Hudson River Suspension Bridge (Unbuilt)
This is an image set within the Bridgemeister collection.
| Bridge: | Hudson River Suspension Bridge (Unbuilt) |
| Location: | New York, New York and New Jersey, USA - Hudson River |
| Image Set Contributor: | David Denenberg |
| Related Image Lists: | All from David Denenberg All in New York All in New Jersey All in USA All Vehicular Suspension Bridges |
| Credit: | Postcard and tobacco card, collection of David Denenberg. |
Don't believe everything you see on postcards. This postcard would have you think Gustav Lindenthal actually built his Hudson River Bridge from Manhattan's West 57th Street across to New Jersey. This card doesn't quite convey the immensity of Lindenthal's proposed bridge. His 1923 proposal called for a double-deck bridge. The upper level was to carry 20 (yes, twenty) lanes of traffic and two pedestrian walkways. The lower level was reserved for 12 lanes of rapid-transit. The bridge had a proposed width of 235 feet. Henry Petroski's recent book "Engineers of Dreams" has a lengthy discussion on Lindenthal's efforts to get this bridge built. It never was, but the desire to bridge the Hudson between Manhattan and New Jersey was eventually realized by one of Lindenthal's proteges (Othmar Ammann) as the George Washington Bridge.
This tobacco card takes the myth of the "West Jersey Bridge" to another level. The card depicts Lindenthal's proposed bridge and describes it as being "completed" and "opened to the public". The dates on the card match the George Washington Bridge, but the statistics do not. There has never been a suspension bridge with a deck width approaching 200 feet, much less a Lindenthalian 270 feet.
Many of Gustav Lindenthal's suspension bridge proposals included the use of the "stiffened eyebar" (sometimes called "braced chain") method for the bridges' main cables. Lindenthal only built one of these bridges. It was in Pittsburgh and known as the North Side Bridge. Only a few other North American bridges were built using this (or similar) methods. One was Pittsburgh's Point Bridge (also in Pittsburgh). Another small example, Mill Creek Park Bridge still stands in Youngstown, Ohio. A larger example, the Grand Avenue Bridge in St. Louis., was demolished in 1960.
