George Washington Bridge
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| George Washington Bridge | |
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| Carries | 14 lanes (8 upper, 6 lower) of I-95/US 1/US 9/US 46, pedestrians and bicycles |
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| Crosses | Hudson River |
| Locale | Fort Lee, New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City |
| Maintained by | Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |
| Design | Double-decked Suspension bridge |
| Longest span | 1,066.80 meters (3,500 feet) |
| Total length | 1,450.85 meters (4,760 feet) |
| Width | 36.27 meters (119 feet) |
| Vertical clearance | 14 feet (upper level), 13 feet 6 inches (lower level) |
| Clearance below | 64.62 meters (212 ft) at mid-span |
| Opening date | October 25, 1931 (upper level) August 29, 1962 (lower level) |
| Toll | cars $6.00 ($5 peak / $4 off-peak with E-ZPass) northbound only |
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- For the bridge in New York that crosses the Harlem River, see Washington Bridge.
The George Washington Bridge (known informally as the GW Bridge, the GWB, the GW, or the George) is a toll suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee in New Jersey by means of Interstate 95, U.S. Route 1/9. U.S. Route 46, which is entirely in New Jersey, ends halfway across the bridge at the state border. The GW is considered one of the world's busiest bridges in terms of vehicle traffic[1]; In 2004, the bridge carried 108,404,000 vehicles, with current AADT estimates of nearly 300,000 vehicles daily. This number is similar to that of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The GW span is the fourth largest suspension bridge in the U.S as of 2006.
The bridge contains two levels, an upper level with four lanes in each direction and a lower level with three lanes in each direction, for a total of 14 lanes of travel. Additionally, the bridge houses two paths on either side of the bridge for pedestrian traffic. The speed limit on the bridge is 45 mph (70 km/h), though heavy traffic is common and frequently makes it difficult to reach such speeds.
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[edit] History
Groundbreaking for the new bridge began in October 1927, a project of the Port of New York Authority. Its chief engineer was Othmar Ammann, with Cass Gilbert as architect. The bridge was dedicated on October 24, 1931, and opened to traffic the following day. Initially named the "Hudson River Bridge," the bridge is named in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States. The Bridge is near the sites of Fort Washington (on the New York side) and Fort Lee (in New Jersey), which were fortified positions used by General Washington and his American forces in his unsuccessful attempt to deter the British occupation of New York City in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War. In 1910 the Washington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a stone monument to the Battle of Fort Washington. The monument is located about 100 yards northeast of the lighthouse, up the hill towards the eastern bridge anchorage.
When it opened, the bridge had the longest main span in the world; at 1,067 m (3,500 ft), it nearly doubled the previous record of 564 m (1,850 ft), which had been held by the Ambassador Bridge. (The record has since been exceeded numerous times.) The total length of the bridge is 1,451 m (4,760 ft).
As originally built, the bridge offered six lanes of traffic, but in 1946, two additional lanes were provided on what is now the upper level. A second, lower deck, which had been anticipated in Ammann's original plans, was added, opening to the public on August 29, 1962. This lower level was waggishly nicknamed "Martha" by some. The additional deck increased the capacity of the bridge by 75 percent, making the George Washington Bridge the world's only 14-lane suspension bridge, providing eight lanes on the upper level and six on the lower deck. It was also originally planned that the towers of the bridge would be encased in concrete and granite. However, due to cost considerations during the Great Depression and favorable aesthetic critiques of the bare steel towers, this was never done. The exposed steel towers, with their distinctive criss-crossed bracing, have become one of the bridge's most identifiable characteristics.
Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret) said of the unadorned steel structure, "The George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is the most beautiful bridge in the world. Made of cables and steel beams, it gleams in the sky like a reversed arch. It is blessed. It is the only seat of grace in the disordered city. It is painted an aluminum color and, between water and sky, you see nothing but the bent cord supported by two steel towers. When your car moves up the ramp the two towers rise so high that it brings you happiness; their structure is so pure, so resolute, so regular that here, finally, steel architecture seems to laugh. The car reaches an unexpectedly wide apron; the second tower is very far away; innumerable vertical cables, gleaming against the sky, are suspended from the magisterial curve which swings down and then up. The rose-colored towers of New York appear, a vision whose harshness is mitigated by distance." (When the Cathedrals were White", 1947.)
Following the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington, the Port Authority prohibited people from taking photography on the premises of the bridge due to the fear that terrorist groups might study any potential photographs in order to plot a terrorist attack on the bridge. As the enclosed lower level is more vulnerable to hazardous material (HAZMAT) incidents than the upper level and most HAZMATs have been prohibited there even before the September 11th attacks, all trucks have also been banned from the lower after the September 11th attacks due to the fear that concealed HAZMATs could cause major incidents.[citation needed]
The George Washington Bridge is home to the world's largest free-flying American flag. The flag, located under the upper arch of the New Jersey tower, drapes vertically for 90 feet (27 m). The flag's stripes are about 5 feet (1.5 m) wide and the stars measure about 4 feet (1.2 m) in diameter. Weather permitting, the flag is flown on the following eight holidays: Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day.[citation needed]
[edit] Road connections
The George Washington Bridge carries I-95, US-1, and US-9 between New Jersey and New York. US-46 terminates at the state border in the middle of the bridge. I-80 and NJ-4 also feed into the bridge but end before reaching it. On the New Jersey side of the Bridge, the Palisades Interstate Parkway connects directly to the bridge's upper level, there were plans to give direct access to the lower level from the parkway but the plan has been postponed. The GW Bridge also connects to the New Jersey Turnpike.
On the New York side, the twelve-lane Cross Bronx Expressway heads east across the narrow neck of upper Manhattan, from the bridge to the Harlem River, providing access from both decks to 178th Street, the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Drive on the West Side of Manhattan, and to Amsterdam Avenue and the Harlem River Drive on the East Side. The Expressway connects directly with the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, which spans the Harlem River as part of the Cross-Bronx Expressway (I-95), providing access to the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87). Heading towards New Jersey, local access to the Bridge is available from 179th Street. There are also ramps connecting the bridge to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal, a commuter bus terminal with direct access to the New York City Subway at the 175th Street (A) station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line.
[edit] Tolls
Current tolls for cars are $6, $5 with E-ZPass (peak hours) and $4 off-peak. A special discounted carpool toll ($1) is available for cars with three or more passengers, at all times, with E-ZPass, who proceed through a staffed toll lane (provided they have previously opted-in to the free "Carpool Plan"). Current tolls for motorcycles are $5, $4 peak hours with E-ZPass, $3 off-peak. Trucks are charged $6 per axle, with significantly discounted off-peak and overnight tolls.[2] The toll is only charged one way (into New York), which is how all Hudson River crossings from the Tappan Zee Bridge south are tolled. Foot traffic and cyclists cross for free on sidewalks, one on each side of the upper deck, offering spectacular views of the Hudson River, the Manhattan skyline and the New Jersey Palisades. Pedestrians had to pay tolls of 10 cents shortly after the bridge opened, but non-motorized traffic is no longer tolled. The George Washington Bridge takes in approximately $1 million per day in tolls.
In January 2007, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced a deal with Geico, the auto insurance giant, that included the posting of a large billboard on top of the toll plaza that said "Geico Drive Safely," and Geico signs on the tollbooths and approach roads, some of which would feature the insurer's signature gecko. The arrangement would have provide the agency with $3.2 million over two years.[3] A week later, however, the Port Authority cancelled the contract with Geico after criticism that the signs would mar the landmarked bridge, that the Port Authority had failed to negotiate a good price for the deal and that the placement of the signs might violate Fort Lee's regulations.[4]
[edit] Non-motorized access
The George Washington Bridge is also popular among sightseers and commuters traveling by foot, bicycle, or roller skates. Normally the North sidewalk is for pedestrians only, and the South sidewalk (accessible by a long, steep ramp on the Manhattan side of the bridge) is shared by bicyclists and pedestrians. The South sidewalk, while requiring a climb / descent of the ramp on the New York side, offers the easiest access for bicyclists, with a level surface from end to end. The North sidewalk requires stairway climbs and descents on both sides, always an inconvenience and obstables to handicapped people, and a greater risk in poor weather conditions.
From September 12, 2005 through September 2006, bicycle and pedestrian access to the George Washington Bridge is being affected by Port Authority construction (tower painting including lead removal). Until June 18, 2006, the North sidewalk was closed for construction and the South sidewalk was open from 6:00 AM to midnight for both pedestrians and bicyclists. From June 19, 2006 to October 13, 2006 at approximately 3 p.m, the North sidewalk was open from 6:00 AM to midnight and the South sidewalk was closed at all times. From October 13, 2006 at approximately 3 p.m, the South sidewalk is open from 6:00 AM to midnight and the North sidewalk is closed at all times. The Port Authority explains that periodically closing either sidewalk is to remove contractor's equipment.[5].
Transportation Alternatives, a New York City advocacy group, has proposed an enhanced River Road connector in Fort Lee, which would create safer pedestrian and bicycle access to the George Washington Bridge on the New Jersey side of the bridge.[6]
[edit] The GW in popular culture
- The GWB's first movie appearance was in Ball of Fire (1941), and it subsequently appeared in How to Marry a Millionaire, The In-Laws, Desperately Seeking Susan and Manhattan Murder Mystery. The bridge features prominently in the 1997 movie Cop Land, its lower deck serving as a site for an important early scene and the entire bridge acting as a symbolic barrier between Manhattan and the small towns across the river in New Jersey. A memorable quote from Cop Land is when actor John Spencer speaks into his radio following the apparent suicide of a NYPD police officer: "We've got a man off the [censorship preserved] G.W.!"
- In a scene in The Godfather (1972), enroute to a dinner meeting at which Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) plans to murder family enemy Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) and Sollozzo's bodyguard, Police Captain Mark McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), the car in which they are riding is shown heading westbound across the New York/New Jersey state line on the George Washington Bridge. Michael, trying to hide his surprise that the car is not bringing them to the Bronx restaurant at which he plans to commit the murder (and at which a gun has been hidden for his use), asks Sollozzo, "We're going to Jersey?," and Sollozzo cryptically answers, "Maybe." Suddenly Sollozzo's driver, Lou, makes a screeching, harrowing U-turn across the center median, and the car heads back to New York City. In real life, however, the bridge used for filming the U-turn was not the George Washington Bridge, but the Queensborough Bridge over the East River.
- Harry Belafonte encounters the bridge choked with abandoned cars in The World, the Flesh and the Devil.
- The bridge's construction is featured in the 1942 children's book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Swift and illustrated by Lynd Ward (ISBN 0-15-204571-6). In the book, a small lighthouse on the Manhattan shore fears it will be overshadowed and rendered useless by the bridge's tall towers and bright lights -- but is reassured that the bridge's lights are for airplanes, not ships. The lighthouse is currently owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
- An episode of I Love Lucy concludes with the show's four main cast members beginning a motor trip from New York City to Hollywood, while driving across the George Washington Bridge and singing California, Here I Come.
- In the film Network, William Holden's character twice tells the story of how, as a young reporter, he was awakened early in the morning to report on an accident on the bridge. His news crew is waiting for him on the bridge. So he hails a cab outside his apartment, and tells the driver, "Take me to the middle of the George Washington Bridge!" And the driver tells him, "Don't do it, buddy! You're young! You've got your whole life ahead of you!"
- In The Amazing Spider-Man comic books (issue #121), Spider-Man's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, is kidnapped and held at a bridge by the Green Goblin. The artwork depicts the Brooklyn Bridge, but the editor mistakenly labeled it as the George Washington Bridge. In addition to that, in Spider-Man: The Animated Series Mary Jane is thrown off the George Washington Bridge by the Green Goblin.
- The bridge also appeared in X-Men as the team approaches the Statue of Liberty.
- American composer William Schuman wrote The George Washington Bridge for concert band in 1950.
- The GWB appears in Stephen King's Dark Tower books, both in New York and the city of Lud.
- In 2005, a drug bust occurred after a truck driver made the mistake of using the lower deck (which disallows trucks), causing him to be stopped by police, who then found the marijuana that the truck was carrying.
- In Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, the main character and her family drive across the bridge as they relocate from Manhattan to New Jersey.
- On The Cosby Show, Cliff anticipates his daughter Sondra's moving out of the house, and says to help her leave, he would, "CRAWL across the George Washington Bridge..."
- Babylon Rising: The Europa Conspiracy, By Tim Lahaye includes a fictional plot to detonate a dirty bomb over the George Washington Bridge.
- A portion of one of the greatest car-chase scenes on film, "The Seven Ups", takes place on the GWB. Also shown is the bus terminal that is part of bridge complex.
- The bridge is mentioned in the song "The Cause of Death" by Immortal Technique, who claims that on 9/11 there was a news report of four non-Arabs who planted bombs on the bridge. However, the news report went unnoticed and seems only to be a conspiracy theory now.[7]
- In the PlayStation 2 game, Metal Gear Solid 2, The Tanker Chapter starts out with Solid Snake leaping off of The George Washington Bridge onto the USS Discovery.
[edit] References
- ^ George Washington Bridge turns 75 years old: Huge flag, cake part of celebration, Times Herald-Record, October 24, 2006. "The party, however, will be small in comparison to the one that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey organized for 5,000 people to open the bridge to traffic in 1931. And it won't even be on what is now the world's busiest bridge for fear of snarling traffic."
- ^ Port Authority Toll Rates (reprint 2002), accessed October 22, 2006
- ^ The New York Times. "With Ad Deal, Insurer Wades Into Bridge Traffic.", January 4, 2006.
- ^ The New York Times. "Agency Cancels Insurer’s Ads for George Washington Bridge.", January 9, 2006
- ^ George Washington Bridge: Pedestrians and Bicyclists Latest update, accessed October 22, 2006
- ^ Support Grows in NJ for GW Bridge to "River Road" Connector Path, Transportation Alternatives Magazine, Summer 2003
- ^ Lueck, Thomas J.. "Bomb Scare On Bridge", New York Times, 21 August 2002. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
[edit] External links
- Port Authority of New York and New Jersey George Washington Bridge Official Site
- NYCRoads.com: George Washington Bridge
- George Washington Bridge Webcam
- Fort Lee Online
- Library of Congress "Local Legacies"
- Official site of Transportation Alternatives, New York
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
| Preceded by Ambassador Bridge |
Largest Suspension Bridge 1931 - 1937 |
Succeeded by Golden Gate Bridge |
| Crossings of the Hudson River | |||
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| Upstream Tappan Zee Bridge    |
George Washington Bridge    |
Downstream Lincoln Tunnel   |
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Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Hudson River crossings | Bridges completed in 1931 | Washington Heights (New York) | Historic civil engineering landmarks | Port Authority of New York and New Jersey | Suspension bridges | Toll bridges in New York City | Toll bridges in New Jersey | Tolled sections of Interstate Highways | Interstate 95 | U.S. Route 1 | U.S. Route 9
