The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

When it opened in 1964, the VerrazanoNarrows Bridge was the world’s longest suspension span. Fifty years later it is still the longest suspension bridge in the United States. The ends of the bridge are at historic Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, both of which guarded New York Harbor at the Narrows for over a century. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed Upper New York Bay with Lower New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It is the only fixed crossing of the Narrows. The double-deck bridge carries 13 lanes of Interstate 278, with seven lanes on the upper level and six on the lower level. Located at the mouth of Upper New York Bay, the bridge not only connects Brooklyn with Staten Island but is also a major link in the interstate highway system, providing the shortest route between the Middle Atlantic states and Long Island. Prior to the bridge’s opening, ferries were the only means of travel between Staten Island, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. The bridge was named after Giovanni da Verrazano, who, in 1524, was the first European explorer to sail into New York Harbor.

History

Staten Island was originally separated from the other boroughs in New York. It was only accessible by ferry from Manhattan or 39th and 69th Streets in Brooklyn. The first plan for linking Staten Island to the other boroughs was to build a Staten Island tunnel that would continue subway service from Brooklyn to Staten Island. The plan was eventually abandoned. From 1926, plans for a bridge to cross the Narrows were being discussed. The plan faced resistance from Bay Ridge residents as the construction of the bridge

would lead to their relocation. Over the next 33 years, different plans were proposed, opposed, started, and put on hold; until finally, construction started in 1959. The bridge was designed by Chief Engineer Othmar Ammann who designed five other bridges in New York City. Surveying work for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge began in January 1959. The official construction on the bridge began on August 14, 1959, with a groundbreaking ceremony on the Staten Island anchorage. The first piece of the towers, a 300-foot piece of the tower on the Staten Island side, was lifted into place in October 1961, and this tower was topped out by September 1962. The Brooklyn tower started construction in April 1962. When the towers were fully erected, workers began the process of spinning the bridge’s cables. The American Bridge Company was selected to construct the cables and deck. The cable-spinning process began in March 1963, and took six months, since 142,520 miles of bridge cables had to be strung 104,432 times around the bridge. The main cables were hung on both sides of the span, and then suspender cables were hung from the bridge’s main

cables. The main cables were fully spun by August. In late 1963, builders started receiving the rectangular pieces that would make up the roadway deck. Each piece measured 28 ft high by approximately 115 ft wide and long. These pieces of the deck were then hung from the suspender cables. By early 1964, the span was nearly finished, and all

that remained was to secure the various parts of the bridge.

Completion

The Staten Island approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was the first part of the new project to be completed, and it opened in January 1964. The upper deck was opened on November 21, 1964, at a cost of $320 million (equivalent to $2.796 billion in present dollars). The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge became so popular among motorists that in March 1969, it was decided to erect the lower deck at a cost of $22 million. The Verrazano Bridge project caused around 7000 residents of Bay Ridge to lose their homes. But it also necessitated the construction of the Staten Island Expressway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The bridge ended up being a major contributor to the development of Staten Island. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (a Metropolitan Transportation Authority affiliate) owns the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The iconic suspended bridge has been featured in many movies and TV series. You might have spotted it in: The Usual Suspects, Saturday Night Fever, A Most Violent Year, and The Avengers. Other movies featuring the bridge are The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, Maniac (1980), Run for Your Life 1, The Sonnet Project, Around the World in 80 Days 2, and Marathon (1984). On the bridge’s opening day, about 500 cars crossed the bridge within the first hour (mostly from the Staten Island end). In 24 hours, about 10,000 crossed the 13,700 foot-span of the bridge. Today, the bridge averages nearly 200,000 vehicles in daily traffic.

https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/ verrazano-bridge

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