Brooklyn Bridge
By: Joey Birchard & Gavin Maschmeyer
The Brooklyn Bridge, which connects New York City to Brooklyn, was considered the “eighth wonder of the world” when it opened on May 24, 1883. At the time it was believed to be impossible to build a bridge large enough to span the extensive width of the East River as well as to withstand the turbulent water conditions. However a safer, easier method of transportation between Manhattan and Brooklyn was needed if New York City was going to continue to grow. Thus, in 1867 the New York State legislature chartered The New York Bridge Company to build a bridge across the East River.
Mr. John Roebling who had built numerous smaller suspension bridges was commissioned to design the new bridge. Mr. Roebling knew he needed an innovate design to deal with the unique challenges of this project. So he designed the first suspension bridge that used steel cables instead of iron, had an open truss deck structure, and it was the first bridge to use caissons to anchor the structure. This creative design represented the new industrial age an...
A privately owned company constructed the current Peace Bridge in 1927. It became a link between Fort Erie, Canada and Buffalo, New York. The bridge is over one mile long, 5,800 feet, and holds three lanes of traffic. The center lane may go north or south depending on the volume of traffic. In 1934, the Great Depression caused a change. The Peace Bridge became publicly owned. As a result there were no taxes to be paid, and financing for projects could be obtained by issuing bonds at a low interest rate. The publicly owned bridge instituted a board of governors called the Peace Bridge Authority, PBA. The board, which made all decisions, was made up of six Americans and three Canadians. Fr...
In the early 1900's, settlers of the San Francisco Bay Area considered the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which spans over eight miles long and 500 feet above the water at its highest point, an impossible feat. However, with only a few complications, the bridge was completed by November, 1936. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge consists of two bridge types. The east section is a cantilever bridge, and the west, a suspension bridge.
The first and most challenging problem associated with building the Mackinac Bridge arrived long before the bridge was even designed. Financing such an enormous project was no easy feat. In 1928, the idea of connecting the upper and lower peninsulas was proposed to Congress for the first time (Brown 4). At the time, the suspected bridge project was very much under government scrutiny and control. In fact, the initial boost in interest in pursuing the construction of a bridge came about due to the depression. The Public Works Administration (PWA) had been created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal economic plan which would fund certain construction projects with th...
Since it would be easier and less expensive to build a bridge rather than a tunnel, a bridge was initially thought to be a better solution. However, to construct a bridge over the Hudson River it would require a minimum clearance of 200 ft. for ships to travel to and from Hudson River ports. Since the Manhattan side of the Hudson did not meet the 200-foot elevation requirement needed for a bridge, new and expensive apparatuses would have to be built on the New York side. Also, a bridge would be affected by poor weather conditions more than a tunnel. In 1913, the joint coalition finally decided to construct a tunnel.2
The Capilano Suspension Bridge was built in 1889 across the Capilano River by a Scottish engineer named George Grant Mackay in the city of Vancouver. The bridge was initially constructed from hemp ropes and cedar planks, which were later replaced with more durable steel cables in 1903. Over time, the bridge has exchanged ownership several times and has undergone a series of renovations. This is a paper on the Capilano Bridge. Special focus is given to its history, construction, and impact in its locality.
Gender and Race play the most prominent role in the criminal justice system. As seen in the movie Central Park 5, five African American boys were charged with the rape of the a white women. In class decision we’ve discussed how the media explodes when it reports cross-racial crimes. The Central Park 5 were known everywhere and even terms were being made up during the process such as wilding. Also, during one of the class discussions it was brought up that victims of crime are of the same race of the perpetrator. However, the media likes to sensationalize crime of the victim being of a different race, because it makes for a good story. By doing this, the media does create more of a division of race. As seen in the video Donald Trump was trying
Beautiful Colonial Williamsburg has many roots within the history of Virginia. From colonial times to present day, Williamsburg has kept the charm of a time long ago. Colonial Williamsburg through the centuries has given people a place to learn about the rich history Virginia has to offer. The significance of Colonial Williamsburg can be found within the battles that were fought during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the political figures that helped shape this great nation, and restoration efforts within the city of Williamsburg to maintain a time that should never be forgotten.
“This little ditch, never more than forty feet wide, opened in 1825 and promptly revolutionized transportation. The price of shipment from Buffalo to New York City fell by more than 90 percent in 1825 compared with a decade earlier. By most measure, the Erie Canal, which ran for 325 miles between Albany and Buffalo, benefitted New York more than anyplace else and ranks as the most ambitious and successful public works projects in the nation…” (Jackson & Dunbar, 102). The Canal brought enormous growth, transformation, and revolution to New York’s economy. The Erie Canal opened in 1825, which opened up commerce and business. The Canal is the reason why New York City becomes an international port. The Erie Canal connected Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes to the Hudson River, allowing the western states direct access into the Atlantic Ocean, avoiding shipping goods downstream on to the Mississippi River and New Orleans. The amount of days of shipping and cost significantly decreased, sparking an economic
While working to find ways to carry people, crops, and goods from the Midwest; a new water based transportation system was developed. Nothing of this size, complexity and cost had taken place before in the US. With approval from the New York legislature in 1817, the Erie Canal was built. The 364-mile waterway from Lake Erie to the Hudson River would become the longest artificial waterway in the US during this time. When the first option opened in 1819, it was 75 miles long and it immediately generated enough revenue to repay its cost. The Erie Canal brought prosperity to the farmers of central and western New York by carrying wheat, flour and meat to eastern cities and from there to foreign markets. It also increased production and processing in the mills. “The Erie Canal also prompted a national canal boom, and by 1848, the completion of the Michigan and Illinois Canal, completed an inland all-water route from New York City to New Orleans.” (Meyer, 2008).
The bridge was designed at a time when America was moving toward streamline products, this included the design of bridges. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was a sleek, graceful looking suspension bridge. Suspension bridges consist of many cables anchored...
The documentary film “Park Avenue: Money, Power, and the American Dream” directed by Alex Gibney is about the wealth gap between the rich and the poor in the United States. The documentary compares the access to opportunities of residents of Park Avenue both on the Upper East Side and in the South Bronx. The director explain that billionaires like David Koch made significant donations to politicians such as Paul Ryan for their own gain. The documentary includes interviews with a doorman at 740 Park Avenue, journalist Jane Mayer, Yale University Professor Jacob Hacker, Berkeley Professor Paul Piff, and Republican advisor Bruce Bartlett. The documentary makes a compelling case that inequality exposes democracy and that the victims of the inequality
We go to different places for many different reason. They range from work to vacation. Same thing with people back then. Before the Brooklyn Bridge was built, in order to get from Brooklyn to manhattan or vice versa you would have to take a boat. That is a lot of work in order to get the groceries to your house. This was one of the main reason for why the Brooklyn bridge was so important. Another reason is, “Its granite towers and steel cables have offered safe passage to millions of [people]”(). Taking a boat can be dangerous, more dangerous than walking and this bridge allowed people to do that. Manhattan was very crowded for a long time and the Brooklyn Bridge was help full with fixing that. “It was a solution to a overcrowded manhattan”().By
In her essay,”Importance of the Golden Gate Bridge,” Stephanie Stiavetti suggest that “It maintained this point of pride for nearly 25 years until the Verrazano- Narrows Bridge was built in New York in 1964. Today, this historic San Francisco landmark holds its place as the second largest suspension bridge in the country, behind Verrazano Narrows.” Back then, experts thought that it would be impossible to build a bridge across the tides and currents in that area because strong currents and tides would make construction extremely difficult and dangerous. The water is over 500 feet deep in the center of the channel, and along with the area's strong winds and thick fog, the idea of building a bridge there seemed nearly impossible. Despite all of the problems of building a bridge across the Golden Gate, Joseph Strauss was named as lead engineer for the project. Construction began January 5, 1933, and in the end cost more than $35 million to
The development of urban transportation has not changed with the cities; cities have changed with transportation. This chapter offers an insight into the Past and the future of Urban transportation and is split up into a number of different sections. It includes a timeline of the different forms of transport innovations, starting from the earliest stages of urban transport, dating back to the omnibus (the first type of urban transportation) and working in a chronological order until eventually reaching the automobile. However, these changes in Urban transport did not happen for no reason. Different factors within society meant urban transport needed to evolve; points will be made on why society needed this evolution. In contrast I will observe the problems urban transport has caused in society as a result of its rapid progression. Taking account of both arguments for the evolution of urban transport, I will look at where it will go in the future.
A simple bridge truss was the first structure I ever analyzed. The simple combination of beams that could hold cars, trains, and trucks over long spans of water fascinated me. Having the tools to analyze the loads on the truss further increased my interest in structures. I encountered the bridge in a textbook for my first engineering class.