Williamsburg Bridge
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| Williamsburg Bridge | |
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| Carries | 8 lanes of roadway, 2 tracks of the J M Z trains of the New York City Subway, pedestrians, and bicycles |
| Crosses | East River |
| Locale | Manhattan and Brooklyn, in New York City |
| Maintained by | New York City Department of Transportation |
| Design | Suspension bridge and truss causeways |
| Longest span | 487.68 meters (1,600 feet) |
| Total length | 2,227.48 meters (7,308 feet) |
| Width | 35.97 meters (118 feet) |
| Vertical clearance | 10 feet 6 inches (3.2 m) (inner roadways only) |
| Clearance below | 41.15 meters (135 feet) at mean higher high water |
| AADT | 110,000 |
| Opening date | December 19, 1903 |
| Toll | Free |
| Connects: Manhattan at Delancey St. with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn |
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The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn on Long Island at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278). It once carried New York State Route 27A and later Interstate 78.
Construction on the bridge, the second to cross this river, began in 1896, with Leffert L. Buck as chief engineer, Henry Hornbostel as architect and Holton D. Robinson as assistant engineer, and the bridge opened on December 19, 1903 at a cost of $12,000,000. At the time it was constructed, the Williamsburg Bridge set the record for the longest suspension bridge span on Earth. The record fell in 1924, when the Bear Mountain Bridge was completed. It is an unconventional structure, as suspension bridges go; though the main span hangs from cables in the usual manner, the side spans leading to the approaches are cantilevered, drawing no support from the cables above. The main span of the bridge is 1600 feet (488 m) long. The entire bridge is 7308 feet (2227 m) long between cable anchor terminals, and the deck is 118 feet (36 m) wide. The height at the center of the bridge is 135 feet (41 m) and each tower is 335 feet (102 m); these measurements taken from the river's surface at high water mark.
This bridge and the Manhattan Bridge are the only suspension bridges in New York City that still carry both automobile and rail traffic. In addition to this two-track rail line, connecting the New York City Subway's BMT Nassau Street Line and BMT Jamaica Line, there were once two sets of trolley tracks.
The Brooklyn landing is between Grand Street and Broadway, which both had ferries at the time. Both withered and went out of business in the following years.
The bridge has been under reconstruction since the 1980s, largely to repair damage caused by decades of deferred maintenance. The cast iron stairway on the Manhattan side, and the steep ramp from Driggs Avenue on the Williamsburg side to the footwalks, were replaced to allow handicapped access in the 1990s. The bridge celebrated its 100th anniversary in December 2003.
No tolls are charged for motor vehicles to use the bridge.
Had the Lower Manhattan Expressway been built, the Williamsburg Bridge would have obtained the Interstate 78 designation.
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[edit] Rail tracks
The rapid transit tracks in the center of the bridge were initially used by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company elevated railroad. Today, the New York City Subway J M Z trains use these tracks.
Two tracks on the south side carried streetcars from the Brooklyn side:
- Williamsburg Bridge Local, 1904-1948
- Nostrand Avenue Line, 1904-1923 and 1931-1948
- Ralph Avenue Line, 1905-1908; Ralph and Rockaway Avenues Line, 1908-1923 and 1931-1948
- Tompkins Avenue Line, 1906-1923 and 1931-1947
- Reid Avenue Line, 1904-1923 and 1931-1937
- Broadway Line, 1904-1923
- Franklin Avenue Line, 1904-1923
- Grand Street Line, 1904-1923
- Sumner Avenue Line, 1904-1923
- Wilson Avenue Line, 1904-1923
- Bushwick Avenue Line, 1904-1921
- Nostrand-Culver Line and Nostrand-Prospect Line, 1906-1919
Two north-side tracks carried Manhattan streetcars:
- Grand Street Line, 1904-1932
- Post Office Line, 1919-1932
- Seventh Avenue-Brooklyn Line, 1911-1919
- 8th Street Crosstown Line, 1904-1911
- 14th Street-Williamsburg Bridge Line, 1904-1911
- Fourth Avenue and Williamsburg Bridge Line, 1904-1911
[edit] Williamsburg Bridge in popular culture
- The Williamsburg Bridge appears in the movies Once Upon a Time in America, The Lost Weekend (1945), The Naked City (1948), Johnny Suede (1991), American Gangster (2007), Serpico (1973), the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die, and The Naked Brothers Band.
- The bridge is mentioned in the novel The Alienist (1994) by Caleb Carr.
- American jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins would venture to the Williamsburg Bridge to spare a neighboring expectant mother the sound of his practice routine.
- Soul Coughing lead singer Mike Doughty refers to the Williamsburg Bridge in the song "True Dreams of Wichita.".
- Altamonte lead singer James Cashman refers to the Williamsburg Bridge in the song "Hannah".
- Locals frequently refer to the bridge as the "Willy B."
[edit] Gallery
 Fireworks on opening night, 1903. |
 Williamsburg Bridge view from Manhattan side |
 J Train on Williamsburg Bridge |
 Williamsburg Bridge from the Lower East side of Manhattan |
 From South 6th Street |
 View of cables and saddle housing |
 600px|Full span, as seen from Wallabout Bay with Greenpoint and Long Island City in background |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Bridges at New York City DOT
- Williamsburg Bridge in the Structurae database
- HAER Williamsburg Bridge entry at the Library of Congress
- nycroads.com Williamsburg page. Has excellent construction photos (taken from Parsons Transportation Group (parsons.com site), the successor company to the design firm that executed the original design) as well as replacement bridge proposal details
- Williamsburg Bridge is at coordinates Coordinates:
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