George Washington Bridge
General Information
| Structural Type: |
Suspension bridge
|
|---|---|
| Function / usage: |
Motorway bridge / freeway bridge
|
| Other name(s): | GWB |
| Built: | 1927 - 1931 |
| Status: | in use |
Geographic Information & Related Structures
| Location: |
Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey, USA, North America Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, North America |
|---|---|
| Crosses |
|
Technical Information
Dimensions
| main span | 1067 m | |
| length of side spans | 186 m | |
| total length | 1 450 m | |
| deck | deck depth | 8.8 m |
| deck width | 36.3 m | |
| tower | tower height | 183 m |
Materials
| cables |
steel
|
|---|---|
| towers |
steel
|
| deck truss |
steel
|
Chronology
| 1932 | 5.5 Million vehicles use the bridge in that year. |
|---|---|
| 1958 - 1962 | A second deck, already included in the original design, is built. |
| 1962 | 20 Million vehicles use the bridge in that year. |
| 1965 | A private airplane hits the bridge. Pilot and bridge remain undamaged. |
| 1978 - 1979 | Upper deck reinforced concrete roadway replaced by orthotropic steel deck. |
Participants
- Othmar Ammann (chief engineer)
- Allston Dana (design engineer)
- Cass Gilbert (architect)
- William H. Burr (consulting engineer)
- George Washington Goethals (consulting engineer)
- Leon Solomon Moisseiff (consulting engineer)
- Daniel E. Moran (consulting engineer)
- Mongomery B. Chase (engineer of construction)
- Edward W. Stearns (assistant to chief engineer)
Original design
Contractor
- Bethlehem Steel Co. (lower deck)
- McClintic-Marshall Company (towers)
Cables
Rehabilitation
Design
Structural engineering
Relevant Web Sites
-
Bridge Pros: George Washington Bridge
-
Dave Frieder: George Washington Bridge
-
HAER: George Washington Bridge, Spanning Hudson River between Manhattan & Fort Lee, New York City, New York County, NY
-
LCPC Image Gallery: George Washington Bridge
-
NYC Roads: George Washington Bridge (I-95, US 1 and US 9)
-
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: George Washington Bridge
Relevant Publications
- Die innerstaatlichen Brücken zwischen New York und New Jersey [Teil 2], in "Schweizerische Bauzeitung", 21 June 1930, n. 25 v. 95
- Die innerstaatlichen Brücken zwischen New York und New Jersey [Teil 1], in "Schweizerische Bauzeitung", 14 June 1930, n. 24 v. 95
- General Conception and Development of Design, George Washington Bridge, in "Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers", 1933, n. 97
- History and Esthetics in Suspension Bridges, in "Journal of the Structural Division (ASCE)", August 1977 v. 103
- The Tower and the Bridge, Princeton University Press, Princeton (USA), ISBN 069102393X, 1983; pp. 36-37, 134-138
- Brücken, Karl Robert Langewiesche Verlag, Königstein im Taunus (Germany), 1956; pp. 110
- Bridges, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York (USA), ISBN 002517455X, 1993; pp. 102-103
- Landmarks in American Civil Engineering History, in "Civil Engineering Magazine", November - December 2002, n. 11-12 v. 72
- George Washington Bridge: Design of Superstructure, in "Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers", 1933, n. 97
- L'architecture et les ingénieurs, Moniteur, Paris (France), ISBN 2281190994, 1997; pp. 141
- Amman's First Bridge: A Study in Engineering, Politics and Entrepreneurial Behavior, in "Technology and Culture", July 1994, n. 3 v. 35
- Bridges, Black Dog & Leventhal, New York (USA), ISBN 1884822754, 1997; pp. 72-73
- Brücken, Könemann, Cologne (Germany), ISBN 3829004095, 1998; pp. 72-73
- Les ponts, Könemann, Cologne (Germany), ISBN 3829004109; pp. 72-73
- George Washington Bridge Redecked with Prefabricated, Prepaved Steel Panels, in "Civil Engineering Magazine", December 1977, n. 12 v. 47
- Brücken, die die Welt verbinden, Prestel, Munich (Germany), ISBN 3791327003, 2002; pp. 88-89
- Bridges that Changed the World, Prestel, Munich (Germany), ISBN 3791327011, 2002; pp. 88-89
- Great American Bridges and Dams, John Wiley & Sons, New York (USA), ISBN 0471143855, 1984; pp. 134-135
- Cable anchorage repairs on New York City suspension bridges, presented at Extending the Lifespan of Structures, IABSE Symposium, San Francisco, August 1995.
- Engineers of Dreams, Vintage Books, New York (USA), ISBN 0679730210, 1995; pp. 266-72
- L'art de l'ingénieur, Éditions du Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (France), ISBN 2858509115, 1997; pp. 209
- Les grands ponts du monde: Hors d'Europe, Brissaud, Poitiers (France), ISBN 2902170688, 1990; pp. 125-126
- The Bridges of New York, Dover Publications Inc., Mineola (USA), ISBN 048641230X, 2000; pp. 90-107
- Ammann's masterpieces reach 75, in "Bridge Design & Engineering", 4th Quarter 2006, n. 45 v. 12
- Main Cable Strand Inspection of the George Washington Bridge, in "Structural Engineering International", February 1996, n. 1 v. 6
- New York City für Architekten, Heike Werner Verlag, Munich (Germany), ISBN 3980947106, 2004; pp. 226
- Buiding bridges, Beton-Verlag, Düsseldorf (Germany), ISBN 3764001763, 1984
Internal Information
| Structure-ID: | s0000032 |
|---|---|
| Created: | 28/10/1998 |
| Last Updated: | 26/03/2013 |
