Williamsburg Bridge
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox Bridge
The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge across the East River in New York City, connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Originally known as the East River Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge was completed in 1903 and, at Template:Convert long, was the longest suspension bridge span in the world until 1924.
Proposed in January 1892, the bridge project was approved in 1895. Work began on June 19, 1896, under chief engineer Leffert L. Buck. Despite delays and funding shortfalls, the bridge opened on December 19, 1903. In addition to roads, walkways, and New York City Subway tracks, the bridge had four trolley tracks, which were replaced with roads in 1936 and 1949. The bridge underwent a substantial renovation in the 1980s and 1990s following the discovery of severe structural defects, and it was again being renovated in the 2020s.
The Williamsburg Bridge's main span is Template:Convert long and is carried on four main cables, which are suspended from two Template:Convert towers. Unlike similar suspension bridges, the side spans are supported by trusswork and additional towers. The Template:Convert deck carries eight lanes of vehicular traffic, two subway tracks, and two walkway and bike paths that merge in Manhattan. The bridge is one of four vehicular bridges directly connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island, along with the Queensboro Bridge to the north and the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges to the south.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The bridge also serves as a connector highway to and from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I-278) in Brooklyn.
Development
Planning
Legislation to incorporate the East River Bridge Company was introduced in the New York State Legislature in January 1892. The company wished to build a suspension bridge across the East River from Manhattan, within New York City, to the then-separate city of Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The company was incorporated on March 9, 1892.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The East River Bridge Company, led by Frederick Uhlmann, was authorized to construct two bridges from Manhattan to Brooklyn, one of which would run to Broadway in the Eastern District of Brooklyn (later known as Williamsburg).<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The United States Secretary of War approved the span to Williamsburg in January 1893 under the condition that the bridge be at least Template:Convert high at its center.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref>
The East River Bridge Company's capital stock was set at $2 million in mid-1893,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1895">Template:Cite news</ref> and three men were appointed as bridge commissioners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An elevated rapid transit line on the bridge was approved in September.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The commissioners submitted a report on the planned bridge to the New York Supreme Court in October,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> but the Supreme Court ruled in January 1894 that the $2 million in capital stock was not sufficient to fund the bridge's construction.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news</ref> The East River Bridge Company dug a hole for one of the bridge's piers in Brooklyn on February 15, 1894, to prevent the company's charter from expiring.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Court of Appeals, the state's high court, upheld the Supreme Court ruling October.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The company's directors held a meeting that November to devise a timeline for the bridge's construction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Concurrently, a London-based firm offered to finance the bridge, and the company moved to condemn a property in the path of the bridge's Manhattan approach.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1895" />
In March 1895, Charles A. Schieren, mayor of Brooklyn, requested that his corporation council draft a bill for the East River Bridge between Broadway in Brooklyn and Grand Street in Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The same month, the State Legislature considered a bill to terminate the East River Bridge Company's charter.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Schieren and New York City mayor William L. Strong agreed in April to jointly fund the bridge<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and appoint a group of commissioners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Schieren appointed three commissioners that June,<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news</ref> and the commissioners proposed hiring an engineer and issuing bonds the next month.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1895" /> Uhlmann proposed turning over his company's assets to the commissioners,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> who initially rejected his offer.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The commission decided to buy Uhlmann's charter in December 1895.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A State Supreme Court justice issued an injunction against this purchase in March 1896;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> this decision was reversed on appeal,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and another Supreme Court justice ratified this purchase that June.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
Initial construction
Borings and land negotiations
Leffert L. Buck was hired as the East River Bridge's chief engineer at the beginning of August 1895.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The next month, a contractor was hired to create five preliminary borings for the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Early the next year, the mayors of Brooklyn and New York City agreed to appropriate $250,000 each for the bridge's construction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Buck presented revised plans for the East River Bridge in February 1896, lowering its maximum height to Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> The revisions were approved by the War Department<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> and the New York Harbor Line Board shortly thereafter, and the commissioners decided to issue $1 million in bonds to fund construction.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> In March, the East River Bridge Commission requested bids for the excavation of holes for the bridge's caissons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As workers excavated the holes, Buck prepared plans for the bridge's anchorages and piers.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
As late as June 1896, the commissioners considered placing the bridge's Manhattan terminus at Grand Street.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> That month, the commissioners decided to move the bridge's Manhattan terminus to Delancey and Clinton streets to avoid the narrowness of Grand Street.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> In Brooklyn, the approach was straightened to avoid the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1899">Template:Cite news</ref> Work on the bridge commenced in earnest on June 19, 1896, when contractors began excavating holes for the towers' foundations in the East River.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The final plans were adopted on July 22,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> allowing the commissioners to request bids for construction contracts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Buck's plans were adopted that August.<ref name="n137244761">Template:Cite news</ref> By September 1896, the bridge's completion had been delayed by one year due to a lack of money.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Brooklyn government<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the New York City government both attempted to sell bonds to little avail.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
As part of the Williamsburg Bridge's construction, a Template:Convert strip of land next to Delancey Street was to be condemned.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This strip included St. Rose of Lima Church, several schools,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Dutch row houses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge commissioners took over a ferry slip at the end of Delancey Street that had belonged to the Brooklyn and New York Ferry Company in October 1896.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Williamsburg, the bridge commissioners considered either closing or widening South 5th Street.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The commissioners negotiated with the American Sugar Refining Company to acquire the latter's land on the Brooklyn shoreline;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the commissioners offered the company $350,000 in late 1896, but the firm refused to sell.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Negotiations for the land in Brooklyn were still ongoing, complicated by that city's lack of money.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Caisson and anchorage contracts
The commissioners requested bids for the caissons in October 1896,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Patrick H. Flynn received the contract for the caissons the same month.<ref name="n137244761" /><ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Flynn obtained land at North 2nd Street in Brooklyn soon afterward<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and manufactured his caissons at a shipyard there.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Caisson workers toiled in three eight-hour shifts of 30 to 50 men each.<ref name="The Standard Union 1897">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1897-03-28">Template:Cite news</ref> After the caissons were complete, they were floated to either side of the river.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During February 1897, the bridge commissioners took over the land at the end of Delancey Street.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> New York governor Frank S. Black signed two bills in May 1897, which allowed the bridge commissioners to lease space under the approaches and close part of South 5th Street for the bridge's Brooklyn approach.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> The first caisson was completed the same month<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and towed to Delancey Street in Manhattan on May 15.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1897">Template:Cite news</ref> The contract for the Brooklyn suspension tower's foundation was put up for bidding the following day.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1897" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A cofferdam was built around each caisson to prevent them from being flooded,<ref name="Scientific American 1897" />Template:Rp<ref name="Railroad Gazette 1897 2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and workers excavated dirt for the foundations from within the caissons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Colin McLean was hired to build the Brooklyn suspension tower's foundations in June,<ref name="n137244761" /> and the last of the bridge's four caissons was launched in December 1897.<ref name="The Standard Union 1897 2">Template:Cite news</ref>
The state legislature passed a bill in May 1897 to straighten the bridge's Brooklyn approach.<ref name="n137244761" /> The East River Bridge Commission paid the American Sugar Refining Company $350,000 for their land in July.<ref name="The Hartford Courant 1896" /> The next month, the mayors of Brooklyn and New York City sued several property owners whose land was in the path of the bridge's approaches,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a judge ruled that one Brooklyn landowner who had refused to sell had to give up their land.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The commissioners began soliciting bids for the anchorages in September.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1897 2">Template:Cite news</ref> The Degnon-McLean Construction Company was hired to build the Brooklyn anchorage;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> a state judge refused to re-award the contract to a competing bidder.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Shanly & Ryan, who had been hired to build the Manhattan anchorage, began constructing their anchorage that October.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The next month, the bridge commissioners obtained underwater land on the Brooklyn side for the bridge's abutments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Progress between 1898 and 1901
By the end of 1897, Brooklyn and Manhattan were about to be merged into the City of Greater New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first mayor of the unified city, Robert Anderson Van Wyck, removed the existing bridge commissioners in January 1898, citing extravagance and delays; he appointed six new commissioners.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The old commissioners' removal prompted state legislation for their reinstatement<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a lawsuit against the New York City government.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> A New York Supreme Court justice ruled in June that the old commissioners had to be reinstated,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news</ref> although the decision was overturned on appeal the following month.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A state senator proposed a bipartisan state commission in January 1899 to oversee the bridge's construction,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> but the bill was rejected.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The state's high court, the New York Court of Appeals, ruled against the original commissioners in February 1899.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Following the passage of further legislation in 1901, the East River Bridge commissioners were replaced with the city's Commissioner of Bridges effective January 1, 1902.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
There had been several deaths during construction, with the first fatal accident in December 1897.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Another worker was killed by a derrick's boom in 1898;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> two workers were killed in separate falls from the bridge in May 1900;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web</ref> the main steelwork engineer died after falling from the Brooklyn approach in September 1900;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a foreman drowned in March 1902.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Financial shortfalls
The commissioners had planned to award a contract for the suspension towers in February 1898, but this was delayed because of the commission's financial shortfalls.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although the commission was promised $500,000 at the beginning of that March,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> it had less than $1,000 in its bank account and needed $4.14 million to award contracts and pay debts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By April 1898, work was progressing on the anchorages and the piers above each caisson,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the commission had so little money that it could not pay commissioners' salaries or even the rent for its headquarters.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Work on the anchorages was also delayed by labor strikes and stormy weather.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1899" /> The commissioners finally received $200,000 that May to pay off existing debts,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> but the city had yet to issue $4 million in bonds for the bridge's continued construction.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The Board of Estimate approved $2.487 million in bonds in July 1898,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> which was used to pay for the anchorages and foundations.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The commission still needed another $640,000 to compensate landowners; the design was nearly completed at this point.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The bridge commission again met in August 1898 to decide whether to solicit bids for the towers and decks.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> That September, workers complained that they were not being paid;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> by then, the foundations were near completion.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The commission received $2 million the same month, enough to pay off debts through the end of the year.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge commission would still be $500,000 in debt at the beginning of 1899,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and contracts for the side spans had not even been awarded.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A continued lack of funds slowed down construction on the bridge during most of 1899.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The Board of Estimate approved $1.5 million in bonds for the towers and side spans in January 1899;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> it also approved $500,000 in bonds that May for land acquisition<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and $4 million for cables and land acquisition in July,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> though the New York City Council delayed a vote on the latter issue, which Van Wyck could not approve until December.<ref name="Times Union 1899">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Buck estimated that the funding delays had pushed construction back by two and a half years.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1899">Template:Cite news</ref>
Tower, deck, and cable contracts
In February 1899, the New Jersey Steel and Iron Company received a $1,220,230 contract to build the towers and side spans;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the contract was nearly twice the $620,000 cost estimate.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A granite cutters' strike the next month slowed progress on the anchorages briefly.<ref>For the start of the strike, see: Template:Cite news For the strike having ended, see: Template:Cite news</ref> By late 1899, falsework was being installed in advance of the suspension towers' construction.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1899 2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1899">Template:Cite news</ref> That November, the bridge commissioners began requesting bids for the construction of the cables.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1899" /><ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Washington Roebling, the sole bidder, received the cable contract in December 1899 for $1.4 million,<ref name="Times Union 1899" /> nearly $600,000 more than the bridge commission's original estimate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The pier foundations and anchorages were almost complete by the beginning of 1900.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The foundation of the Brooklyn suspension tower was finished that February,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while the Manhattan tower's foundations were still under construction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Workers used derricks to erect the pieces of the suspension towers, which measured Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Because of the extreme heights of each tower, one reporter for the Buffalo Courier-Express described the workers as "giving daily performances of a most daring character",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while a reporter for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle described the workers as performing "daily circus feats".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The suspension towers on either side of the river were half complete by May 1900,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but work was delayed later that year by an ironworkers' strike.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The cable contract was "well under way" by that November,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and workers began planning four temporary footbridges to help them construct the main cables.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The cable saddles on the tops of the towers were completed the next month.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1900 2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Carbon Steel Company received a contract in January 1901 for Template:Convert of steel wire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The wires were manufactured in pieces measuring Template:Convert long and weighing Template:Convert.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1901">Template:Cite news</ref> The first wires were ready to be installed by February 1901,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> after the wooden falsework had been disassembled.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901" /> Work on temporary cables for the footbridges began in April<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and was completed within a month.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The first footbridge was completed in June<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was quickly followed by the footbridges for the three other cables.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
By mid-1901, workers were ready to weave wires for the main cables,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Template:Convert of wire had been delivered to the construction site.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901 3">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A machine was placed on the Manhattan anchorage to weave the wires.<ref name="Cincinnati Enquirer 1901">Template:Cite news</ref> The Roeblings also ordered eight guide wires for the wheels that would carry the main cables' wires across the river.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901 3" /><ref name="Scientific American 1902">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The first wire was strung across the East River on November 27, 1901.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The Roeblings requested ten months to finish the wires,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> but city bridge commissioner Gustav Lindenthal refused to extend the deadline past April 1902.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1902" /> Work on each of the four cables proceeded simultaneously.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Workers were able to string 50 wires in each strand during a 10-hour workday, or 400 wires per day in total.<ref name="Scientific American 1902" /> After each strand was completed, it was permanently attached to the eyebars in either anchorage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To save money, the wires were covered with oil and graphite, rather than galvanized; the Roebling Company was hesitant to use ungalvanized wire, but city officials claimed that the oil and graphite mix was adequate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The last major contract for the bridge was for the central span's deck.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901 2">Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge commissioners solicited bids for the deck in April 1901,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the Pennsylvania Steel Company submitted the lowest bid.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Though a local resident sued to stop Pennsylvania Steel from receiving the contract,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the city allowed the firm to sublease the work to the United Engineering and Construction Company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Approach contracts and plans
The bridge commissioners were authorized to finalize the purchase of land for the Brooklyn approach in December 1899,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> but it took seven months for the Board of Estimate to approve bonds for the purchase.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Buck estimated that it would take four to six months to raze all the buildings in the bridge's path.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge commissioners began soliciting bids for the approach viaducts in April 1900<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1900">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and received bids the next month.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> More property was acquired for the approaches in June,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> but the viaducts' construction were delayed because bonds had not been issued<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and because of disputes over the bids.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The commissioners rejected the initial bids for the viaducts<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and solicited new proposals in July 1900.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The following month, a state justice placed an injunction preventing the commissioners from awarding a contract for the viaducts.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The injunction was lifted that October,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the Pennsylvania Steel Company received the contract for the viaducts.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Van Wyck approved another bond issue of $4 million in November 1900, most of which was to be used to pay the Pennsylvania Steel Company.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
For the approaches, the commissioners acquired hundreds of land lots and relocated 10,000 people.<ref name="The New York Times 1902">Template:Cite news</ref> Condemnation commissioners were appointed to seize land for the viaducts in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. The Brooklyn commissioners were appointed in November 1900.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There were disputes over the qualifications of the Manhattan commissioners,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> so condemnation in Manhattan did not begin until March 1901.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Work on the Brooklyn viaduct began in May 1901,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and Pennsylvania Steel began delivering steel for the viaducts that July.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Manhattan viaduct commenced the next month,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> but a lack of steel delayed further work,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the buildings in Manhattan took longer to demolish than those in Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New-York Tribune estimated that it would cost about $10 million to construct Template:Convert of approach viaducts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although landowners on the Brooklyn side were supposed to have been compensated in 1902,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the compensation was delayed by one year.
A street (now Borinquen Place) was planned to run diagonally from the end of the Brooklyn approach viaduct to the intersection of Grand Street and Union Avenue,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the bridge commissioners and local merchants agreed to build the street in 1900.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> South 5th Street in Brooklyn, which had been replaced by the Brooklyn approach viaduct, was realigned during early 1902.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A plaza was also to be created to the east of Driggs Avenue;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the city acquired land for the plaza in July 1902.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Roebling Street, which led to the bridge's Brooklyn plaza, was to be widened.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Manhattan, several competing proposals were put forth for a street connecting to the Manhattan approach viaduct,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> each of which cost several million dollars.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One particularly contentious proposal was for a street running from the intersection of Delancey and Norfolk Street to Cooper Square.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December 1901, the city agreed to widen Delancey Street, build a plaza between Norfolk and Clinton streets, and extend Delancey Street west to Lafayette Street.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news</ref> A smaller plaza in Manhattan was approved between Suffolk and Clinton streets in early 1903,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> but there were delays in the widening of Delancey Street.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To distribute traffic across the Lower East Side, Allen Street was also widened after the bridge was finished.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Lindenthal takeover and completion
Gustav Lindenthal took office as the city's bridge commissioner on January 1, 1902,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and predicted the bridge could be finished within 20 months.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The anchorages, towers, and approaches were finished at the time,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the main cables were only one-fifth completed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Edward M. Grout, who became city controller the same year, decided to acquire the remaining land for the bridge via private purchase rather than via condemnation.<ref name="n137244225">Template:Cite news</ref> The East River Bridge was renamed the Williamsburg Bridge in March 1902.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Soon after, several engineers working on the bridge resigned, and Lindenthal also asked for Buck's resignation.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Lindenthal promised to fine the Roeblings $1,000 a day once their contract expired that April.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> He made his first official visit to the bridge at the beginning of that May,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and he agreed to retain Buck as a consulting engineer.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Mayor Seth Low visited the bridge in June,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the main cables were completed later that month.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
Hornbostel filed modified plans for the piers and anchorages in July<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and announced that the bridge would be illuminated at night.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Railings were being installed on the nearly-complete Brooklyn approach viaduct,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> workers began installing vertical suspender cables,<ref name="n137244225" /> and the Manhattan viaduct was proceeding slowly due to steel shortages.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> That September, public hearings on the widening and extension of Delancey Street were held,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and Low approved changes of grade for several streets around the bridge's approach viaducts.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The Roebling Company negotiated a contract with Lindenthal in October to avoid paying a fine for the cables,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and they also began wrapping the cables with duck cloth.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A judge ruled in 1905 that the city could not penalize the Roeblings for the delays.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
Following a fire on the Brooklyn side in November 1902,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the cables sustained $50,000 in damage.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Work on the cables resumed in mid-December 1902.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the beginning of 1903, the Manhattan approach was still less than half complete; workers were also constructing the main span across the East River, starting at either suspension tower and progressing toward the middle.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 3">Template:Cite news</ref> The same month, the waterproofing of the main cables was finished,<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 3" /> and the Municipal Art Commission approved some of Henry Hornbostel's proposed decorations for the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> After asking Hornbostel to redesign minarets atop the towers,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although the revised plans were rejected as too expensive.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Manhattan and Brooklyn halves of the main span were riveted together at the end of February 1903.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Contracts for the main span's steel underfloor and wood pavements were awarded that June.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> The Williamsburg Bridge was 98 percent complete as of that month,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the damaged cables were still being repaired, and workers were painting and riveting the bridge and its approach viaducts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Board of Estimate appropriated $1.55 million for the bridge at the beginning of July.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> By then, residents of Williamsburg had expressed concerns that the bridge would not open as scheduled at the end of that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The next month, Lindenthal requested bids to infill the tops of the anchorages with concrete,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and he received bids for the completion of the roadways and the approach viaducts' decks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Workers also cleared land for the Williamsburg Bridge's Brooklyn plaza<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and began constructing a playground beneath the Brooklyn approach viaduct.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lindenthal requested bids for the footpaths that September.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The flooring and pavement of the bridge's north roadway was laid first, followed by that of the south roadway.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> By late October, paving had commenced at the Brooklyn end,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and Lindenthal had received bids for the paving of the Brooklyn plaza.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Almost everything was complete the following month, aside from paving, some riveting, and anchorage arches.<ref name="nyt-1903-11-10">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Local civic organizations planned celebrations in advance of the bridge's opening.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1903-11-29">Template:Cite news</ref> Low inspected the bridge on December 12, a week before its scheduled opening.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
Operational history
Opening and 1900s
The bridge opened on December 19, 1903, with fireworks and parades.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2">Template:Cite news</ref> The span had cost $11 million ($Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation/year).<ref name="nyt-1903-11-29" /><ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /> The footpaths and northern roadway were not complete.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> No streetcar tracks had been laid,<ref name="nyt-1903-11-10" /> and the rapid transit tracks (carrying the New York City Subway) ended in midair on the Manhattan side and could not be used.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Both pedestrians and vehicles shared the southern roadway; pedestrians were allowed to use the northern roadway starting January 21, 1904.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> George B. McClellan Jr., who had become mayor at the beginning of the year, wanted streetcar service across the bridge as soon as possible.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The city's bridge commissioner received bids for the construction of streetcar tracks that April,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and one of the dedicated pedestrian paths opened without ceremony on April 23.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
At the end of May, the north roadway formally opened to vehicles, and the bridge's lights were turned on for the first time.<ref name="n137248339">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A street vendors' market opened under the Manhattan approach in mid-1904, despite opposition from some street vendors.<ref name="nyt-1904-07-03">Template:Cite news</ref> Streetcar service on the bridge commenced November 4, 1904; there were surface-level streetcar terminals at both ends.<ref name="n571601151">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> After streetcar service began on the bridge, the Manhattan end became congested.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 1905, officials planned to build underground terminals for both rapid transit and streetcar lines.<ref name="nyt-1905-08-17">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Upon the bridge's second anniversary in December 1905, the bridge received over $100,000 annually in revenue,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but, by the next year, the bridge's revenues were almost entirely canceled out by its expenses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, the bridge's main span had shifted Template:Convert toward Brooklyn by late 1906, and rapid transit service on the bridge could not run until the misalignment was fixed.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
The Wall Street Journal wrote in 1907 that, even as the rapid transit tracks lay unused, vehicular congestion on the Williamsburg Bridge rivaled that on the Brooklyn Bridge;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> another critic said that only ten percent of the bridge's capacity was actively being used.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The underground streetcar terminal in Manhattan opened in May 1908.<ref name="p572112654">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> When rapid transit service began running across the bridge that September,<ref name="p572116957">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote that the bridge's capacity had increased by several hundred percent.<ref name="n137387805">Template:Cite news</ref> The opening of the bridge's rapid transit tracks had been expected to draw passengers away from the streetcars.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The City Club of New York, later that year, requested that engineers inspect the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Engineers were planning to strengthen the bridge by late 1909, amid a sharp increase in traffic; the city's bridge commissioners denied that the bridge was unsafe.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
1910s and 1920s
By 1912, some of the smaller cables in the bridge's anchorages had already snapped,<ref name="Boorstin 1987">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n138037718">Template:Cite news</ref> as they had not been galvanized during construction.<ref name="n26645265">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Levine 1987">Template:Cite news</ref> To strengthen the bridge, workers installed new pins to connect the trusses of the approach spans and main span, which was completed in 1914.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p527713447a">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Workers also added several support towers under either side span.<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /><ref name="p527713447a" /> The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) threatened to stop operating streetcars across the bridge in 1915 due to disagreements over streetcar fees.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A state judge ruled the next year that the BRT did not have to pay any fees because it also ran rapid transit across the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Through the late 1910s, there were continued disputes over whether streetcar companies should pay to use the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One city official claimed in 1918 that congestion on the Williamsburg Bridge had worsened because the BRT sent streetcars across the bridge without paying any fees.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Plant and Structures commissioner John H. Delaney proposed constructing an extra roadway for motor vehicles in 1919;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the southern walkway would have been converted for vehicular use, and all pedestrians would have been required to use the northern walkway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge underwent emergency repairs in mid-1920 following a fire.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, commercial vehicles used the north roadway and personal vehicles used the south roadway in both directions.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> In an attempt to alleviate congestion, during September 1920, the bridge carried westbound traffic only in the morning and eastbound traffic only in the afternoon; it carried traffic in both directions at other times.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The next month, mayor John Francis Hylan decreed that all westbound vehicles use the north roadway and all eastbound vehicles use the south roadway.<ref name=":1" /> There was an unsuccessful petition in 1921 to rename the bridge after former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> another effort in 1922 sought to rename the span the Broadway Bridge, after the street at its Brooklyn end.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A galvanized sheath was placed around each of the main cables in 1922 to reduce damage, but water in the main cables caused the wires to rust.<ref name="Levine 1987" />
In 1925, Plant and Structures commissioner William Wirt Mills announced plans to construct two vehicular roadways on the bridge for $1.5 million. One of the roadways would have replaced the underused streetcar tracks on the north side of the bridge, while the other roadway would have been built above the remaining tracks on the south side.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The same year, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the BRT's successor, announced that it would replace the Williamsburg Bridge's subway tracks.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The span carried an average of 35,000 vehicles daily by 1926.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An engineering report, commissioned for the city government in November 1929, suggested that an overpass be built over Clinton Street in Manhattan, and that trolley tracks on the Brooklyn side be rerouted, to reduce congestion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> City alderman Stephen A. Rudd also proposed linking the Brooklyn approach to Bushwick Avenue to alleviate congestion in that borough.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
1930s and 1940s
The trolley lines on the north side of the Williamsburg Bridge stopped running in January 1932 because the operators could not afford to repair the degraded tracks.<ref name="p1114848426">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> City officials immediately announced plans to convert the tracks into an Template:Convert roadway;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> later that year, workers began strengthening the bridge to accommodate the roadway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The tracks were being removed by 1933,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but further progress was delayed because of a labor shortage,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and work was halted at one point due to a lack of funds.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The work also involved correcting the settlement of seven columns in Manhattan,<ref name="p1287057821" /> as well as new recreation areas at the bridge's Brooklyn end.<ref name="p1287057821">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Workers also discovered in 1934 that the portions of the cables in the anchorages were leaking.<ref name="Levine 1987" /><ref name="n138037718" /> The two additional lanes, forming the northern inner roadway, ultimately cost $400,000<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and opened on December 22, 1936, bringing the bridge's vehicular capacity to six lanes.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The northern inner roadway initially functioned as a reversible traffic lane.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By then, the bridge carried up to 50,000 vehicles a day (up from 2,900 daily vehicles in 1904), and other East River bridges were similarly congested.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In June 1938, the Public Works Administration provided a grant to help fund the replacement of the outer roadways, which was to cost $334,000.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The pedestrian path was also to be replaced for $200,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city's Department of Public Works closed the northern outer roadway in April 1939 for reconstruction,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and it reopened that June.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Work on the southern outer roadway began in September,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and that roadway reopened two months later, although workers were still rebuilding the railings on both of the outer roadways.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> As part of a Works Progress Administration project, the approach viaducts of all three roadways were repaved in concrete in 1941.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Workers poured Template:Convert of linseed oil onto the cables during the 1940s in attempts to prevent corrosion.<ref name="n138037718" /><ref name="p277845353">Template:Cite news</ref>
By 1946, the city government planned to spend $127,000 on structural repairs to the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The southern outer roadway was closed for repairs starting in April 1947,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and rollers under the bridge's suspension towers were replaced the same year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The south outer roadway was completed in November 1947,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the north outer roadway was closed in February 1948.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Meanwhile, the New York City Board of Estimate allocated $2.6 million in the city's 1948 capital budget to replace the bridge's south-side streetcar tracks with a roadway.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> All streetcar service ceased in December 1948,<ref name="The New York Times 1948" /> and construction on the south inner roadway began immediately after streetcar service ended.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The new roadway opened October 31, 1949.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> In conjunction with these projects, Delancey Street in Manhattan was widened to reduce congestion at the bridge's entrance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1950s to 1970s
The Horn Construction Company was hired in late 1949 to construct a short viaduct from the bridge's Brooklyn end to the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> This viaduct was completed in 1952, along with a section of the expressway to the Kosciuszko Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> During that decade, the city government employed one man to inspect the bridge regularly for cracks in the steelwork and the roadway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge's roadways were repaved, and the structure itself was repainted, starting in late 1961;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> workers again poured oil treatments on the Williamsburg Bridge's cables a few years later.<ref name="Levine 1987" /><ref name="n138037718" /> During the 1966 New York City transit strike, four of the lanes were converted to reversible lanes.<ref>Template:Unbulleted list citebundle</ref> Inspectors found varying degrees of corrosion under the bridge's outer roadways in 1969,<ref name="Johnson 1988">Template:Cite news</ref> and the approach viaducts were again repaved the next year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
An engineering consultant recommended in 1971 that the steelwork for the approaches be repaired. Although the approaches were repainted in 1973, the steelwork was not repaired; the bridge was repainted only haphazardly afterward, even though elements vulnerable to corrosion should have been painted every one or two years.<ref name="The New York Times 1988 f464">Template:Cite web</ref> The state government started inspecting the Williamsburg Bridge and five others in 1978;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n137932427" /> the same year, city controller Harrison J. Goldin said the bridge had structural deterioration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The study found that the bridge's main cables were experiencing varying degrees of corrosion,<ref name="Johnson 1988" /> as the anti-rust treatment was actually trapping water in the cables rather than keeping water out.<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Cracks were also found in the bridge structure, and the bridge was also found to have corroded suspension cables.<ref name="Levine 1987" /> The city's transportation commissioner predicted that large holes would form on the outer roadways by the early 1980s if the bridge were not repaired immediately.<ref name="n137932427">Template:Cite news</ref> By 1980, the bridge was used by about 82,400 vehicles per day,<ref name="n129138178">Template:Cite news</ref> and an engineering study found severe corrosion in some of the bridge's supports.<ref name="The New York Times 1988 f464" /> The city was planning to repair the four free bridges across the East River, including the Williamsburg Bridge, for a combined $1 billion.<ref name="n138037021">Template:Cite news</ref>
1980s and 1990s
Initial reconstruction and increasing decay
In the early 1980s, the city planned to spend $85 million to repair the bridge.<ref name="nyt-1982-07-20">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> One suspension cable had already snapped, while others were rusting;<ref name="n26645265" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the accumulations of rust on many cables were very hard to remove.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city announced plans to rebuild the outer roadways in early 1981,<ref name="n129138178" /> and mayor Ed Koch provided $4.5 million that May for initial work on the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The North Star Electrical Contracting Corporation was hired to rebuild the outer roadways.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> The eastbound outer roadway closed that October<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as part of the project, which was supposed to take 18 months.<ref name="n137998480" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During that time, all eastbound truck traffic was banned from the bridge.<ref name="n137998480">Template:Cite news</ref> Eastbound trucks were again allowed in July 1982, when the westbound outer roadway was closed.<ref name="nyt-1982-07-20" /> The city government estimated that one out of three suspension cables needed to be replaced.<ref name="n26645265" /> At the end of the year, Congress passed a bill providing $10 million for the replacement of the bridge's suspension cables.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The reconstruction of the outer roadways was finished in 1983.<ref name="n138035501">Template:Cite news</ref>
To reduce congestion, in the 1980s, the New York City Department of Transportation contemplated converting some lanes to reversible lanes<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and placing high-occupancy vehicle restrictions on the bridge during rush hours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Karl Koch Erecting Co. received a $3.2 million contract for further repairs in early 1983,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and some of the main span's steel was replaced that year.<ref name=":3" /> By then, state engineers were considering building an entirely new bridge.<ref name="The New York Times 1983 w001">Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news</ref> The cost of repairs had increased to $200 million because all four main cables likely needed full replacement;<ref name="The New York Times 1983 w001" /> the Association for Bridge Construction and Design had listed the Williamsburg Bridge as one of the 15 most deteriorated in the New York City area.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced plans in early 1984 to replace the bridge's subway tracks.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> One out of every three suspension cables had been replaced by 1985,<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /><ref name="n138035501" /> even as the bridge remained open.<ref name="Levine 1987" /> The towers, anchorages, and main cables also had to be replaced, and new stiffening trusses had to be installed.<ref name="n138035501" /> Engineers conducted a stress test in 1984, which indicated that the weight of traffic was stretching the cables by up to Template:Cvt.<ref name="p277845353" /><ref name="Hevesi 1987 v347">Template:Cite web</ref> An inspection in 1984–1985, which focused on the cables,<ref name="Johnson 1988 a361">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="n138045741">Template:Cite news</ref> rated the bridge's structural integrity at 1.6 on a scale of 1 to 7.<ref name="p277951973">Template:Cite news</ref>
By January 1987, engineers had determined that the main cables were only two-thirds as strong as they were supposed to be.<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /> Without any repairs to the cables, engineers predicted that the bridge might have to be closed by 1995.<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /><ref name="n138037021" /> The eastbound outer roadway was repaired after two bars fell from the deck in May 1987.<ref name=":2" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, engineers were still drawing up plans for replacing the main cables,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the bridge was also slated for a repainting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Regular inspections of the bridge found that one of the main cables was decaying much more rapidly than the others; in addition, large cracks had formed on approach viaducts.<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /><ref name="n138037718" /> Traffic engineer Sam Schwartz attributed the issues to the bridge's lack of galvanization.<ref name="n138037718" /> After the New York State Department of Transportation started examining four alternatives for replacing the bridge entirely, the Federal Highway Administration provided $1 million to allow the state to study the replacement of the cables.<ref name="n138037021" /> Through late 1987, city, state, and federal officials discussed whether to replace or repair the bridge.<ref name="Johnson 1988 a361" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Engineers conducted another stress test of the bridge that year<ref name="p277845353" /><ref name="Hevesi 1987 v347" /> and found that it might be possible to repair the bridge.<ref name="p277897071">Template:Cite news</ref>
Emergency repairs and design work
Thirty engineering firms were invited in early 1988 to submit designs for a potential replacement of the span, which by then was carrying 104,000 vehicles and 85,000 subway passengers a day.<ref name="p277897071" /> The bridge was closed to motor and subway traffic on April 12, 1988, after large cracks were found in floor beams and cables.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Inspectors discovered that at least 30 support beams were severely corroded; the damage to the beams had not been detected during the 1984–1985 inspection.<ref name="Johnson 1988 a361" /><ref name="p277951973" /> The businessman Donald Trump offered to fix the span,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="wp-1988-04-22" /> while U.S. presidential candidate Jesse L. Jackson walked across the bridge shortly after its closure.<ref name="wp-1988-04-22">Template:Cite news</ref> An inspection found over 400 instances of hazardous conditions on the bridge,<ref name="n138045741" /> mainly on the approach viaducts.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge underwent emergency repairs, which included steel supports under the approaches.<ref name="The New York Times 1988 f464" /> The bridge partially reopened to cars at the end of May,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> then to subways that June;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> all lanes were reopened by July 1988.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite news</ref>
After five finalists were selected in an architectural design competition for a new bridge in June 1988,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> mayor Koch decided the same month to rebuild the bridge instead of replacing it.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Part of the $350 million repair cost was to be funded by $30 million from a statewide bond issue that voters approved in November 1988.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> By early 1989, design work was underway for the deck, cables, and approach viaducts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nets were also installed under the viaducts to catch falling concrete pieces.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1990s renovations
During the 1990s, the bridge underwent a seven-phase renovation that cost $750 million.<ref name="p235673946">Template:Cite magazine</ref> A joint venture named NAB/Koch was hired in 1990 to install new suspender cables and retrofit ungalvanized wires with rubber sheaths for $95 million.<ref name="p235673946" /> The cast iron stairway on the Manhattan side, and the steep ramp from Driggs Avenue on the Williamsburg side, were replaced to allow handicapped access in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. A decrepit walkway on the Williamsburg Bridge was closed in June 1991, and it reopened as a bike path in March 1992.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Cable replacement started in April 1992.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A painting crew began sandblasting the bridge in June 1992. This work was halted after Brooklyn residents complained about lead dust,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and city officials subsequently found dangerously high levels of lead in soil near the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The northern roadway was replaced in 1996, followed by the southern roadway. Workers planned to construct a temporary viaduct for subway trains while the southern roadway was being rebuilt, but the NYCDOT decided to close the subway line entirely for five months.<ref name="p235673946" /> The subway tracks along the bridge were closed from April<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to September 1999.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in 1999, Gandhi Engineering designed and rebuilt the other pedestrian pathway along the Williamsburg Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The rebuilt walkways carried both pedestrian and bike traffic because the pathways were only Template:Convert wide, and were too narrow to carry segregated traffic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The final two vehicular lanes on the renovated span were reopened in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
21st century
A celebration with a parade was held on June 22, 2003, to mark the bridge's 100th anniversary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The ornamental lights on the bridge were re-lighted in November of that year after being turned off for eight months due to a lack of funds.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009.<ref name="asce">Template:Cite web</ref> During 2011, the NYCDOT rebuilt the Manhattan end of the bridge with a concrete barrier,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> despite opposition from cyclists.<ref name="Short 2011 n133">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2016, a local resident launched a campaign to rename the bridge for jazz musician Sonny Rollins, whose 1962 album The Bridge was named in its honor.<ref name="nytimesmag1">Template:Cite news</ref> City officials announced in 2017 that the entire bridge would be restricted to high-occupancy vehicles during the daytime, in anticipation of the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown during 2019 and 2020,<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref> but these restrictions were canceled after officials announced in 2019 that the 14th Street Tunnel would not shut down completely.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) contracted Skanska to renovate the bridge in November 2022. The project, budgeted at $167 million, was partially funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.<ref name="ENR 2022">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Work began in late 2022 and is expected to be complete in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The project involved replacing corroded steel beams, pipes, joints, and valves; patching concrete; and repairing the towers.<ref name="ENR 2022" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The National Transportation Safety Board recommended in early 2025 that the bridge undergo a structural vulnerability assessment, following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Maryland the previous year.<ref>Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref>
Description
The bridge, including approaches, is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide.<ref name="The New York Times 1902" /><ref>"Williamsburg Bridge: Historic Overview" Template:Webarchive NYC Roads</ref> The bridge reaches a maximum height of Template:Convert above mean high water at the middle of the river,<ref name="New-York Tribune 1899 2" /><ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /> and the deck is around Template:Convert above mean high water at either shoreline.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /> Leffert L. Buck was the chief engineer, Henry Hornbostel was the architect, and Holton D. Robinson was the assistant engineer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The bridge required an estimated Template:Convert of concrete, Template:Convert of timber, Template:Convert of masonry, and at least Template:Convert of steel.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1901" /><ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /> From its opening until the Bear Mountain Bridge opened in 1924, the bridge was the longest suspension bridge span in the world.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2017 z288">Template:Cite web</ref>
The bridge once carried New York State Route 27A. There had been plans to extend Interstate 78 onto the bridge as part of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which was first proposed in the 1940s.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The Lower Manhattan Expressway was approved in 1960 and would have led directly onto the bridge's Manhattan approach;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Brooklyn approach would have connected with the Bushwick Expressway, approved in 1954.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Both expressways were canceled in 1971, amid extensive local opposition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Deck
The deck measures Template:Convert wide.<ref name="Scientific American 1897">Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Scientific American 1901">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The center suspension span measures Template:Convert long<ref name="Scientific American 1897" />Template:Rp<ref name="Scientific American 1901" /><ref name="p873936193">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and mostly hangs from cables, as in similar suspension bridges.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1900">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="asce" /> A Template:Convert section of the center span is cantilevered outward from either tower.<ref name="Scientific American 1900" />
The main deck is divided into five sections of roughly equal width. The center section contains two rapid transit tracks. These were flanked originally by two pairs of streetcar tracks, which are now the inner roadways.<ref name="Scientific American 1901" /><ref name="Electrical Age 1902">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The outermost sections of the deck were used as vehicular roadways from the outset, measuring Template:Convert wide.<ref name="Electrical Age 1902" /> There is also an upper deck used by pedestrian and bicycle traffic.<ref name="Scientific American 1901" />
The side spans (also known as the end spans<ref name="n137243629">Template:Cite news</ref>), between the tower and the corresponding anchorage on either side, are supported by their trusswork.<ref name="asce" /><ref name="Scientific American 1900" /> This was done to reduce the size, cost, and length of the main cables.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1901" /> Intermediate towers support both of the side spans,<ref name=":3" /> in contrast to the Brooklyn Bridge, where the side spans were supported by cables.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1899" /> Each of the intermediate towers is composed of two piers with four columns each; the piers rest on masonry footings, while the tops of the columns support the decks of the side spans.<ref name="n137243629" />
The deck is placed above transverse floor beams measuring Template:Convert deep and Template:Convert long and spaced at intervals of Template:Convert.<ref name="Scientific American 1901" /> Vertical ties connect the transverse floor beams with the trusses,<ref name="Scientific American 1899">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and the floor beams themselves hang from the suspender cables.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901 2" /><ref name="Scientific American 1901" /> Two parallel trusses on the deck reduce the loads carried by the floor beams.<ref name="Scientific American 1897" />Template:Rp<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901 2" /> The trusses are placed Template:Convert apart<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901 2" /> and measure Template:Convert deep.<ref name="Scientific American 1901" /> The trusses were three times as deep as those on the Brooklyn Bridge, since the deck was to carry four times the Brooklyn Bridge's loads.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1901" /> The trusswork runs continuously from one anchorage to the other and is not rigidly connected to either the towers or the anchorages.<ref name="Scientific American 1900" /> Originally, there were heavy lattice railings on the north and south edges of the deck,<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901 2" /> while the roadway was paved with wooden blocks.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="p571475032">Template:Cite news</ref>
The approach spans, between the anchorages and either end of the bridge, have a 3 percent grade.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /> They were originally composed of viaducts with braced columns and masonry foundations. The extreme end of either approach span, where the bridge descended to the street, was made of masonry.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1900" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The approach viaducts were originally paved with granite.<ref name="p571475032" /> There was once a street market under the Manhattan span.<ref name="nyt-1904-07-03" /> In reference to Williamsburg's large Yiddish-speaking population, a sign on the westbound approach to the bridge reads, "Leaving Brooklyn: Oy Vey!" Another sign says "Leaving Brooklyn: Fuhgeddaboudit".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Sprung 2016 q210">Template:Cite web</ref> The two signs were proposed by former Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz in the early 2000s.<ref name="Sprung 2016 q210" />
Subway tracks
In the middle of the deck are the rapid transit (subway) tracks,<ref name="Scientific American 1901" /> which connect the New York City Subway's Nassau Street Line in Manhattan with the Jamaica Line in Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) initially proposed extending the tracks on an elevated structure west to Bowery in 1903,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but these plans were canceled in 1905.<ref name="nyt-1905-08-17" /> The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) also proposed using the tracks in 1905, which would have connected to a subway under Broadway, Sumner Avenue, and Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On the Brooklyn side, the city's bridge commissioners solicited bids for the connection to the Jamaica Line in early 1907.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The tracks were first put into use as part of the BRT's Centre Street Loop (now part of the Nassau Street Line), which partially opened on September 16, 1908, with the completion of the underground Essex Street station at the west end of the Williamsburg Bridge.<ref name="n137387805" /><ref name="p572116957" />
The subway tracks are laid to standard gauge, and their centers are spaced Template:Convert apart.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /><ref name="p873936193" /> The subway tracks are generally higher than the roadway, except at the center of the bridge (where they are at the same level) and at the Manhattan end (where the tracks enter a tunnel).<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /> As of 2023, the New York City Subway's Template:NYCS trains use the bridge's tracks at the following times:
| Time period | |
|---|---|
| Template:Rint | All times |
| Template:Rint | All times except late nights |
| Template:Rint | Rush hours in peak direction |
In 1995, a fatal collision between a J train and an M train occurred on the bridge's tracks;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the crash led to widespread changes in the subway's signaling system.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Streetcar tracks
The bridge carried streetcars from November 4, 1904,<ref name="n571601151" /> to December 5, 1948.<ref name="The New York Times 1948" /> The streetcar tracks occupied what are now the inner roadways, between the trusses and the rapid transit tracks.<ref name="p571475032" /> When the Williamsburg Bridge was built, streetcar lines from the Eastern District of Brooklyn and the former town of Newtown (now the neighborhoods surrounding Elmhurst in western Queens) converged at the bridge's Brooklyn end.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Metropolitan Street Railway, BRT, and Coney Island and Brooklyn Rail Road (CI&B) shared the tracks.<ref name="p571580932">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Each streetcar track was laid to standard gauge, and the centers of each track were spaced Template:Convert apart.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /><ref name="Electrical Age 1902" /><ref name="p873936193" /> Overhead catenary wires provided electrification for the southern pair of tracks.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
BRT and CI&B streetcars originated at various points in Brooklyn and terminated in Manhattan, while Metropolitan streetcars originated at various points in Manhattan and terminated in Brooklyn.<ref name="p571580932" /> The Brooklyn streetcars used two tracks on the south side, and the Manhattan streetcars used two tracks on the north side.<ref name="Brennan2001">Template:Cite web</ref> After the New York City government took over operation of streetcar lines that used the bridge,<ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the BMT (the BRT's successor) did not operate any service across the bridge from 1923<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to 1931.<ref name="BklynEagle-WlmsbgBdgTrolley-Feb1931" />
| Line name | Borough primarily served | Start year | End year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williamsburg Bridge Local | ShuttleTemplate:Efn | 1904 | 1948<ref name="The New York Times 1948">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Nostrand Avenue Line | Brooklyn | 1904<ref name="n137485994" /> | 1923<ref name="n137488952">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 1931<ref name="BklynEagle-WlmsbgBdgTrolley-Feb1931" /> | 1948 | ||
| Ralph Avenue Line, Ralph and Rockaway Avenues Line | Brooklyn | 1905<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /><ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923" /> |
| 1931<ref name="BklynEagle-WlmsbgBdgTrolley-Feb1931" /> | 1948 | ||
| Tompkins Avenue Line | Brooklyn | 1906<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /><ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923" /> |
| 1931<ref name="BklynEagle-WlmsbgBdgTrolley-Feb1931" /> | 1947 | ||
| Reid Avenue Line | Brooklyn | 1904<ref name="n137485994">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BklynEagle-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-Nov1904">Template:Cite news</ref> | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /><ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 1931<ref name="BklynEagle-WlmsbgBdgTrolley-Feb1931">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> | 1937<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | ||
| Broadway Line | Brooklyn | 1904<ref name="n137485994" /><ref name="BklynEagle-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-Nov1904" /> | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /><ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923" /> |
| Franklin Avenue Line | Brooklyn | 1904<ref name="n137485994" /> | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /><ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923" /> |
| Grand Street (Brooklyn) Line | Brooklyn | 1904<ref name="n137485994" /> | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /><ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923" /> |
| Sumner Avenue Line | Brooklyn | 1905 | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /><ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923" /> |
| Wilson Avenue (Hamburg Avenue) Line | Brooklyn | 1904<ref name="n137485994" /> | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /><ref name="NYTimes-WilliamsburgBdgTrolley-1923" /> |
| Bushwick Avenue Line | Brooklyn | 1904<ref name="n137485994" /> | 1923<ref name="n137488952" /> |
| Nostrand-Culver Line and Nostrand-Prospect Line | Brooklyn | 1906<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 1919 |
| Grand Street (Manhattan) Line | Manhattan | 1904 | 1932<ref name="p1114848426" /> |
| Post Office Line | Manhattan | 1919 | 1932<ref name="p1114848426" /> |
| Seventh Avenue-Brooklyn Line | Manhattan | 1911 | 1919 |
| 8th Street Crosstown Line | Manhattan | 1904 | 1911 |
| 14th Street-Williamsburg Bridge Line | Manhattan | 1904 | 1920<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Fourth Avenue and Williamsburg Bridge Line | Manhattan | 1904 | 1911 |
| Desbrosses Street Ferry Line | Manhattan | 1924<ref name="n137393645">Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| Third Avenue Line | Manhattan | 1924<ref name="n137393645" /> |
At the Manhattan end of the bridge was the Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal, which opened on May 19, 1908,<ref name="p572112654" /> under the south side of Delancey Street between Clinton and Norfolk streets.<ref name="StreetRR-EssexStBMT-Ap1908">Template:Cite journal</ref> At ground level was an additional terminal for through trolley service;<ref name="StreetRR-EssexStBMT-Ap1908" /> the last trolley lines stopped operating through the Manhattan terminal in 1948.<ref name="The New York Times 1948" /> At the Brooklyn end is the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Terminal (also known as Washington Plaza), an at-grade former trolley terminal that has existed since at least 1903.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> After trolley service was discontinued, the Brooklyn trolley terminal became a bus terminal.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The B39 bus, which replaced a trolley line, is the only surface-transit line that continues to use the bridge as of 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There was an additional proposal to establish a trolley stop on the bridge above Bedford Avenue in 1901<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and again in 1913, but this never occurred.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Pedestrian and bicycle paths
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From the Manhattan end, a shared bike and pedestrian pathway begins in the median of Delancey Street at Clinton Street. The path is split into separate paths for bikes and pedestrians.<ref name="Travels 2013 c711" /> Between the two anchorages, the pedestrian and bike paths are placed above the inner roadways<ref name="p571475032" /> and are supported by plate steel floor beams.<ref name="Scientific American 1901" /> The pathway to the north ends on South 5th Street at Continental Army Plaza, while the pathway to the south ends at Bedford Avenue.<ref name="Travels 2013 c711">Template:Cite web</ref>
Initially, the northern pathway was supposed to be used by pedestrians and cyclists heading to Manhattan, and the southern pathway was supposed to be used by pedestrians and cyclists heading to Brooklyn. The pathways were connected by an overpass at the center of the main span. On both pathways, pedestrian and bike traffic was separated by an iron railing.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The bike paths measured Template:Convert wide, while the pedestrian paths measured Template:Convert wide.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1903 2" /><ref name="p873936193" /> By 2002, the bridge had a shared bike and pedestrian path that was only Template:Convert wide.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge carried over 6,200 cyclists a day in 2010, making it the busiest bridge for cyclists in New York City at the time;<ref name="Short 2011 n133" /> Template:As of, the bridge carries over 7,800 daily cyclists.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
As planned, there were supposed to have been two staircase entrances at Bedford Avenue and one bicycle entrance near Driggs Avenue.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1900" /> A moving walkway was proposed for the bridge in 1902<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and approved in 1903.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
Caissons and towers
The suspension tower on each side of the East River is supported by two foundations, which are built to a height of Template:Convert above mean high water. The foundations are placed atop caissons that descend to the underlying layer of gneiss.<ref name="Scientific American 1896">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The centers of each pair of caissons are placed Template:Convert apart.<ref name="Scientific American 1897" />Template:Rp<ref name="Railroad Gazette 1897 2" /> The construction of the caissons required Template:Convert of timber and Template:Convert of steel.<ref name="The Hartford Courant 1897">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Austin Daily Statesman 1896">Template:Cite news</ref> The caissons measure Template:Convert wide, Template:Convert long, and Template:Convert high.<ref name="The Standard Union 1897" /><ref name="nyt-1897-03-28" /><ref name="Scientific American 1897" />Template:Rp The caissons in Manhattan are Template:Convert deep,<ref name="The Hartford Courant 1897" /> while those on the Brooklyn side are Template:Convert deep.<ref name="Railroad Gazette 1897 2" /> The walls of each caisson are composed of four layers of timber planks<ref name="nyt-1897-03-28" /><ref name="Austin Daily Statesman 1896" /> and measure Template:Convert thick. At the bottom of each caisson was a chamber measuring Template:Convert high, while at the top were seven access shafts and a set of air locks.<ref name="nyt-1897-03-28" /><ref name="Scientific American 1897" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Concrete was placed on each caisson's roof after it was sunk.<ref name="The Standard Union 1897 2" />
Each foundation supports a masonry pier that rises to Template:Convert above mean high water.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Scientific American 1899" /> The piers are clad with limestone masonry below the mean low water level, and they are clad with granite on a limestone backing above that level. There is a massive dressed-granite block at the corner of each pier, supporting the columns in each leg of the suspension tower.<ref name="Scientific American 1899" /> Above each of these granite blocks are heavy steel pedestals, which measure Template:Convert high, Template:Cvt at their bases, and Template:Cvt at their tops.<ref name="Scientific American 1900">Template:Cite magazine</ref> There are legs on the south and north sides of both suspension towers; each leg comprises four columns that are diagonally braced together.<ref name="The Hartford Courant 1896" /><ref name="Scientific American 1900" /> Viewed from above, each leg forms a rectangle measuring Template:Convert west–east and Template:Convert north–south. The lowest portion of each column tapers to a square cross-section measuring Template:Convert, upon which the columns in the leg rise vertically to the bridge's deck.<ref name="Scientific American 1900" /> Above the bridge's deck, the upper sections of the towers' legs are slanted inward and are stiffened by a pair of trusses measuring Template:Convert high.<ref name="Scientific American 1896" /> The tops of each tower are about Template:Convert narrower than at the deck level,<ref name="Scientific American 1900" /> and they measure about Template:Convert<ref name="New-York Tribune 1899 2" /> or Template:Convert above mean high water.<ref name="The Hartford Courant 1896">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Scientific American 1899" />
Each tower uses Template:Convert of steel in total.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1900" /> When Buck was designing the bridge, he decided to use steel for the suspension towers, as stone towers would have required larger foundations, taken much longer to build, and necessitated a widening of the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1901" /> According to the principal assistant engineer, O. F. Nichols, the steel towers could also rise higher than masonry towers and allowed the use of smaller main cables, thereby allowing a stiffer bridge.<ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1901" /> The New-York Tribune wrote that the steel towers would "appear much lighter and, of course, more graceful" than the Brooklyn Bridge's masonry towers.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1899" />
Cables
Main cables
The bridge's cables carry a dead load of Template:Convert and were designed to carry another Template:Convert of moving traffic.<ref name="Scientific American 1902" /> The bridge is built with four main cables, which descend from the tops of the suspension towers and help support the deck.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2017 z288" /><ref name="New-York Tribune 1902">Template:Cite news</ref> The main cables are grouped in two pairs, one each on the north and south sides of the bridge. At the anchorages on either end, each pair of cables is spaced Template:Convert apart; they narrow to Template:Convert apart at the top of the towers and Template:Convert apart at the middle of the span.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2017 z288" /> The main cables are "cradled" together at the center of the span, which was intended to strengthen the bridge against wind pressure,<ref name="Scientific American 1896 2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and are connected to the ends of large plate girders.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2017 z288" /><ref name="Scientific American 1896 2" /> The main cables each measure between Template:Convert and Template:Convert across.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2017 z288" /><ref name="Boorstin 1987" /> The saddles at the tops of the suspension towers, which are placed over the main cables, each weigh Template:Convert<ref name="Scientific American 1900 2" /> or Template:Convert.<ref name="New-York Tribune 1900 2" /><ref name="n137243629" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The saddles measure Template:Convert across.<ref name="Scientific American 1900 2" />
Almost Template:Convert of steel wire strands were manufactured for the bridge.<ref name="Cincinnati Enquirer 1901" /> Each main cable is composed of 37 strands of 208 wires,Template:Efn amounting to 7,696 wires in each cable.<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /><ref name="New-York Tribune 1902" /><ref name="Hildenbrand 1902">Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Rp The strands themselves measure Template:Convert in diameter and are hexagonal;<ref name="Hildenbrand 1902" />Template:Rp the wires are Template:Convert across.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1901" /><ref name="Scientific American 1900 2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The wires were supposed to have a breaking strength of at least Template:Convert.<ref name="Nixon 1901">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Brooklyn Citizen 1901" /> The strands were tied together at intervals of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The ends of each strand were wrapped around a horseshoe-shaped steel casting that in turn was attached to an anchor bar.<ref name="Hildenbrand 1902" />Template:Rp The main cables were wrapped with duck cloth, which was supposed to make them waterproof,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and steel plates were then placed over the duck cloth.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1902">Template:Cite news</ref>
A filling, made of graphite and linseed oil,<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /><ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1902" /> was poured into the strands themselves and into the air pockets between the strands.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2017 z288" /> This filling was also poured into the saddles and within joints.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1902" /> Although Roebling Company engineers claimed the cables were eight to ten times stronger than those on the Brooklyn Bridge,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the filling had weakened the cables by one-third by the late 20th century.<ref name="Boorstin 1987" /> When the bridge was being built, there were plans to install incandescent light bulbs along the main cables.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The lamps, which were first illuminated in 1904,<ref name="n137248339" /> were powered by a waste incineration plant directly under the Manhattan approach.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
Suspender cables
On the main span, there are suspender castings on the main cables, placed at intervals of Template:Convert.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2017 z288" /><ref name="Scientific American 1900 2" /> The suspension cables, which hang from the suspension castings, are each composed of seven strands of rope measuring Template:Convert in diameter.<ref name="n137243629" /><ref name="Scientific American 1900 2" />
Anchorages
At either end of the main span are massive masonry anchorages placed Template:Convert<ref name="Scientific American 1896" /> or Template:Convert inland of the shore.<ref name="Scientific American 1899" /> The anchorage in Manhattan was between Mangin and Tompkins streets, the latter of which was located near what is now FDR Drive,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the anchorage near Brooklyn is between Wythe and Kent avenues.<ref name="Railroad Gazette 1897">Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Rp At its base, the Manhattan anchorage measures Template:Convert across,<ref name="New-York Tribune 1899 2" /><ref name="Railroad Gazette 1897" />Template:Rp while the Brooklyn anchorage measures Template:Convert across.<ref name="Scientific American 1899" /><ref name="Railroad Gazette 1897" />Template:Rp Each anchorage rises Template:Convert above street level and has a foundation Template:Convert deep.<ref name="Scientific American 1899" /> Yellow pine pilings were placed at the bottom of the anchorages' foundations and were covered with a layer of concrete with embedded timbers. Above were a steel grillage and another layer of concrete, the latter of which contained the "sleeves" at the ends of each main cable. The above-ground sections of the anchorages were clad with masonry.<ref name="The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1897 2" /><ref name="Railroad Gazette 1897" />Template:Rp
The anchorages had to be capable of withstanding a total pull of Template:Convert from the four cables.<ref name="Scientific American 1899" /> Within each anchorage, the main cables pass through a splay casting, where each of the strands separates.<ref name="n138037718" /> There are two anchor chains at the end of each main cable, each of which are composed of 44 eyebars of varying length.<ref name="Scientific American 1899" /><ref name="Cincinnati Enquirer 1901" /> The ends of each strand are attached to the eyebars.<ref name="Cincinnati Enquirer 1901" /><ref name="n138037718" /> The lower sections of the chains are held by plate girders. Each girder measures between approximately Template:Convert deep. Beneath each girder are anchor plates, which weigh Template:Convert; these plates are used to secure the eyebars at the end of each anchor chain.<ref name="Railroad Gazette 1897" />Template:Rp
Plazas
Brooklyn side
At the foot of the bridge in Williamsburg, between South 5th Street and Havemeyer Street, are three public areas that collectively comprise a plaza alternatively known as the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza, Washington Plaza, or George Washington Monument Park. It contains Continental Army Plaza and two sections of LaGuardia Playground, both operated by the Parks Department.<ref>Template:Cite NYCS map</ref>
The plaza is named after the large statue of George Washington in Continental Army Plaza,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> sculpted by Henry Merwin Shrady<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The statue, a gift from Kings County register James R. Howe, was dedicated in 1906.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A playground between South 4th, South 5th, Roebling, and Havemeyer streets was proposed in 1932 (replacing part of the trolley terminal there)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and opened in July 1935 as LaGuardia Playground.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the construction of LaGuardia Playground, the plot around the Washington statue was renovated into Monument Park, which was dedicated in July 1937.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The playground is split into two pieces by the ramp to the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Manhattan side
At the Manhattan end of the bridge, the walkway terminated at an elevated promenade at Delancey and Clinton streets, which opened in 1914 and measured Template:Convert across.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> This promenade was Template:Convert above street level.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Tolls
Template:Further The Williamsburg Bridge was initially a toll bridge, charging the same fees as the Brooklyn Bridge did.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1911, the city government conducted a study and found that it had no authority to charge tolls on the Queensboro and Manhattan bridges.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Tolls on all four bridges across the East River—the Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges—were abolished in July 1911 as part of a populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1970, the federal government enacted the Clean Air Act, a series of federal air pollution regulations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As part of a plan by mayor John Lindsay and the federal Environmental Protection Agency,<ref name="NYT 1977 mayor yields">Template:Cite news</ref> the city government considered implementing tolls on the four free East River bridges, including the Williamsburg Bridge, in the early 1970s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The plan would have raised money for New York City's transit system<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and allowed the city to meet the Clean Air Act.<ref name="NYT 1977 mayor yields" /> Abraham Beame, who became mayor in 1974, refused to implement the tolls,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the United States Congress subsequently moved to forbid tolls on the free East River bridges.<ref name="NYT 1977 mayor yields" /> The United States Department of Transportation determined that the Williamsburg Bridge was built partially with federal funds and, under federal law, could not be tolled.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A plan for congestion pricing in New York City was approved in mid-2023,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> allowing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to toll drivers who enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.<ref name="Nessen 2024 t852">Template:Cite web</ref> Congestion pricing was implemented in January 2025;<ref name="Anderson o055">Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref> all Manhattan-bound drivers pay a toll after using the bridge, which varies based on the time of day. Although no toll is charged upon exiting the congestion zone, all Brooklyn-bound drivers must pay a toll to access streets leading to the bridge.<ref name="Anderson l657">Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref>
Impact
When the Williamsburg Bridge was under construction, one critic wrote for the Detroit Free Press that the crossing "is to surpass the Brooklyn Bridge as an engineering marvel" and would serve as a model for three other bridges in New York City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Brooklyn Citizen described the Williamsburg Bridge as the eighth wonder of the world just before the span opened.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite this, the aesthetics of the Williamsburg Bridge were rarely regarded favorably compared to those of the Brooklyn Bridge.<ref name="Lederer Society Society 2005 p. 25">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
Effect on development and infrastructure
After the bridge opened, it became easier to access northern Brooklyn from Manhattan than from Downtown Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jewish and Italian immigrants moved to Williamsburg from Manhattan in large numbers following the bridge's opening.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Hughes 2011 p. 36">Template:Cite book</ref> The bridge in particular helped spur the growth of Williamsburg's Jewish community: one newspaper nicknamed the bridge the "Jews' Highway".<ref name="Lederer Society Society 2005 p. 25" />Template:Rp<ref name="Hughes 2011 p. 36" /> The American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger wrote in 1910 that, in part because of the bridge's opening, "South Third and neighboring streets [in Williamsburg] are Jewish streets", and several synagogues had been developed near the Brooklyn end of the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The bridge's completion prompted increased development in Williamsburg, as many residents of Manhattan's East Side moved to the neighborhood,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and property values around the bridge's Brooklyn plaza increased after its opening.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On the Lower East Side, the bridge's construction led to the development of industrial buildings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the widening of Delancey Street was completed in conjunction with the bridge's opening, new apartment buildings were built around that street over the next two decades.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge supplanted five ferry routes between Williamsburg and Manhattan, which had gone out of business by 1908.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Media
The Williamsburg Bridge has appeared in several media works. The 1928 Edward Hopper painting From Williamsburg Bridge depicts a now-demolished building as seen from the bridge's walkway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 1959 to 1961, American jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins would go to the Williamsburg Bridge for practice sessions while living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan;<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> his 1962 album The Bridge was titled after the bridge.<ref name="nytimesmag1" /> In 1996, artist Chris Doyle gilded the steps to the pedestrian walkway of the bridge; the project, known as "Commutable", was sponsored by the Public Art Fund.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The bridge appears in the background of the opening sequence of American police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where the cast walks away from the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
- List of fixed crossings of the East River
- List of bridges and tunnels in New York City
- List of bridges in the United States
- List of longest suspension bridge spans
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1903 establishments in New York City
- Articles containing video clips
- Bike paths in New York City
- Bridges completed in 1903
- Bridges in Brooklyn
- Bridges on the Interstate Highway System
- Bridges over the East River
- Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
- Double-decker bridges
- Henry Hornbostel buildings
- Historic American Engineering Record in New York City
- Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
- Interstate 78
- Metal bridges in the United States
- Pedestrian bridges in New York City
- Railroad bridges in New York City
- Rapid transit bridges
- Road bridges in New York City
- Road-rail bridges in the United States
- Suspension bridges in New York City
- Truss bridges in the United States
- Williamsburg, Brooklyn