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Bridge - George Washington Bridge Othmar Ammann, the Swiss born engineer was born on March 26, 1879 in Zurich, Switzerland. He died 86 years later in Rye, New York, on September 22, 1965. Ammann studied at the Federal Institute in Zurich before immigrating to New York in 1904. He designed and helped with the construction of many bridges in the tri-state area. From 1925 to 1939 Ammann was director of engineering at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In 1933, he became chief engineer of the Triborough Bridge Authority. He opened his own engineering firm in 1939. During this time, Ammann received many honorary doctorate degrees from such schools as New York University, Pennsylvania Military Academy, and Columbia University. Ammann was chief engineer for the Bayonne Bridge, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, and the Triborough Bridge. He also had a large part in the design of the Throgs Neck Bridge, the Verrazano- Narrows Bridge, the Walt Whitman Bridge, the Goethals Bridge, the Outerbridge Crossing, the Delaware Memorial Bridge, and the Golden Gate Bridge. (1)
 George Washington Bridge, 1931. View of New York tower from top of New Jersey tower. Photograph courtesy Structurae.  George Washington Bridge, 1931. New York tower looking west toward New Jersey. Photograph courtesy Structurae. The George Washington Bridge also connects New Jersey to New York City across the Hudson River. The bridge connects Interstate Highway I-95 to West 178th Street in Upper Manhattan. Originally, the bridge was designed as a six-lane bridge. Ground was broken in October of 1927 and the bridge was opened to the public on October 25, 1931. In 1946, two more lanes were added to the bridge. The capacity of the bridge was increased by 75% when the lower level was opened on August 29, 1962. This made the George Washington Bridge the only 14-lane suspension bridge in the world. It is still one of the worlds busiest bridges. In 1981, the American Society of Civil Engineers designated the bridge as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. The George Washington Bridge is also home to the worlds largest free-flying American flag. The flag is hung from the New Jersey tower, weather permitting, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day. (2) (NCC)
Reference: (1) Structurae (International Database of Gallery and Structures) website (see link below).
(2) Port Authority New York New Jersey website (see link below). http://www.structurae.de/en/persons/data/d000001/index.cfm http://www.panynj.gov/tbt/GWB_about.htm |
