The Details

The ‘George Washington’ Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the Hudson River. It is also the part of the I-95 highway, and US 1/9. The suspension bridge connects Manhattan Island to the northern part of New York. Over $50 million was spent on the construction.

More than 276,000 cars and motorcycles pass over the ‘George Washington’ Bridge every day. After several stages of modernization, the bridge can easily cope with the flow of 300,000 vehicles. Freight traffic is allowed only on the upper floor.

On both sides of the second floor there are pedestrian and bicycle zones. When entering from the New Jersey side, there is a toll. But if you go from New York to New Jersey, then you don’t have to pay a toll on the bridge.

Historical facts

The construction of the bridge began in 1927 by the well-known architect Otmar Ammann at the time, and up to the opening in 1931 it was called the Hudson River Bridge.

But after a while, the municipal authorities decided to rename the bridge in honor of George Washington, the US hero. This is how the bridge is called to this day. Until 1937, the ‘George Washington’ Bridge was in the TOP of the largest crossings, until the ‘Golden Gate’ Bridge was built.

Characteristics

The length of the bridge is 1450 m, the dimensions of the suspended part are 1100 m, and the height of the bearing pads is 184 m. The total width of the ‘George Washington’ Bridge is 36 m. Today, the bridge ranks 14th in the list of the largest bridges with a suspended construction type.

Reconstruction stage of "George Washington"

According to the technical plan, it was expected to cover the 185 m-heigh bridge with concrete. But because of the “Great Depression”, the traffic load grew, and the infrastructure of the bridge could not withstand the rapidly growing flow. Therefore, in 1946, an additional reconstruction was carried out - two auxiliary lanes were opened.

However, this did not help, and in 1962 the lower tier of the bridge was launched, which has 6 lanes. The upper tier still has 8 lanes, but now the ‘George Washington’ Bridge is two-storeyed.