Robert F. Kennedy Bridge
Triborough Bridge | |
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| File:Triborough Bridge and Hell Gate New York City Queens.jpg Aerial view of the Triborough Bridge (left) and the Hell Gate Bridge (railroad bridge, right). Queens is in the foreground, across from Wards Island. The Triborough continues out of view along the length of the island and forks to reach both The Bronx and the island of Manhattan. | |
| Coordinates | 40°46′48″N 73°55′36″W / 40.78000°N 73.92667°W |
| Carries | 8 lanes of I-278 |
| Crosses | East River, Harlem River and Bronx Kill |
| Locale | Manhattan, New York, Bronx, New York and Queens, New York |
| Maintained by | Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Suspension bridge, Lift bridge and Truss bridge |
| Total length | 847.34 meters (2,780 feet) (Suspension span) 234.70 meters (770 feet) (Lift span) 487.68 meters (1,600 feet) (Truss span) |
| Width | 29.87 meters (98 feet) (Suspension span) |
| Longest span | 420.62 meters (1,380 feet) (Suspension span) 94.49 meters (310 feet) (Lift span) 116.74 meters (383 feet) (Truss span) |
| Clearance above | 14 feet 6 inches (4.4 m), but trucks onbound from Manhattan are limited to 13 feet 10 inches (4.2 m) |
| Clearance below | 43.57 meters (143 feet) (Suspension span) 41.15 meters (135 feet) (when raised) (Lift span) 16.76 meters (55 feet) (Truss span) |
| History | |
| Opened | July 11, 1936 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 164,400 (Suspension span) 95,600 (Lift span) 117,900 (Truss span)[1] |
| Toll | $5.00 as of March 16, 2008 (between any 2 boroughs per car in cash); discount available with E-ZPass |
| Location | |
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Template:FixBunching The Triborough Bridge is a complex of three bridges connecting the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, using what were two islands, Ward's Island and Randall's Island as intermediate rights-of-way between the water crossings. These two islands have been consolidated by landfill.
The bridges span the Hell Gate (a tidal channel of the East River), Harlem River, and Bronx Kill.
History
Plans for connecting Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx were first announced by Edward A. Byrne, chief engineer of the New York City Department of Plant and Structures, in 1916. While its construction had been long recommended by local officials, the Triborough Bridge did not receive any funding until 1925, when the city appropriated funds for surveys, test borings and structural plans.
Construction had begun on Black Friday in 1929, and the Triborough project's outlook began to look bleak. Othmar Ammann's assistance was enlisted to help simplify the structure. Ammann had collapsed the original two-deck roadway into one, requiring lighter towers, and thus, lighter piers. These cost-saving revisions saved $10 million on the towers alone. Using New Deal money, the project was resurrected in the early 1930s by Robert Moses and the bridge was opened to traffic on July 11, 1936. Its cost was greater than that of the Hoover Dam.
The structure used concrete from factories from Maine to Mississippi. To make the casings for pouring the concrete a whole forest in Oregon was cut down.[2]
The bridge is owned by the City of New York and operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York).
On January 9, 2008, New York State Governor Elliot Spitzer announced his proposal to rename the bridge the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge, in honor of the former New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy.[3]
On June 4, 2008, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy the New York State Assembly voted to rename the bridge in honor of the former New York Senator. Governor Paterson is expect to sign the legislature into law[4].
Usage
The toll revenues from the Triborough Bridge pays for a portion of the public transit subsidy for the New York City Transit Authority and the commuter railroads. The bridge carries approximately 200,000 vehicles per day.
The bridge has sidewalks in all three legs. The TBTA officially requires bicyclists to walk their bicycles across, but the signs stating this unpopular requirement are usually ignored by bicyclists citing the very long distance of the bridge. Stairs on the 2 km (1.3 mile) Queens leg impede handicapped access. The Queens stairway along the southern side was demolished at the beginning of the 21st century, thus isolating that walkway, but the ramp of the Wards Island end of the walkway along the northern side was improved in 2007. The two sidewalks of the Bronx span are connected to only one ramp at the Randalls Island end.
The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority announced to further raise tolls on its facities, effective March 16, 2008. The charge for passenger vehicles to cross the Triboro will rise to $5.00 between any borough, Randall's Island included. A $0.50 discount for E-ZPass users exists. The crossing charge for a motorcycle is $2.00 charged in each direction, with a $0.25 discount for E-ZPass users. The return trip from Randall's Island to any borough is free.
The three sections of the bridge
East River suspension bridge (I-278)
- Length of main span: 1,380 feet (421 meters)
- Length of each side span: 700 feet (213 meters)
- Length, anchorage to anchorage: 2,780 feet (847 meters)
- Width of bridge: 98 feet (30 meters)
- Number of traffic lanes: 8 lanes
- Height of towers above mean high water: 315 feet (96 meters)
- Clearance at center above mean high water: 143 feet (44 meters)
- Number of sidewalks: 1
Harlem River lift bridge (NY Reference Route 900G)
- Length of main lift-truss span: 310 feet (94 meters)
- Length of each side truss span: 230 feet (70 meters)
- Length, anchorage to anchorage: 770 feet (235 meters)
- Height of towers: 210 feet (64 meters)
- Clearance of lift span above mean high water: 55 feet (17 meters)
- Clearance of lift span in raised position: 135 feet (41 meters)
- Number of traffic lanes: 6 lanes
- Number of sidewalks: 2 (1 on each side)
Bronx Kills crossing (I-278)
- Length of main truss span: 383 feet (117 meters)
- Length of approach truss span: 1,217 feet (371 meters)
- Length, anchorage to anchorage: 1,600 feet (488 meters)
- Clearance of truss span above mean high water: 55 feet (17 meters)
- Number of traffic lanes: 8 lanes
- Number of sidewalks: 2 (1 on each side)
The Triborough Bridge in popular culture
- The Triborough Bridge is shown along with other aerial views of New York City during the opening sequence of the television series Law & Order. Also, in a Law & Order-style introduction on Family Guy, the Triborough Bridge is shown.
- On the final episode of Friends, Ross attempts to go to the airport to prevent Rachel from going to Paris, and Phoebe drives him over the Harlem Lift Span as they head to JFK Airport. They also stop at the toll booth.
- Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) and his family drive over the bridge in the final scene of the film City Slickers.
- The bridge is shown in several scenes of the film Frequency.
- The bridge is seen in the films The Catered Affair and Sabrina.
- The bridge's Manhattan toll plaza is included in the 1974 film "The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three"
- The bridge appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV under the name East Borough Bridge.
- They Might Be Giants have an instrumental song called Triborough Bridge, although they have yet to record a studio version of it.
References
- ^ "2005 NYSDOT Traffic Data Report: AADT Values for Select Toll Facilities" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ Robert Caro, The Power Broker, Vintage, 1974.
- ^ "Triborough Bridge may be renamed for Robert F. Kennedy". Daily News. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ RFK Bridge
External links
- MTA Triborough Bridge site
- Triborough Bridge historic overview at nycroads.com
- Triborough Bridge at Structurae
- Triborough Bridge Harlem River Lift Span at Structurae
Crossings of the East River | ||||
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