The longest suspension span in the world from 1903 to 1924, connects Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City. The bridge is designed by Henry Hornbostel and engineered by Leffert L. Buck and Holton D. Robinson. The construction started in November 1896 and finished in December 1903. The main span is 488 meters, two meters longer than the Brooklyn Bridges previous record span. The bridge deck was originally designed for four traffic lanes, six trolley or subway tracks and two pedestrian lanes. Massive stiffening trusses were designed to keep the deck steady in wind and support the six rail tracks. Four of the track lanes were converted to road lanes in the 1920s. The center span is suspended from four 48 cm thick cables that consist of 7,696 individual wires each. The side spans are unsuspended and held up by truss supports. Four new towers and additional steel were added in the 1910s to support the side spans which were beginning to sag under the increasingly heavy traffic and subway cars. Since the 1980s, the bridge has undergone a thorough reconstruction to repair the damage caused by decades of lacked maintenance. Currently on average 110,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day. #Brooklyn #East_River_Crossings #Lower_East_Side #Manhattan #New_York_City #Suspension
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