Building type
River crossings and viaducts connect Manhattan to neighboring boroughs and span its changing terrain.
Compare the towers, approaches, and structural details of the Brooklyn, Queensboro, and Macombs Dam bridges. Each is both a landmark and working infrastructure.
6 building histories
Bridge · 1867-1883
Brooklyn Bridge, New York, NY
In legend and story, in painting and photo, in poetry and prose, the Brooklyn Bridge has inspired and evoked more praise and comment than any other bridge in America. The first to span the East River, this beautiful...
Read the storyBridge · 1890-95
Macombs Dam Bridge, New York, NY
The Macomb's Dam Bridge (originally Central Bridge) and 155th Street Viaduct, constructed in 1890-95 to the designs of eminent structural engineer Alfred Pancoast Boller, for the N.Y.C. Departments of Public Parks and...
Read the storyBridge · 1901-09
Queensboro Bridge, New York, NY
After the close of the Civil War, there were a number of proposals calling for the construction of bridges across the East River to facilitate communications between York City, the City of Brooklyn and the farms of...
Read the storyBridge · 1912-15
Manhattan Bridge Plaza & Canal Street, New York, NY
New York's first bridges were engineering marvels, but little thought was given to entrances and exits, instead focusing primarily on the river crossing. That changed with the evolution of the City Beautiful movement,...
Read the storyBridge · 1893-95
University Heights Bridge, New York, NY
The University Heights Bridge, a steel truss bridge consisting of a central swing (double) span and three deck truss approach spans, is, in large part, one of the oldest major bridges in New York City, and one of the...
Read the storyBridge · 1886-89
Washington Bridge, New York, NY
The Washington Bridge, the next major extant bridge constructed in New York City after the Brooklyn Bridge, is a monument in the history of nineteenth-century American engineering. A steel and cast- and wrought-iron...
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