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N0KFQ > TODAY 24.10.14 16:03l 51 Lines 2288 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 38636_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 24
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 141024/1459Z 38636@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Oct 24, 1931:
George Washington Bridge is dedicated
On this day in 1931, eight months ahead of schedule, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the George Washington Bridge over
the Hudson River. The 4,760-foot-long suspension bridge, the
longest in the world at the time, connected Fort Lee, New Jersey
with Washington Heights in New York City. "This will be a highly
successful enterprise," FDR told the assembled crowd at the
ceremony. "The great prosperity of the Holland Tunnel and the
financial success of other bridges recently opened in this region
have proven that not even the hardest times can lessen the
tremendous volume of trade and traffic in the greatest of port
districts."
Workers built the six-lane George Washington Bridge in sections.
They carried the pieces to the construction site by rail, then
hauled them into the river by boat, then hoisted them into place
by crane. Though the bridge was gigantic, engineer Othmar Amman
had found a way to make it look light and airy: in place of
vertical trusses, he used horizontal plate girders in the roadway
to keep the bridge steady. Amman used such strong steel that
these plate girders could be relatively thin and as a result, the
bridge deck was only 12 feet deep. From a distance, it looked as
flimsy as a magic carpet. Meanwhile, thanks to Amman's
sophisticated suspension system, that magic carpet seemed to be
floating: The bridge hung from cables made of steel
wires--107,000 miles and 28,100 tons of steel wires, to be
exact--that were much more delicate-looking than anything anyone
had ever seen.
The bridge opened to traffic on October 25, 1931. One year later,
it had carried 5 million cars from New York to New Jersey and
back again. In 1946, engineers added two lanes to the bridge. In
1958, city officials decided to increase its capacity by 75
percent by adding a six-lane lower level. This deck (the New York
Times called it "a masterpiece of traffic engineering," while
other, more waggish observers referred to it as the "Martha
Washington") opened in August 1962.
Today, the George Washington Bridge is one of the world's busiest
bridges. In 2008, it carried some 105,894,000 vehicles.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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