Williamsburg Bridge
The Williamsburg Bridge is a bridge in New York City across the East River connecting Manhattan at Delancey St. with the Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York on Long Island at Interstate 278.
Construction on the bridge began in 1896. and opened on December 19, 1903 at a cost of $12,000,000. At the time it was constructed, the Williamsburg Bridge was the greatest suspention bridge on Earth. It remained such until the Golden Gate Bridge was completed in 1937. The channel span under the bridge is 1,600 feet. It is 7200 feet long, between cable anchor terminals, and the deck is 118 feet wide. The height at the center of the brige is 135 feet and each tower is 335 feet; these measurements taken from the river's surface at high water mark. According to the outstanding film Over The East River published in 1919 by the Ford Motor Company, the bridge had 4 trollies, 2 cable tracks, 2 roadways, and 2 foot walks.
The bridge is only one of two bridges in New York City to carry both train and vehicle traffic, the Manhattan Bridge is the other.
For a while the Long Island Rail Road used the bridge, today the New York City Subway runs along the center of the bridge.
The Williamsburg Bridge was featured in the 1994 book The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The bridge was renovated in the 1990s and celebrated it's 100th anniversary in 2003
View from the East River
(photo taken 2002)
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