View allAll Photos Tagged Bridges_and_Tunnel
The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation held a scaled down version of its annual memorial run & walk on Sun., September 27, 2020. Led by Frank Siller, and accompanied by MTA Bridges & Tunnels President Daniel DeCrescenzo and Acting Vice President and Chief of Operations Richard Hildebrand, the walk commemorates FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller’s run through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (now the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) on September 11, 2001, before his death at the World Trade Center.
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit)
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connects Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, across the Narrows--a tidal strait where the Hudson River empties in the Atlantic Ocean. Named after Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano, who, in 1524, was the first European explorer to sail into New York Harbor, it is referred to by locals as just the Verrazano Bridge. When it opened in 1964, its 4,260 center span made it the longest suspension bridge in the world--a distinction it held until 1981.
The last great public works project overseen by Robert Moses, the New York State Parks Commissioner and head of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, it served as one of the final links of the New York City expressway system. It was also the final project by Chief Engineer Othmar Anmann, who also designed the George Washington Bridge, Bayonne Bridge, Whitestone Bridge, Triborough Bridge and Throgs Neck Bridge. Construction began on August 13, 1959 and the upper deck was opened on November 21, 1964 at a cost of over $320 million. New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony, which was attended by over 5,000 people. The lower deck opened on June 28, 1969.
The bridge is widely known by non New Yorkers as the starting point of the New York City Marathon. It also serves as the gateway to New York Harbor--all cruise ships and most container ships arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey must pass underneath it.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels announced the completion of improvements to the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge’s walkway entrance on its Broad Channel approach.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels
National Museum of Transportation
St. Louis, Missouri
The American Locomotive Company (ALCO) built this custom made, model MRS-1 military road switcher. It is a multi-gauge locomotive, designed at the height of the Cold War for use in any future land war. It can operate on standard gauge (4’ 8.5” used in N. America, most of Europe. Turkey, Korea, China and parts of Australia) and broad gauge track (5’ in Russia and Panama, 5’ 3” in Ireland and parts of Australia, or 5’ 6” in Spain, Portugal, parts of India and Pakistan). Its wheel assemblies (trucks) have wide side frames and the wheels can be moved on the axles.
It has both air and vacuum brakes and can be equipped with different kinds of couplers, using the various mounting holes on its ends. ALCO built 83 units and EMD built an additional thirteen. It has a turbocharged, four-cycle, V-12 diesel engine producing 1,600 HP. It weighs 246,000 lbs., has 40 wheels, all powered (C-C classification), and a top speed of 65 mph. Its design is also compact, to fit the limited bridge and tunnel clearances on foreign railways. It is 56’ 9.24” long. 9’ 6.75” wide, and 13’ 5” high (compare it to the ALCO RS-1 on exhibit).
The "B in its number shows it has a steam generator (boiler) in its short hood, used to heat passenger trains. This can evaporate 330 gallons of water per hour. It carries 800 gallons of fuel and another 800 gallons of water for train heating. It was last used at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Virginia. It was obtained in 1993 through the surplus government property system.
Persistent toll violator vehicles interdicted by TBTA at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
MTA Bridges and Tunnels lent personnel and a fleet of 18 trucks and other pieces of heavy equipment to assist in the snow removal efforts in Suffolk County after a huge blizzard dumped up to 30 inches of snow across the County on February 8-9, 2013.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels
Fellow "Flickr-holic" Bridges and Tunnels and I took our annual trip to Sydney's Northwest on 29 December 2015 to review progress on Metro Northwest (AKA the North West Rail Link).
Five photos describing activity at the corner of Windsor and Schofields Road during the construction of the sky bridge at this point.
As Tropical Storm Isaias brought rain and high winds to the area, crews from MTA Bridges and Tunnels worked to remove a tree that fell on the Randall’s Island to Queens ramp of the RFK Bridge on Tue., August 4, 2020.
I followed a path up to the top to get shots of the Pont du Gard from above.
This is the Pont du Gard, a famous Roman Aqueduct on the Gardon River in France.
This monumental structure spanning the Gardon River valley is 275 metres long, 49 metres high, 6 metres wide at the base, 3 metres wide at the top and has a total of fifty three arches. It is only one part of a fifty kilometre aqueduct which supplied Roman Nimes with fresh water. It is estimated to have carried twenty thousand cubic metres per day.
It was built using six-ton stone blocks, coloured a delicate shade of pink, laid dry, and is a technological and aesthetic masterpiece.
Through poor maintenance, the aqueduct gradually became unusable in the 9th Century.
But the many times restored Pont du Gard, still remains its haughty air even after nearly two thousand years.
From a tourist book on La Provence (English version)
Begun around 19 BC, this bridge is part of an aqueduct which transported water from a spring near Uzes to Roman Nimes. An underground channel, bridges and tunnels were engineered to carry the 20 million litre (4.4 million gallon) daily water supply 50 km (31 miles).
The three-tiered structure of the Pont du Gard spans the Gardon valley and was the tallest aqueduct in the Roman empire.
Its huge limestone blocks, some as heavy as 6 tonnes, were erected without mortar. The water channel covered by stone slabs, was in the top tier of the three. Skillfully designed cutwaters ensured that the bridge has resisted many violent floods.
It is not known for certain how long the aqueduct continued in use but it may still have been functioning as late as the 9th century AD.
The adjacent road bridge was erected in the 1700s.
Taken from DK Eyewitness Travel: Provence & The Cote D'Azur
Back at the bottom level.
MTA Bridges & Tunnels Vice President and Chief of Operations Richard Hildebrand presents commendations to Sgt. Orlando Caholo and BTO Heather Minutello at the Queens Midtown Tunnel on Tue., June 22, 2021.
The officers spotted runaway dog Indie running through the tunnel, and contacted her owner, Heather Angus, leading to their reunion.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA
Persistent toll violator vehicles interdicted by TBTA at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
Using a crane, the temporary bridge overpass is set onto the west abutment bearings.The $13.9 million design/build project will reconstruct the nearly 50-year-old Rockaway Bridge Boulevard Overpass under an accelerated timeline that will see work completed by the end of the year. Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels / Alex Gad and The LiRo Group / Liz Beller
Crews work during Phase One of repairs to the upper level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Work is expected to continue through summer 2017. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
MTA Bridges & Tunnels Vice President and Chief of Operations Richard Hildebrand presents commendations to Sgt. Orlando Caholo and BTO Heather Minutello at the Queens Midtown Tunnel on Tue., June 22, 2021.
The officers spotted runaway dog Indie running through the tunnel, and contacted her owner, Heather Angus, leading to their reunion.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA
Persistent toll violator vehicles interdicted by TBTA at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
MTA Bridges and Tunnels personnel fought snow and kept the RFK Bridge plowed, salted and sanded during the snowstorm of February 8-9, 2013.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels / Charles Passarella.
MTA Bridges & Tunnels Vice President and Chief of Operations Richard Hildebrand presents commendations to Sgt. Orlando Caholo and BTO Heather Minutello at the Queens Midtown Tunnel on Tue., June 22, 2021.
The officers spotted runaway dog Indie running through the tunnel, and contacted her owner, Heather Angus, leading to their reunion.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA
MTA Bridges and Tunnels personnel fought snow and kept the RFK Bridge plowed, salted and sanded during the snowstorm of February 8-9, 2013.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels / Charles Passarella.
This is the Pont du Gard, a famous Roman Aqueduct on the Gardon River in France.
This monumental structure spanning the Gardon River valley is 275 metres long, 49 metres high, 6 metres wide at the base, 3 metres wide at the top and has a total of fifty three arches. It is only one part of a fifty kilometre aqueduct which supplied Roman Nimes with fresh water. It is estimated to have carried twenty thousand cubic metres per day.
It was built using six-ton stone blocks, coloured a delicate shade of pink, laid dry, and is a technological and aesthetic masterpiece.
Through poor maintenance, the aqueduct gradually became unusable in the 9th Century.
But the many times restored Pont du Gard, still remains its haughty air even after nearly two thousand years.
From a tourist book on La Provence (English version)
Begun around 19 BC, this bridge is part of an aqueduct which transported water from a spring near Uzes to Roman Nimes. An underground channel, bridges and tunnels were engineered to carry the 20 million litre (4.4 million gallon) daily water supply 50 km (31 miles).
The three-tiered structure of the Pont du Gard spans the Gardon valley and was the tallest aqueduct in the Roman empire.
Its huge limestone blocks, some as heavy as 6 tonnes, were erected without mortar. The water channel covered by stone slabs, was in the top tier of the three. Skillfully designed cutwaters ensured that the bridge has resisted many violent floods.
It is not known for certain how long the aqueduct continued in use but it may still have been functioning as late as the 9th century AD.
The adjacent road bridge was erected in the 1700s.
Taken from DK Eyewitness Travel: Provence & The Cote D'Azur
Views of the River Gard, as I got to the end of the bridge.
Looking over the wall of the road bridge, below the aqueduct. Other side of the river. Soon I would walk up the path on the left to get better views of the bridge.
MTA Bridges & Tunnels Vice President and Chief of Operations Richard Hildebrand presents commendations to Sgt. Orlando Caholo and BTO Heather Minutello at the Queens Midtown Tunnel on Tue., June 22, 2021.
The officers spotted runaway dog Indie running through the tunnel, and contacted her owner, Heather Angus, leading to their reunion.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA
Staffordshire blue brick is a strong type of construction brick, originally made in Staffordshire, England.
Brick made by H Doulton & Co. of Rowley Regis, displayed in the Black Country Living Museum
The brick is made from the local red clay, Etruria marl, which when fired at a high temperature in a low-oxygen reducing atmosphere takes on a deep blue colour and attains a very hard, impervious surface with high crushing strength and low water absorption.
This type of brick was used for foundations and was extensively used for bridges and tunnels in canal construction, and later, for railways. Its lack of porosity makes it suitable for capping brick walls, and its hard-wearing properties makes it ideal for steps and pathways. It is also used as a general facing brick for decorative reasons. Staffordshire Blue bricks have traditionally been "Class A" with a water absorption of less than 4.5%.
I followed a path up to the top to get shots of the Pont du Gard from above.
This is the Pont du Gard, a famous Roman Aqueduct on the Gardon River in France.
This monumental structure spanning the Gardon River valley is 275 metres long, 49 metres high, 6 metres wide at the base, 3 metres wide at the top and has a total of fifty three arches. It is only one part of a fifty kilometre aqueduct which supplied Roman Nimes with fresh water. It is estimated to have carried twenty thousand cubic metres per day.
It was built using six-ton stone blocks, coloured a delicate shade of pink, laid dry, and is a technological and aesthetic masterpiece.
Through poor maintenance, the aqueduct gradually became unusable in the 9th Century.
But the many times restored Pont du Gard, still remains its haughty air even after nearly two thousand years.
From a tourist book on La Provence (English version)
Begun around 19 BC, this bridge is part of an aqueduct which transported water from a spring near Uzes to Roman Nimes. An underground channel, bridges and tunnels were engineered to carry the 20 million litre (4.4 million gallon) daily water supply 50 km (31 miles).
The three-tiered structure of the Pont du Gard spans the Gardon valley and was the tallest aqueduct in the Roman empire.
Its huge limestone blocks, some as heavy as 6 tonnes, were erected without mortar. The water channel covered by stone slabs, was in the top tier of the three. Skillfully designed cutwaters ensured that the bridge has resisted many violent floods.
It is not known for certain how long the aqueduct continued in use but it may still have been functioning as late as the 9th century AD.
The adjacent road bridge was erected in the 1700s.
Taken from DK Eyewitness Travel: Provence & The Cote D'Azur
Path going up.
At the 2013 Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, MTA Bridges and Tunnels showcased a number of the trucks and heavy machinery it uses to maintain the MTA's vehicular bridges and tunnels.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
At the 2013 Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, MTA Bridges and Tunnels showcased a number of the trucks and heavy machinery it uses to maintain the MTA's vehicular bridges and tunnels.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
New York Army National Guard Sgt. Claudio Zhami, assigned to delta company of the Joint Task Force Empire Shield, guards a security checkpoint the Verrazano bridge, Staten Island, N.Y., Jan 10, 2019. Zhami was part of Operation Catch-All, conducting overwatch for state troopers and Triburough Bridge and Tunnel Authority officers checking vehicles coming onto the bridge. (N.Y. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Andrew Valenza)
At the 2013 Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, MTA Bridges and Tunnels showcased a number of the trucks and heavy machinery it uses to maintain the MTA's vehicular bridges and tunnels.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
At the 2013 Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, MTA Bridges and Tunnels showcased a number of the trucks and heavy machinery it uses to maintain the MTA's vehicular bridges and tunnels.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
At the 2013 Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, MTA Bridges and Tunnels showcased a number of the trucks and heavy machinery it uses to maintain the MTA's vehicular bridges and tunnels.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
The Bronx-Whitestone Bridge appears in the distance, as photographed from the tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge, where an energy efficient LED navigation light dominates the foreground. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
A Nissan Rogue sits in the lot at Runway Towing, after it was impounded June 8 by Bridge & Tunnel Officers at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge for non-payment of tens of thousands of dollars in tolls.
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
MassDOT Secretary Richard Davey talks to workers in the Callahan Tunnel.
Secretary Davey and Highway Administrator Frank DePaola today announced the closure portion of the Callahan Tunnel Rehabilitation Project is coming to an end, and barring any unforeseen delays, the tunnel that carries traffic from Downtown to East Boston and Logan Airport will reopen to vehicles on Monday, March 10, 2014 by 5am.
“The Patrick Administration has made a commitment to invest in the infrastructure we have and to be innovative in how we deliver critical repairs to the roads, bridges and tunnels that support the regional economy,” said Secretary Davey. “To that end, MassDOT is pleased to share that this closure is trending to end several days ahead of schedule.”
“Along with receiving quality work to meet our specifications, reducing the impact this work had on the public has been our highest priority. There were doubts on how the region would respond to the detours and I am thankful to the public and our project team for showing us that the complete closure was the right choice,” said Administrator DePaola.
Work will continue 24/7 through the weekend as contractor McCourt paves the tunnel, installs lane marking and works in coordination with MassDOT to remove the barriers and detours that have been in place since the closure began on December 27.
The $19.3 million contract for McCourt Construction included additional incentive payments of $71,500 each day the tunnel opens prior to the advertised opening date of March 12; McCourt is on track to be eligible for an incentive payment with a Monday opening. The complete budget for the project, funded through toll revenues, is $25 million, revised from the earlier $35 million project estimate.
Efforts to return traffic to pre-closure conditions will take place over the course of next week. These efforts that will be noticed by the public are detailed below. Most notably, the effort requires the closure of Exit 24/Gov’t Center on I-93 Southbound on Sunday night into Monday morning and the complete closure of I-93 Southbound through Boston overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.
Fellow "Flickr-holic" Bridges and Tunnels and I took our annual trip to Sydney's Northwest on 29 December 2015 to review progress on Metro Northwest (AKA the North West Rail Link).
These shots record the progress of construction of the of the sky train between the Old Windsor Road/Windsor Road intersection and Rouse Hill Town Centre.
As I took this picture my mind wandered, albeit briefly, to the vacant paddocks and livestock one used to view at this site - and a world, not so long ago, without McDonalds on the roadside!
At the 2013 Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, MTA Bridges and Tunnels showcased a number of the trucks and heavy machinery it uses to maintain the MTA's vehicular bridges and tunnels.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
Crews work during Phase One of repairs to the upper level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Work is expected to continue through summer 2017. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
Crews work during Phase One of repairs to the upper level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Work is expected to continue through summer 2017. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
At the 2013 Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, MTA Bridges and Tunnels showcased a number of the trucks and heavy machinery it uses to maintain the MTA's vehicular bridges and tunnels.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels celebrates 90th anniversary with presentation and speeches highlighting achievements over the decades.
Courtesy of MTA / Trent Reeves
MTA Bridges and Tunnels personnel fought snow and kept the RFK Bridge plowed, salted and sanded during the snowstorm of February 8-9, 2013.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels / Charles Passarella.
IRT R-15 Car Number 6239 (1950)
Manufacturer: American Car and Foundry Company (Berwick, Pennsylvania), 1950
Service: 1950-1985
Routes: Flushing line (7), 1950-1964; IRT lines (Numbers 1/9, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), 1964-1985
Innovations in the subway system after World War II, including R-15 cars, continued even as increasing numbers of city residents moved to the suburbs and used automobiles for commuting. The R-15 order was small but significant. Although only 100 cars were produced, they combined the best features of other post-war orders with new and experimental features. The cars contained the propulsion and braking system of R-10 cars with design features of the R-11. The cars arrived painted a distinctive maroon with beige stripes. Porthole window design was adapted from earlier R-11cars.
This R-15 car, number 6239, is notable as the first car in the New York City subway system to be air-conditioned. The air-conditioning was installed 5 years after the car was put into service, but it failed after only 2 weeks of operation in the dusty subway environment. The cars were often damp, and water dripped on passengers. The costly and ineffectual air-conditioning was removed, but the New York City Transit Authority continued to work on the technology.
The New York Transit Museum, located in the decommissioned Court Street subway station at Boerum Place, was opened 1976 by the New York City Transit Authority and taken over in the mid-1990s by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The museum includes subway, bus, railway, bridge, and tunnel memorabilia; and other exhibits including vintage signage and in-vehicle advertisements; and models and dioramas of subway, bus, and other equipment.
I followed a path up to the top to get shots of the Pont du Gard from above.
This is the Pont du Gard, a famous Roman Aqueduct on the Gardon River in France.
This monumental structure spanning the Gardon River valley is 275 metres long, 49 metres high, 6 metres wide at the base, 3 metres wide at the top and has a total of fifty three arches. It is only one part of a fifty kilometre aqueduct which supplied Roman Nimes with fresh water. It is estimated to have carried twenty thousand cubic metres per day.
It was built using six-ton stone blocks, coloured a delicate shade of pink, laid dry, and is a technological and aesthetic masterpiece.
Through poor maintenance, the aqueduct gradually became unusable in the 9th Century.
But the many times restored Pont du Gard, still remains its haughty air even after nearly two thousand years.
From a tourist book on La Provence (English version)
Begun around 19 BC, this bridge is part of an aqueduct which transported water from a spring near Uzes to Roman Nimes. An underground channel, bridges and tunnels were engineered to carry the 20 million litre (4.4 million gallon) daily water supply 50 km (31 miles).
The three-tiered structure of the Pont du Gard spans the Gardon valley and was the tallest aqueduct in the Roman empire.
Its huge limestone blocks, some as heavy as 6 tonnes, were erected without mortar. The water channel covered by stone slabs, was in the top tier of the three. Skillfully designed cutwaters ensured that the bridge has resisted many violent floods.
It is not known for certain how long the aqueduct continued in use but it may still have been functioning as late as the 9th century AD.
The adjacent road bridge was erected in the 1700s.
Taken from DK Eyewitness Travel: Provence & The Cote D'Azur
First views from the top.
Panoramic from the top (only one that works in Windows Live Photo Gallery).
Cropped version.
From the river to the bridge.
Crews work during Phase One of repairs to the upper level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Work is expected to continue through summer 2017. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
Manhattan Waterfront Greenway Robert Moses Playground at the United Nations.
The following information is from the web site for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. For a much more critical view of Moses including Moses's discriminatory policies and practices to restrict access to parks, beaches and housing -- see Robert Caro, The Power Broker, the Pulitzer Prize winning biography. Visit High Bridge, High Line and High Brow: Green Justice from New York to Los Angeles at KCET's Green Justice, www.greenjustice.org.
Robert Moses Playground
"Parks are the outward visible symbol of democracy."
--Robert Moses, 1956
In five decades of public service, Robert Moses (1888-1981) had an extraordinary impact on the physical environment of New York. He played a primary role in the development of its parks, transportation, and housing. Moses was born on December 18, 1888 in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale in 1909, received a jurisprudence degree from Oxford University in 1911, and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 1914.
Moses began his career in the public interest in 1913 as a municipal investigator. Beginning in 1924, Moses held a dozen City and State positions, many concurrently, including: Chairman of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), New York City Construction Coordinator, and sole member of the New York City Parkway Authority. Invested with this authority, Moses constructed 416 miles of highway and thirteen bridges, and thus reached his goal of bringing New York into the automobile era.
Moses entered into his legendary association with parks through Governor Alfred E. Smith. In 1924 he was appointed Chairman of the Long Island State Park Commission and President of the New York State Parks Council. On January 18, 1934, Moses was sworn in by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia as Commissioner of the first unified, citywide Department of Parks, a position he held for 26 years, until he resigned to head the 1964-65 World’s Fair.
In the course of his remarkable career, Moses was responsible for an unprecedented number of physical expansions and improvements. During the Depression year Moses successfully matched his vision for parks with the resources provided by the Works Progress Administration, a federal social program. With over 80,000 laborers and 1,840 architects and engineers at its disposal in 1935, Parks was able to launch projects such as the Riverside Park extension, Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the building of 11 swimming pools. From 1934 to 1960, park acreage more than doubled, to 34,673 acres. Other projects included the addition of 658 playgrounds, 17 miles of beach, zoos, recreation centers, and ballfields. Moses was removed from his last public office when the TBTA was abolished by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1968.
Situated just south of the United Nations , this full-block site was acquired by the city in 1937 as part of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel construction, another Moses undertaking. The playground, which was completed in 1941, shares the block with the tunnel’s ventilating tower. The site was named for Moses by the City Council in 1982, when there was a proposal to build an apartment tower on it.
1.344 Acres
The information about Robert Moses Playground appears on the web here: www.nycgovparks.org/parks/M158/highlights/6496.
Visit the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway at KCET's Green Justice, www.greenjustice.org.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels personnel fought snow and kept the RFK Bridge plowed, salted and sanded during the snowstorm of February 8-9, 2013.
Photo: MTA Bridges and Tunnels / Charles Passarella.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT) is a 23-mile-long (37 km) fixed link crossing the mouth of the United States Chesapeake Bay and connecting the Delmarva Peninsula's Eastern Shore of the state of Virginia with Virginia Beach and the metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The bridge–tunnel originally combined 12 miles (19 km) of trestle, two 1-mile-long (1.6 km) tunnels, four artificial islands, four high-level bridges, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of causeway, and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of approach roads—crossing the Chesapeake Bay and preserving traffic on the Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake shipping channels. It replaced vehicle ferry services which operated from South Hampton Roads and from the Virginia Peninsula from the 1930s until completion of the bridge–tunnel in 1964. The system remains one of only ten bridge–tunnel systems in the world, three of which are located in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The CBBT complex carries U.S. Route 13, the main north–south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and, as part of the East Coast's longstanding Ocean Highway, provides the only direct link between the Eastern Shore and South Hampton Roads regions, as well as an alternate route to link the Northeast and points in between with Norfolk and the Carolinas. The bridge–tunnel saves motorists 95 miles (153 km) and 1½ hours on a trip between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and points north and east of the Delaware Valley without going through the traffic congestion in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area.
Initially, high-level bridges were contemplated to cross over the two main shipping channels on the selected route, Thimble Shoals Channel, which leads to Hampton Roads, and the Chesapeake Channel, which leads to points north in the Bay, notably the Port of Baltimore. However, the U.S. Navy objected, due to concerns that collapse of high level bridge(s) (due to either accidental or deliberate action) could cause a large portion of the Atlantic fleet based at the Norfolk Navy Base at Sewell's Point and other craft within the Hampton Roads harbor area to be blocked from access to the Atlantic Ocean.
To address these concerns, the engineers recommended a series of bridges and tunnels known as a bridge–tunnel, similar in design to the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel, which had been completed in 1957, but a considerably longer and larger facility. The tunnel portions, anchored by four man-made islands of approximately 5 acres (2.0 ha) each, would be extended under the two main shipping channels.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay_Bridge%E2%80%93Tunnel
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT) is a 23-mile-long (37 km) fixed link crossing the mouth of the United States Chesapeake Bay and connecting the Delmarva Peninsula's Eastern Shore of the state of Virginia with Virginia Beach and the metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The bridge–tunnel originally combined 12 miles (19 km) of trestle, two 1-mile-long (1.6 km) tunnels, four artificial islands, four high-level bridges, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of causeway, and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of approach roads—crossing the Chesapeake Bay and preserving traffic on the Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake shipping channels. It replaced vehicle ferry services which operated from South Hampton Roads and from the Virginia Peninsula from the 1930s until completion of the bridge–tunnel in 1964. The system remains one of only ten bridge–tunnel systems in the world, three of which are located in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The CBBT complex carries U.S. Route 13, the main north–south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and, as part of the East Coast's longstanding Ocean Highway, provides the only direct link between the Eastern Shore and South Hampton Roads regions, as well as an alternate route to link the Northeast and points in between with Norfolk and the Carolinas. The bridge–tunnel saves motorists 95 miles (153 km) and 1½ hours on a trip between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and points north and east of the Delaware Valley without going through the traffic congestion in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area.
Initially, high-level bridges were contemplated to cross over the two main shipping channels on the selected route, Thimble Shoals Channel, which leads to Hampton Roads, and the Chesapeake Channel, which leads to points north in the Bay, notably the Port of Baltimore. However, the U.S. Navy objected, due to concerns that collapse of high level bridge(s) (due to either accidental or deliberate action) could cause a large portion of the Atlantic fleet based at the Norfolk Navy Base at Sewell's Point and other craft within the Hampton Roads harbor area to be blocked from access to the Atlantic Ocean.
To address these concerns, the engineers recommended a series of bridges and tunnels known as a bridge–tunnel, similar in design to the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel, which had been completed in 1957, but a considerably longer and larger facility. The tunnel portions, anchored by four man-made islands of approximately 5 acres (2.0 ha) each, would be extended under the two main shipping channels.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay_Bridge%E2%80%93Tunnel
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...
BMT Q Car Number 1612C (1908, Rebuilt 1938)
Car Manufacturer: Jewett Car Company (Newark, Ohio), 1908
Service: 1908-1969
Routes: Brooklyn elevated lines, 1908-1923; Astoria and Flushing lines, 1923-1949; Third Avenue Elevated, Manhattan, 1950-1955; Myrtle Avenue Elevated, Brooklyn, 1957-1969
City officials never considered wooden cars safe for subway tunnel operation and removed them from underground service after a 1918 accident involving wooden cars at Malbone Street, Brooklyn, killed 93 passengers. But more than 2000 open-platform elevated cars, such as 1612C (originally BRT car 1417), remained in use on elevated lines, which could not support the weight of new all-steel subway cars. In 1938 Car 1417 was rebuilt (and renumbered 1612C) to run with 1612A and 1612B; cars A and C were motorized, while car B was a trailer. Under the Dual Contracts, the IRT and BRT jointly operated new elevated sections, such as the Astoria (R) and Flushing (7) lines.
As the city prepared for the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, the BMT faced a quandary. The company was not content to use outdated cars to take passengers to a fair dubbed “The World of Tomorrow,” but was unwilling to spend money on new cars that could be used only on IRT-width lines. Instead, the BMT compromised by rebuilding 90 open-platform cars, including 1612C, into closed vehicles and repainting the cars in the World Fair’s official blue and orange color scheme. The resulting cars were used on the Myrtle Avenue Elevated line (built in 1888) until 1969–providing 60 years of service in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. They were the last wooden elevated cars to run in North America.
The New York Transit Museum, located in the decommissioned Court Street subway station at Boerum Place, was opened 1976 by the New York City Transit Authority and taken over in the mid-1990s by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The museum includes subway, bus, railway, bridge, and tunnel memorabilia; and other exhibits including vintage signage and in-vehicle advertisements; and models and dioramas of subway, bus, and other equipment.