Robert F. Kennedy Bridge

Robert F. Kennedy Bridge
	Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (left)
Official name	Robert F. Kennedy Bridge
use	Road bridge
Convicted	Interstate 278
Crossing of	East River , Harlem River , Bronx Kill
place	New York City
Entertained by	Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority
opening	July 11, 1936
planner	Othmar Ammann
	location
	Arrangement of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge

40.78 -73.926666666667Coordinates: 40 ° 46 ′ 48 ″ N , 73 ° 55 ′ 36 ″ W.

The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge is the name of a group of three bridges that connect the New York boroughs of Bronx , Manhattan and Queens . The original name of the bridge was Triborough or Triboro Bridge , but it was renamed on November 19, 2008 in memory of former New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy .

description

Seen from Queens, a suspension bridge spans the arm of the East River called Hell Gate and transfers Interstate 278 to the two islands, Wards Island and Randalls Island, which are connected to each other by embankment . On Randalls Island, the road splits into a westward-turning route that crosses the Harlem River to Manhattan (to E 125th Street) on a lift bridge , and into I-278, which continues northwards, which crosses the narrow Bronx on a truss bridge Kill crossed to the Bronx.

history

Construction began on October 25, 1929, exactly one day after Black Thursday with its major stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression . Work on the bridge was stopped in early 1930 due to lack of funds. In 1933, Robert Moses was appointed by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to head the Triborough Bridge Authority , which had been established to continue and complete construction of the bridge with New Deal funds . Robert Moses made sure that Othmar Ammann , who had recently completed the George Washington Bridge , was appointed chief engineer of the Triborough Bridge Authority in addition to his work as head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey . Ammann simplified the bridge by deleting the planned second level, providing a conventional bridge deck stiffened with trusses for eight lanes and planning the pylons and suspension cables accordingly more easily.

The bridge was opened on July 11, 1936 . Overall, the Triborough Bridge, including all driveways, ramp and connecting bridges, distribution structures, etc., cost more than the Hoover Dam .

The concrete for the construction was supplied by companies from Maine to the Mississippi River . To make the formwork for the bridges, an entire forest was felled in Oregon .

In 1986 the American Society of Civil Engineers added the Triborough Bridge Project to the List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks .

toll

The bridges are subject to tolls . The costs for this in 2018, for a two-axle car, amount to 8.50 US dollars for payment on account or 5.76 US dollars with the E-ZPass . Like all bridges in New York City, the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge has been "cashless" since 2017. This means that it is no longer possible to pay the toll directly. If there is no EZ pass in the vehicle, an invoice will be sent to the vehicle owner. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) manages the revenues of these and other bridges, but the bridge is owned by the City of New York. In 2002 alone, the revenues of TBTA amounted to 933.1 million US dollars . On average, the bridge is used by 200,000 vehicles per day. The TBTA's income makes it possible to subsidize local public transport .