The Washington Bridge is a -long
arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
over the
Harlem River in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
between the boroughs of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. The crossing, opened in 1888, connects
181st Street and
Amsterdam Avenue in
Washington Heights, Manhattan, with University Avenue in
Morris Heights, Bronx
Morris Heights is a residential neighborhood located in the West Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: West Burnside Avenue to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the south, and ...
. It carries six lanes of traffic, as well as sidewalks on both sides. Ramps at either end of the bridge connect to the
Trans-Manhattan Expressway and the
Cross-Bronx Expressway
The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 in New York, Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of Interstate 295 (New York), I-295 and U. ...
.
The
two-hinged arch bridge was designed by Charles C. Schneider and Wilhelm Hildenbrand, with modifications to the design made by the
Union Bridge Company The Union Bridge Company was a bridge fabricator and contractor with works in Buffalo, New York, (believed closed in 1890 per HAER references) and Athens, Pennsylvania. The Union Bridge company was formed in 1884 as a merger of several other bridge ...
,
William J. McAlpine
William Jarvis McAlpine (April 30, 1812 – February 16, 1890) was an American civil engineer and politician from New York. He was New York State Engineer and Surveyor from 1852 to 1853.
Life
William J. McAlpine was born in New York City, the ...
,
Theodore Cooper
Theodore Cooper (January 13, 1839 – August 24, 1919) was an American civil engineer. He may be best known as consulting engineer on the Quebec Bridge that collapsed in 1907.
Biography
Upon receiving a degree in civil engineering from Resselaer I ...
, and DeLemos & Cordes, with
Edward H. Kendall
Edward Hale Kendall (July 30, 1842 – March 10, 1901) was an American architect with a practice in New York City.
Biography
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Kendall was one of the first generation of Americans to study in Paris; he apprenticed ...
as consulting architect. The bridge features steel-arch construction with two main arches and masonry approaches. The bridge is operated and maintained by the
New York City Department of Transportation. It once carried
U.S. Route 1, which now travels over the
Alexander Hamilton Bridge. The Washington Bridge is designated as a city landmark by the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
The Washington Bridge had been planned since the 1860s, but progress was delayed for two decades due to various disputes. The final plan was chosen and modified after an
architectural design competition in 1885, and work began in July 1886. Pedestrians with passes could use the bridge by December 1888, and the Washington Bridge was being used for regular travel by the next year, though an official opening ceremony never took place. At the Washington Bridge's completion, it was widely praised as an architectural accomplishment of New York City. Automobiles were able to use the bridge after 1906. After the
George Washington Bridge across the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
connecting to
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in the west was completed in 1931, the Harlem River crossing served as a connector for traffic between New Jersey and the Bronx. The Alexander Hamilton Bridge was completed in 1963, diverting traffic from the Washington Bridge. After a period of deterioration, the Washington Bridge underwent reconstruction from 1989 to 1993.
Description
The Washington Bridge is an
arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
over the
Harlem River
composed two large steel arches flanked at either end by masonry viaducts.
[; ] Its total length, including approaches, is .
It connects West
181st Street in
Washington Heights, Manhattan, with University Avenue in
Morris Heights, Bronx
Morris Heights is a residential neighborhood located in the West Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: West Burnside Avenue to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the south, and ...
.
Within the bridge's vicinity, the Harlem River is in a valley between
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
to the west and
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
to the east;
the terrain on the Manhattan side is steeper than on the Bronx side.
The bridge was designed by Charles C. Schneider and Wilhelm Hildenbrand, with
Edward H. Kendall
Edward Hale Kendall (July 30, 1842 – March 10, 1901) was an American architect with a practice in New York City.
Biography
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Kendall was one of the first generation of Americans to study in Paris; he apprenticed ...
as consulting architect.
Modifications to the design were made by the
Union Bridge Company The Union Bridge Company was a bridge fabricator and contractor with works in Buffalo, New York, (believed closed in 1890 per HAER references) and Athens, Pennsylvania. The Union Bridge company was formed in 1884 as a merger of several other bridge ...
, chief engineer
William J. McAlpine
William Jarvis McAlpine (April 30, 1812 – February 16, 1890) was an American civil engineer and politician from New York. He was New York State Engineer and Surveyor from 1852 to 1853.
Life
William J. McAlpine was born in New York City, the ...
, consulting engineer
Theodore Cooper
Theodore Cooper (January 13, 1839 – August 24, 1919) was an American civil engineer. He may be best known as consulting engineer on the Quebec Bridge that collapsed in 1907.
Biography
Upon receiving a degree in civil engineering from Resselaer I ...
, and cornice architect DeLemos & Cordes.
Alfred Noble and
John Bogart
John Bogart (February 8, 1836 Albany, New York – April 25, 1920 Manhattan, New York City) was an American civil engineer from New York. He was appointed and elected to numerous public positions in the New York City metropolitan area. He also ser ...
served as resident engineers while
Frank A. Leers was engineer for the construction contractors.
The construction of the bridge was subcontracted to steel contractor Passaic Rolling Mill Company and masonry contractor Myles Tierney. Work was subcontracted to Anderson and Barr for caissons, John Peirce for granite,
Barber Asphalt Paving Company
Barber Asphalt Company of Washington, D.C. started in 1883 was founded by Amzi L. Barber. Barber, born in 1843. Barber first career was a teaching professor, he moved to real estate. In real estate, he found the problem of needing affordable pave ...
for the roadway, and Spang Steel Works and Union Mills for the steel production.
The granite was from Maine, while the light gray gneiss ashlar was from Connecticut. Gneiss from nearby quarries and excavations was also used, as was
Rosendale cement.
Over of steel was used for the bridge's arches.
The bridge carries six lanes of traffic and a sidewalk on each side.
The roadway was originally made of granite, subsequently repaved in asphalt, while the sidewalks were made of bluestone.
As built, the bridge deck was wide, with a roadway of and sidewalks of .
The modern crossing contains sidewalks of ,
as well as two roadways separated by a
median
In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
.
The Washington Bridge carries the bus routes, operated by
New York City Bus. In 2016, the
New York City Department of Transportation, which operates and maintains the bridge, reported an
average daily traffic volume in both directions of 57,647.
The peak ADT over the Washington Bridge was 68,075 vehicles in 2000.
Over-river span
The two main steel arches of the bridge are each long.
The western arch traverses the Harlem River as well as
Bridge Park on the Bronx shore. The eastern arch crosses the
Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...
's
Hudson Line and the
Major Deegan Expressway
Interstate 87 (I-87) is a north–south Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of New York. It is most of the main highway between New York City and Montreal. The highway begins at exit 47 off I-278 in the New York ...
(carrying
Interstate 87).
The arches provide of vertical clearance at
mean high water
A chart datum is the water level surface serving as origin of depths displayed on a nautical chart. A chart datum is generally derived from some tidal phase, in which case it is also known as a tidal datum. Common chart datums are ''lowest ast ...
.
Arches
Each of the arches consists of six large girders made of riveted steel beams, with heavy chords at the top and bottom.
The ribs are thick, with minor variations because of the varying thicknesses of the plates that were used in the beams.
The ribs run parallel to each other and are spaced apart.
The ribs are riveted together with both diagonal and perpendicular bracing.
This made the Washington Bridge the first in the United States where the ribs of the arch were made of plate girders.
Because the ribs were riveted, the bridge was classified by architectural writer
Carl W. Condit
Carl Wilbur Condit (Cincinnati, Ohio, September 29, 1914 – January 4, 1997) was an American historian of urban and architectural history, a writer, professor, and teacher."Condit, Carl W(ilbur) (1914–1997)," ''The Hutchinson Unabridged Ency ...
as a
two-hinged arch bridge.
Unusually for arch bridges of the time, the deck lacks diagonal bracing, instead being supported by beams running horizontally and vertically.
The beams, spaced about apart, are built of plates and angles. Posts extend from the
extrados
A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.
Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...
of the ribs, supporting the floor beams. The posts are rigidly attached to the ribs' flanges and the horizontal and vertical beams; they are connected and braced transversely.
The sides of the deck are flanked by
cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
s with
denticulation
This page is a glossary of architecture.
A
B
C
The Caryatid Porch of the Athen ...
and
modillion
A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...
s. There are shield and branch motifs below the cornice, as well as decorative balustrade poles with shell and seahorse motifs above each shield. The balustrade contains
egg-and-dart motifs on their top rails, as well as alternating
Ionic columns
The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...
and decorative torch-and-scroll medallions between each decorative pole.
Chain-link fences run atop the original barricades.
Piers
The arches sit between three main
piers Piers may refer to:
* Pier, a raised structure over a body of water
* Pier (architecture), an architectural support
* Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name)
* Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
: one on either end, adjacent to the masonry approach viaducts, as well as one between the arches on the eastern bank of the Harlem River. At the skewbacks, from which the arches rise, the main piers are wide and long. The sections of piers above each skewback are made of vertical "cells" and rise nearly to the bottom of the bridge deck.
The interiors of the piers are made of rubble masonry, although the center and eastern piers also contain concrete.
The sections of piers below each skewback are solid, made of concrete, and clad with
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
.
A
balustrade
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...
of solid granite sits atop each of the piers, surrounding balconies that protrude from either sidewalk.
The balconies atop each pier once supported illuminated seating areas with lampposts made of cast bronze.
Approaches
The masonry approach viaducts at either end both contain three semicircular concrete arches, clad in granite and gneiss ashlar. There is a seventh, elliptical arch over Undercliff Avenue on the Bronx side of the bridge.
The centers for all seven arches were all erected simultaneously to provide structural stability.
There are
voussoir
A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.
Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...
s running along the tops of these arches, with
keystones
A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...
at the center of each arch.
Each of the semicircular arches are wide
and are carried by piers that are thick.
The tops of the viaducts contain granite balustrades with circular openings, which rest atop short granite cornices with
brackets
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
. When the bridge opened, the circular openings of these balustrades included
fleur-de-lis ornaments made in bronze.
The approach viaducts also originally contained lampposts made of cast bronze.
At the western end of the Washington Bridge, there are ramps to and from the
Trans-Manhattan Expressway, carrying
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
and
U.S. Route 9. The approach viaduct crosses
Harlem River Drive, which runs along the western shore of the Harlem River. The bridge's main roadway continues west to the intersection of 181st Street and
Amsterdam Avenue (formerly Tenth Avenue), adjacent to
Highbridge Park
Highbridge Park is a public park on the western bank of the Harlem River in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. It stretches between 155th Street and Dyckman Street in Upper Manhattan. The park is operated by the New York City Depa ...
.
The distance between the end of the masonry approach and the intersection with Amsterdam Avenue is .
The intersection is higher than the bridge deck, necessitating a 3.5 percent upward slope.
The entrance to the northern sidewalk is in McNally Plaza, slightly northeast of the intersection of 181st Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The entrance to the southern sidewalk is from the southeastern corner of the intersection.
The Bronx approach viaduct contains three semicircular arches, as well as an elliptical arch with a width of .
Along this approach, a grass median strip once separated the westbound and eastbound lanes.
In the original design, there was a granite staircase with bluestone steps, which led to Boscobel Place just south of the bridge.
At the eastern end of the bridge, the westbound and eastbound lanes diverge from each other and merge with the
Cross Bronx Expressway
The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of I-295 and U.S. Route 1 (US 1). The Cross Bronx begins ...
(I-95 and US 1). A pair of entrance and exit ramps lead to an interchange with University Avenue; the eastbound exit also provides access to Edward L. Grant Highway, which diverges from University Avenue to the south. The entrance and exit ramps to University Avenue also carry the northern and southern sidewalks;
the southern sidewalk abuts Bridge Playground.
There was a 3.5 percent downward slope from the deck to the original bridge terminus at Aqueduct Avenue.
The distance between the end of the masonry approach and the intersection with Aqueduct Avenue was .
History
Planning
Early plans
Planning for a bridge carrying pedestrians and transit between the
West Bronx
The West Bronx is a region in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The region lies west of the Bronx River and roughly corresponds to the western half of the borough.
The West Bronx is more densely populated than the East Bronx, and is close ...
and Washington Heights, in
Upper Manhattan, dates to the 1860s. The nearby
High Bridge, which had been completed in the 1840s, carried the
Croton Aqueduct.
A crossing slightly north of the High Bridge was first proposed by
Andrew Haswell Green, a member of
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
's board of commissioners.
The board had been tasked, in 1868, with laying out streets in Upper Manhattan. Green had suggested constructing bridges and tunnels across the Harlem River between Manhattan and the Bronx, the latter of which was then in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
.
He specifically desired a suspension bridge to be built about north of the High Bridge, with a deck slightly higher than the High Bridge's.
That crossing was authorized by the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
in 1869, and the
New York City Department of Public Parks received authority to plan and build bridges across the Harlem River the next year.
No further progress was made for several years. The city contemplated widening the High Bridge so that horse-drawn carriages could use that bridge, but ultimately decided against it.
The
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...
appointed a group of commissioners in February 1876 to acquire land for the bridge.
The commissioners
condemned
Condemned or The Condemned may refer to:
Legal
* Persons awaiting execution
* A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons
* A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain
...
a strip of land wide between Tenth Avenue in Manhattan and Aqueduct Avenue in Westchester.
Two years later, several prominent men signed a memorial urging the construction of a suspension bridge slightly north of the High Bridge, which if built would help alleviate the growing traffic between Manhattan and Westchester.
In February 1881, Department of Public Parks chief engineer William J. McAlpine presented four alternative bridge designs: a suspension bridge with half-suspension approaches, a suspension bridge with masonry approaches, an iron
cantilever bridge, and a masonry-arch viaduct.
In each of these plans, the deck was to be wide, with two sidewalks flanking a carriageway. The masonry-arch design was recommended as more monumental and durable, but no further progress was made on that plan.
The Parks Department received other plans for cantilever and arch bridges in 1883.
Bridge commission and design competition
As the Parks Department had made no progress on the Harlem River bridge in fifteen years, Andrew Green requested that another agency be tasked with the bridge's construction.
The
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
finally transferred authority to a new Harlem River Bridge Commission in June 1885 under Chapter 487 of the Laws of 1885.
The bill called for the appointment of three commissioners, although mayor
William Russell Grace
William Russell Grace (May 10, 1832 – March 21, 1904) was an Irish-American politician, the first Roman Catholic mayor of New York City, and the founder of W. R. Grace and Company.
Early life
Grace was born in Ireland in Riverstown near the C ...
delayed the selection of these commissioners for a month, believing the bridge's cost to be excessive.
Vernon H. Brown, Jacob Lorillard, and David James King were named as the commissioners in July,
while McAlpine was named as the chief engineer that September.
The commissioners decided to host an
architectural design competition for the new bridge, which they hoped would rival the then-new
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
in stature.
[; ] The competition was advertised in October 1885.
The submissions were required to include an over-river crossing at least long, a metal superstructure, masonry piers, and an deck.
In December 1885, the commissioners received 17 designs, selecting four for further examination.
[; ] The Union Bridge Company presented plans for a bridge with three granite-faced arches, each long.
The Commission had wished to accept the proposal, but the company withdrew it when the Commission questioned the legality under the provisions of the 1885 legislation of using “artificial stone” for the bridge’s structural elements. The Commission nonetheless believed it would be satisfactory, but neither side wished to undertake the expense and delay of a formal legal determination.
The commissioners also rejected the idea of an all-masonry bridge, instead choosing a metal and stone hybrid.
A board of experts were appointed to select the competition's winners. The first prize was awarded in March 1886 to Charles Conrad Schneider and the second prize to Wilhelm Hildenbrand.
Schneider's plan was deemed too costly;
the proposal, assessed at $3 million (equivalent to $ million in ), brought criticism from the ''
New-York Tribune''.
McAlpine requested Julius W. Adams to prepare a plan for a bridge of masonry, although it would fail to meet the terms of the competition. The Union Bridge Company presented a modified plan combining Schneider's and Hildenbrand's proposals, with steel ribs made of solid webs, although it was also rejected by the commission.
The company then submitted a plan that used steel plate girders, which the commission accepted after McAlpine and Cooper modified it.
Construction
In April 1886, the commissioners received bids for the masonry and metalwork.
The commissioners wished for one contractor to oversee all work, so all the bids by specialist contractors were rejected.
On July 14, 1886, the commissioners awarded a general construction contract to steel contractor Passaic Rolling Mill Company and masonry contractor Myles Tierney.
The same month construction began, McAlpine resigned as chief engineer and
William Rich Hutton
William Rich Hutton (March 21, 1826 – December 11, 1901) was a surveyor and artist who became an architect and civil engineer in Maryland and New York in the latter half of the 19th century. His sketches of the pueblo of Los Angeles and diary ...
was appointed in his place.
After work was begun, the plans were changed to include a cornice made by Jackson Architectural Iron Works, designed by DeLemos & Cordes.
The project involved over 500 workers in total.
[; ] During construction, the crossing was known as the Manhattan Bridge;
it was also known during planning as the New Harlem Bridge or the Boscobel Bridge, the latter after a landowner on the Manhattan side.
The builders leased land on both banks of the Harlem River so material could be delivered and stored. Because the western bank of the river contains a sharp bluff, the materials for the western bank were delivered in small quantities or stored on the eastern bank. A wharf with derricks and tracks was built, and a single-track inclined plane was constructed from the wharf to the western end of the approach viaduct. A hoisting engine, at the top of the incline, lifted materials to the work site, where derricks moved material from the truck directly into place. Another wharf was built on the east bank of the river, and a channel from both wharves was dredged south to the High Bridge. Material from the east wharf was initially hauled to its place by wagons. In early 1886, a trestle platform with tracks was installed between the eastern wharf and
Sedgwick Avenue, which runs close to the coastline.
The layer of bedrock under the Harlem River Manhattan Bridge's westernmost large pier was close to the ground, and it was ready for masonry by October 1886. The foundation of the central pier was built upon a timber caisson, to be sunk by compressed air; work on the caisson began in September 1886. The caisson was sunk to the underlying bedrock,
which ranged between beneath mean high water.
The caisson was sunk starting in November 1886 and had reached its final depth six months later, after which masonry work began. A similar caisson was sunk for the eastern pier, near Sedgwick Avenue, and masonry work on that pier began in October 1886. Work progressed with little interruption, other than a one-day work stoppage, as well as cold weather in early 1887 that delayed work on the superstructure. By mid-1887, the piers were nearly completed and more than half the required steel had been cast.
The arches were constructed on
falsework
Falsework consists of temporary structures used in construction to support a permanent structure until its construction is sufficiently advanced to support itself. For arches, this is specifically called centering. Falsework includes temporary su ...
.
Construction on the frames of the masonry arches was commenced in September 1887 and they were all enclosed by early 1888.
The eastern metal arch across the railroad tracks was fabricated from September to December 1887 and installed in January 1888. This was followed two months later by the installation of the western arch above the river.
On average, two hundred men were involved in the installation of the main arches between September 1887 and May 1888.
Both the main arches and the approaches required extensive scaffolding.
The rubble-masonry interior walls of the approach viaducts were installed between April and July 1888.
By the beginning of that July, the deck was nearly completed. The roadway and sidewalks were laid from August to November of the same year.
Overall, the bridge cost $2.85 million to construct, .
Use
Opening and early years
Work on the Harlem River Manhattan Bridge was substantially completed in December 1888, and pedestrians with special passes were allowed to informally use it.
[; ] The crossing was turned over to the Harlem River Bridge Commission, which voted to name it after president
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
in February 1889 in honor of
his birthday and the
centennial of his inauguration. The Washington Bridge's new name also reflected the fact that the nearby Washington Heights and
Fort Washington were also named after him.
The proposed opening date in February was postponed because of bad weather.
That March, a horse and buggy became the first vehicle to cross the bridge, although it did so without permission, since only pedestrians were allowed to cross at that time. The Hudson River Bridge Commission took ownership of the completed bridge the same month, although the bridge remained closed due to legal disputes.
By the first week of May 1889, the ''Evening World'' reported that pedestrians and vehicles had been using the Washington Bridge for a week. Ultimately, the bridge never formally opened because of disagreement between the city and the bridge commission.
In December 1889, members of the public decided to tear down the barricades that had barred access to the bridge.
When the first person jumped to his death from the Washington Bridge in August 1890, ''The New York Times'' reported that the bridge had been in use for eighteen months. However, as late as 1891, the bridge was still recorded as being "unopened" because of disputes over maintenance.
The Interborough Railway Company announced plans in 1902 to operate a network of
streetcar lines in the Bronx, including a line across the Washington Bridge and 181st Street. After some dispute, the company received a franchise for a 181st Street streetcar line in 1904. The Washington Bridge was opened to automobile and streetcar traffic two years later on May 31, 1906, with two tracks for the Interborough Railway Company. The tracks were ultimately used by four
Bronx streetcar routes: the Ogden Avenue, 167th Street, 181st Street, and University Avenue routes (now respectively the Bx13, Bx35, Bx36, and Bx3 buses).
By the 1910s, West 181st Street in Manhattan was seeing rapid growth because of the streetcar routes over the bridge, as well as because of the opening of the
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
's
181st Street station.
Crosstown connector
Vehicular traffic along the Washington Bridge grew over the years and, by 1928, the city's Department of Plant and Structures was studying a plan to reduce the width of the sidewalks to make space for additional vehicular lanes. The next year, the department requested $300,000 to widen the bridge (equivalent to $ million in ) in conjunction with the construction of a suspension bridge over the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
from the west side of Manhattan to
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. A contract for the work was awarded to Poirier and McLane in November 1929, which entailed widening the roadway by and moving the trolley tracks. The work was expected to take about one year. The crossing of the Hudson River was subsequently named the
George Washington Bridge, prompting concern that the bridges could be confused. The chairman of the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...
, which controlled the George Washington Bridge, defended the decision by saying that the Washington Bridge over the Harlem River was often called the 181st Street Bridge. After the George Washington Bridge opened in late 1931, traffic between New Jersey and the Bronx used local streets between the two bridges until the
178th Street Tunnel opened from Amsterdam Avenue to the George Washington Bridge in 1940. The Washington Bridge over the Harlem River was signed as part of
U.S. Route 1 in New York in mid-December 1934.
Most streetcar service was withdrawn from the Washington Bridge in October 1947 and replaced by bus service, with only the 167th Street streetcar remaining.
That route was replaced with bus service the following July. Work on a widening of the Washington Bridge began in June 1949. The streetcar tracks were removed, and a median barrier was built between the two directions of traffic, creating two granite roadways with three lanes. To make way for the widened roadways, the granite sidewalks were narrowed. Work also began on the 179th Street Tunnel, paralleling the congested 178th Street Tunnel, as well as on the Highbridge Interchange, which included direct ramps from the Harlem River Washington Bridge to the 178th–179th Street Tunnels.
The widening was finished by 1950, and the tunnel and interchange opened on May 5, 1952.
Later modifications
The Harlem River Washington Bridge continued to be a bottleneck for crosstown traffic.
In 1955, city planner
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
conducted the Joint Study of Arterial Facilities, which recommended additional highways to relieve traffic across New York City, including a bridge parallel to the Washington Bridge.
Accordingly, the
Alexander Hamilton Bridge and
Trans-Manhattan Expressway were respectively planned as bypasses for the Washington Bridge and the 178th–179th Street Tunnels. These projects would connect the Bronx and New Jersey directly via the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
, accommodating increased traffic in construction with the addition of a lower level to the George Washington Bridge.
The expressway and bridge's lower deck opened in 1962. The completion of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in April 1963 resulted in traffic decreases on the Washington Bridge. U.S. 1 was rerouted to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge.
Mayor
John Lindsay proposed enacting tolls along the University Heights Bridge, as well as all other free bridges across the
East and Harlem rivers, in 1971. The proposal failed in 1977 after the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
moved to ban tolls on these bridges.
The Washington Bridge was designated a
New York City landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
on September 14, 1982,
and was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on September 22, 1983.
Throughout that decade, the bridge deteriorated. By 1988, the
New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) estimated that it would cost $25 million to fix the Washington Bridge. At the time, the deck contained several holes and four of six lanes were closed. The centennial of the bridge's opening was celebrated on April 29, 1989. The Washington Bridge underwent a $33 million reconstruction starting that October, which included replacing the deck, steel, sidewalk, and railings. During the work, some lanes were kept open for traffic. The work was completed in 1993.
Further bridge rehabilitation was undertaken in early 2022.
Critical reception
At the Washington Bridge's completion it was widely praised as an architectural accomplishment of New York City.
''Cosmopolitan'', ''
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'', and ''The New York Sun'' respectively called the bridge an "adornment", an "ornament",
and "a great work worthy of the city".
Architectural critic
Montgomery Schuyler characterized the bridge as "an admirable and exemplary work" in 1900, although he had a minor concern about the masonry approaches, which he called "less than adequate architecturally for want of the emphasis".
Schuyler subsequently wrote that, although the arch had been modified to appear as though it was a conventional design, "neither is there any question of the attractiveness
of the Washington and the old High Bridge". Charles Evan Fowler, an engineer, wrote in 1929 that he thought the Washington Bridge to be "in many respects one of the finest pieces of bridge architecture in the world".
Furthermore,
Ernest Lawson
Ernest Lawson (March 22, 1873 – December 18, 1939) was a Canadian-American painter and exhibited his work at the Canadian Art Club and as a member of the American group The Eight, artists who formed a loose association in 1908 to protest ...
depicted the bridge as the main subject of his 1913 painting ''Spring Night''.
Name confusion
After the
George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River opened, there was some confusion between the two bridges, which intensified over time as the Hudson River bridge became better known.
David W. Dunlap
David W. Dunlap (born 1952) is an American journalist who worked as a reporter for ''The New York Times''. He wrote a regular column, Building Blocks, that looked at the New York metropolitan area through its architecture, infrastructure, spaces, a ...
wrote for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 1985, "Just the existence of another prominent bridge by that name surprises even native New Yorkers, some of whom have wondered for years why the Hudson River crossing insistently carries the extra burden of 'George.'"
See also
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List of crossings of the Harlem River
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List of New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), formed in 1965, is the New York City governmental commission that administers the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. Since its founding, it has designated over a thousand landmarks, clas ...
*
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in the Bronx
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
NYC Roads: Washington Bridge*
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Nautical Chart #12342NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York
Bridges completed in 1888
Bridges in Manhattan
Bridges in the Bronx
Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System
Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
Bridges over the Harlem River
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
Morris Heights, Bronx
National Register of Historic Places in the Bronx
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx
Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in the United States
Road bridges in New York City
Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Steel bridges in the United States
Truss arch bridges in the United States
U.S. Route 1
Washington Heights, Manhattan