ABSTRACT
After the Brooklyn (1886) and Williamsburg (1903) Bridges, the Manhattan was the third East River suspension bridge to provide vehicular and rail traffic between the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. It was opened officially on December 31, 1909, by Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr., whose term was expiring on that date. About 30 m (100 ft) of the bridge lower roadway over Division Street in Manhattan consisted of temporary planking to allow the passage of the mayor’s motorcade
CONTENTS
1.1 Design and construction 1 1.1.1 The transportation demand 2 1.1.2 Preliminary designs 5 1.1.3 The third and final design 8 1.1.4 Construction firsts 11
1.1.4.1 Caisson construction 11 1.1.4.2 Towers 12 1.1.4.3 Cable spinning 12 1.1.4.4 Stiffening trusses 14 1.1.4.5 Design and construction timeline 15
1.1.5 Traffic 16 1.2 Life-cycle performance 16
1.2.1 Torsion 17 1.2.2 The stiffer performance 20 1.2.3 Rehabilitation/reconstruction 23
1.3 Anchorages 28 1.4 Cables 30 1.5 Suspenders 32 1.6 Life-cycle management 34
1.6.1 Ownership and landmark status 35 References 35
(New York Times, January 1, 1910). The Second Avenue elevated portion of the subway had to be lowered 6 ft over a length of 244 m (800 ft) to accommodate the bridge clearance (New York Times, December 5, 1909) in that area.
