Research Paper On George Washington Bridge

One of the most important infrastructural masterpieces of the United States of America stands as the George Washington Bridge (GWB) located above the Hudson River. The eastern side of the Bridge rests on the shores of Manhattan while the western end of the Bridge lies on the woody areas of the New Jersey Palisades. The construction of the Bridge was meant to give a connection to New York City and New Jersey and facilitate traveling over the vast expanse. The construction of the George Washington Bridge began in the October of 1927. It became operational for traffic on October 25th, 1931 (Encyclopædia Britannica). For many people it is surprising to wonder how residents of New York City and New Jersey bore the absence of a connecting path between the cities and with the mighty Hudson River in between, traveling was surely an ordeal for the people who had to travel to and from between the two cities. Since the earlier centuries had lacked appropriate technology to build a bridge or other means of transport, the commonest method was by ferry (Lampkin). Hence, people from both the cities had to wait for as long as five or six hours for a ferry to arrive and this time waste was additional with the occasional presence of ice present in the middle of the
He used to write about how the workers were almost 75 feet deep into the water because construction at the foundation level was generally that difficult to be carried out. However he was optimistic that the construction was going to go without a glitch. Initially the plan was going very smoothly since the gigantic steel cofferdams that were used to reproduce the formation of the Jersey Bridge tower were more reliable and easier to place than the caissons which were used to construct the Brooklyn Bridge. The cofferdams were not pressurized hence the bends were not going to be an essential hazard to the construction unlike the caissons