© Elzbieta SekowskaVerrazzano-Narrows Bridge 1964
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge 1964
© Mary McGrath
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
Double-deck suspension bridge in New York
Key Facts
World’s longest main-span bridge from 1964-1981
13 traffic lanes on two decks
Four main suspension cables
Location
New York, USA
Across The Narrows
Between Staten Island and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Designers / Engineers
Ammann & Whitney
Othmar Ammann
Leopold Just
Description
Steel suspension bridge
1,298m main span
4,176m total length
Main contractors
American Bridge Company
Construction
Began 13 August 1959
Opened 21 November 1964
The Bridge
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was the world’s longest-span suspension bridge from 1964 to 1981 at 1,298m. It connects Staten Island with Brooklyn in New York City.
It has 13 lanes of traffic, seven on the upper deck and six on the lower, and is used by an average of over 200,000 vehicles travelling in both directions daily.
It was designed by Othmar Ammann and other engineers at his firm, Ammann Whitney. They were aware of the need to expand the bridge’s traffic capacity in the future and the design would allow a lower deck in its strengthened truss. The bridge was so popular that in 1969 the second deck was opened.
Originally it was named officially as the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge with one “z” but this was recently corrected.
World's Longest Main-Span Bridges in 1964
Other long-span bridges
