be needed for the single deck as built, a second, lower deck was planned and was added by Bethlehem Steel in 1962. Bethlehem predecessor McClintic-Marshall did the steelwork for the original bridge. Real Bubba: John Roebling and his Brother Carl emigrated to Western PA where they formed the German Community of Saxonburg. After 5 years farming he returned to his engineering background and is credited with the invention of wire rope (steel cable) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted New York's George Washington Bridge is seen during construction, December 21, 1930. (Harry Warnecke/NY Daily News Archive) Dave Frieder: Towers by McClintic-Marshall Steel. Main Cables and suspenders by John A. Roebling's Sons Inc. |
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| John Kathman commented on BN&T's post Fabricated by Bethlehem Steel in Pottstown Pa. My father worked on it. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Construction of the lower roadway of the George Washington Bridge. 1960. (Fine Art America) |
Dave Frieder provided three images in the comments on the above post:
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| 1 What the ORIGINAL configuration of the lower level was supposed to look like. FOUR lanes of Light Rail traffic. A shuttle between NY and NJ. |
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| 2 One of my views of the Lower Roadway void of all Traffic! |
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| 3 Due to the extra Dead Load and upcoming Live loads the Tower Saddles were "Jacked" to compensate for this! |
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| HistoricBridges has a lot of construction photos. This is one of the tests of the cable. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted "Workingmen on the new (George Washington) bridge at 178th street take time out to cast their ballots on a name in 1931." (New York Daily News) |
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| Culture posted The George Washington Bridge, often referred to as the GWB, is a double-decked suspension bridge that spans the Hudson River, connecting Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee in New Jersey. It was opened to traffic in 1931 and is one of the busiest bridges in the world by vehicle volume. Designed by Othmar Ammann, the bridge has an overall length of about 4,760 feet (1,450 meters) and carries both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The upper deck has eight lanes, while the lower deck, added in 1962, has six lanes, providing a total of 14 lanes. Known for its iconic towers, the bridge is a vital transportation link between New York and New Jersey, contributing significantly to the regional economy. Its central location and historical importance make it a well-known landmark in the northeastern United States. [Lots of comments about high tolls and horrible congestion. People talk about it adding 1 to 2 hours to their trip.] |
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| New Jersey memories posted The George Washington Bridge in the early 1950s - traffic on the left side is traveling to Fort Lee, New Jersey, and the traffic on the right is driving to New York City. Dan Johnson: I believe in the 50s, there was only one level on the GW Bridge, right? Dave Frieder: Dan Johnson Lower Roadway opened to the public on August 29th 1962. |
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| Dave Frieder commented on the above post NO center divider until 1970. The design of the GWB is totally unique. Engineer of design was Allston Dana. "Self-Portrait" with iron worker. Robert Stone: Dave Frieder they were supposed to put commuter train tracks in the center but it never happened |
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| Barry Crater commented on the above post |
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| Ludwig Rojas commented on the above post 4th of July 1971 |
Headlines can be misleading. nbcnewyork has:
‘Restoring the George' Program Brings Renovated Walkway to GWB to Enhance SafetyThis $2 billion program recently constructed accessibility and security changes to the bridge's north walk
My reaction was how can a trail bridge cost $2b? The answer is that the project included replacing the original northside suspension cables. The jest of the trail improvements is that they replaced 171 access steps with ramps.
timeout has some photos of the new trail.
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