Bridging New York

Eleven major bridges unite New York City together and with the rest of the nation. One engineer was responsible for more than half of them, yet hardly anyone knows his name.

Othmar Ammann came to America as a graduate of Swiss engineering schools and learned bridge building from the reigning bridge engineer, Gustav Lindenthal. As his protégé, Ammann worked on the Hell Gate Railroad Bridge, an arch bridge of unprecedented strength and beauty. Lindenthal had plans for an enormous rail bridge across the Hudson River, but they were rejected as too expensive. Ammann proposed a lighter, less expensive span for automobiles and trucks. In a painful parting, he left Lindenthal and built the landmark George Washington Bridge, a span twice as long as any suspension bridge in the world.