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Bridges -Oral Presentation-

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Saved by Muriel
on October 8, 2008 at 10:22:30 pm
 

 

Bridges -Oral Presentation-



 

Hello! In this page you are going to find my oral presentation about bridges. I selected Brooklyn Bridge. I hope you like it!

 

 

 

 

 

Brooklyn Bridge


 

   

Location:

 

The Brooklyn Bridge is located in the city of New York, USA; it connects two of the five boroughs of New York: Brooklyn and Manhattan.

As we know, New York is one of the most visited cities of the world for its economical role and the active life of the city. Activities like riding horses, ice skating and free concerts mix with theaters and museums giving the city a 24 hours dynamic.

 

New York has a reticular pattern with high densities that creates an identificable skyline. Skyline, that can be appreciated from the different countys (in Venezuela we call them "municipios") especially from Brooklyn. 

 

Brooklyn is the residential area of the city (as well as Queens) and Manhattan is the economical centre of NY. As we can see, Brooklyn has a very particular neighborhood pattern, which is taken in account to be modified for the Strategic NY Plan of 2005. The bridge crosses above the East River, one of the most polluted rivers of America.
 
Brooklyn also concentrates most of the poblation of the city, therefore it needs to be very well conected to the other four bouroghs to guarantee the functionality of NY.
 
 
Brooklyn is a very beautiful neighborhood, full of trees and elegant architecture; it is also one of the most active and planned boroughs of NY. Take a look to these pictures and notice that Brooklyn has a lot of public spaces, commercial areas, walkable parks and very well-cared landscape. All that made Brooklyn a sustainable city which looks to improve every day.The connection to Manhattan through Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges had impulse the expansion of the city. The enterprise areas in down Manhattan with the presence of the Central Park are the elements that attract trips to downtown NY. This closed connection and communication between the two parts of the city conditioned the creation of both bridges, being the Brooklyn Bridge the older of them.
 
 

History

 
The Bridge was built in 1883 and its history has a lot of interesting facts: the pioneer of this idea was John Roebling an influent citizen that saw an opportunity when in 1852 he could not arrive to Manhattan due to the frozen East River. In that time he thought building a bridge but he did not present the idea until 1855. The bridge was an artistic connection that was designed to be memorable. In 1865 (almost 10 years later) and thanks to the power of Mr. Roebling the city approves the plan of the Brooklyn Bridge and a private corporation begun the construction.Mr. Roebling, the first promoter of the idea suffered an accident that caused him death in 1866; at this time his son, Washington took the leadership of the construction, and was thanks to him that in 1883 New York could had its bridge.The construction was not easy: they needed to struggle against the weather and the risks that the construction produced to the builders. Many men died building the Brooklyn Bridge even Washington suffered an accident that kept him away from the process.The bridge was designed to have two railroads crossing it and two roadways for carriage. It also included an elevated platform for pedestrian use. In the first years the bridge had to overcome some obstacles: people did not feel safe crossing it so in 1883 the governors of the two cities crossed it with a group of elephants, recovering the trust of people for the bridge.The Brooklyn Bridge is a suspension bridge made of steel cables and stone masonry. It is 1053m long and 26m wide. As you can see it has 4 central cables and a total of 22.600Km of cables that distributes the loads of the bridge.
 
 
 

 

 

Some facts about the bridge:

 
     
 
Nearest Tourist Points in Manhattan (distances approximate):
   The Empire State Building - 3 miles North
   Pier 17 and the South Street Seaport - Adjacent South
   Little Italy - 3/4 mile North
   Fraunces Tavern - 1 mile South
   Wall Street - 3/4 mile South
   Washington Square - 1-1/2 miles North
Nearest Tourist point in Brooklyn: River Cafe
 
Brooklyn Bridge Traffic: - 144,000 Vehicle Crossings (average weekday in 1998)
By comparison:
      Queensboro Bridge - 192,000 vehicles
      Williamsburg Bridge - 110,000
      Manhattan Bridge - 78,000
- Average Daily Bike traffic - 1115 (1998), 1698 (1997), 1613 (1996), 1717 (1995)
      High since 1979 - 1717 (1995); low, 623 (1980)
- Average Daily Pedestrian traffic - 2001 (1998), 2902 (1997), 2821 (1996), 3562 (1995)
      High since 1979 - 3562 (1995); low, 1190 (1980)
 
Type of bridge ……………………………………… Suspension
Construction started ……………………………… January 3, 1870
Opened to traffic …………………………………… May 24, 1883
Length of main span ……………………………… 1,595 feet, 6 inches
Length of side spans ………………………………… 930 feet
Length, anchorage to anchorage …………………… 3,455 feet, 6 inches
Total length of bridge and approaches ……………… 6,016 feet
Width of bridge ……………………………………… 85 feet
Number of traffic lanes ……………………………… 6 lanes
Number of cables …………………………………… 4 cables
Height of towers above mean high water …………… 276 feet, 6 inches
Clearance at center above mean high water ……… 135 feet
 
 

Brooklyn and its Bridge nowadays

 
In 1944 the Brooklyn Bridge was modified; it took 20 years to improve the bridge and adapt it to the new dynamic of the city. The railroad was suppressed, the cables were reinforced and a new road track was added.  These days the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most visited attractions of the city and also the most used for the New Yorkers. The bridge connects to different parts of the city and creates an identity for the residents of Brooklyn.The Brooklyn Bridge was, and will always be, a magnificent engineering solution for a growing city that not only needs to connect different parts for cars or buses but also considers the relations between people, allowing them to cross safely. The bridge is located in a way that creates a unity trough the public spaces of NY and helps the human interaction.
 
  
 

Info taken from:

 
http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridgefacts.htm
 
 
http://www.guiadenuevayork.com/t.php?t=5
 
 
http://www.visitbrooklyn.org/
 
 

Images taken from:

 
 
http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbgallery/bbgallery.htm
 
 
Google Earth Maps
 
 

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