
The High Bridge from Manhattan to the Bronx will reopen after 40 years - gotoblob
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/nyregion/a-stunning-link-to-new-yorks-past-makes-a-long-awaited-return.html
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keithpeter
_“We had inspections before the work began, and found mortar that had
crumbled, but the stones hadn’t moved. It was truly overengineered. It is so
strong.”_

UK: I use bridges and viaducts of this vintage everyday - train bridges, canal
towpaths, road bridges. They over-engineered because of the fear of failure.

~~~
bcgraham
Not sure about UK, but in the US, they're occasionally overengineered because
materials suppliers have a lot of say in determining the safety factor (think
smoky rooms with bags of cash).

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nickff
Do you have a citation for this? I studied mechanical engineering, and learned
that there are tables of standard safety factor for most types of engineering
projects (including bridges). The material suppliers can under-specify their
products, in the hopes that more will be used, but this generally does not
occur, as the engineers will select other suppliers with better
specifications, or the under-speccing may result in design changes to
eliminate that material. Before there were standardized safety factor tables,
the project engineers determined appropriate safety factors, and were
thereafter responsible for the results of their decisions (as they still are).

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crististm
"In one famous case, a manufacturer of wire rope sold inferior material to the
bridge company. The shady contractor, J. Lloyd Haigh, escaped prosecution. But
the bad wire he sold is still in the bridge, as it couldn’t be removed once it
was worked into the cables. Washington Roebling compensated for its presence,
ensuring the inferior material wouldn’t affect the strength of the bridge."

[http://history1800s.about.com/od/bridgebuilding/a/brooklynbr...](http://history1800s.about.com/od/bridgebuilding/a/brooklynbrid01.htm)

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lifeisstillgood
It does rather get the question why the rich part never bothered reconnecting
to the poor part for 40 years. I say poor but as I understand it 110th St is
now well into gentrification mode.

Or is this just snark from a long distance away?

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ghaff
It's not especially near 110th Street :-) It crosses from 173rd Street in
Manhattan to 170th Street in the Bronx. Washington Heights has seen a fair bit
of urban renewal and there's also been work on the river paths etc. on the
Bronx side. The short answer is that neither side of the river is especially
rich and there probably wasn't much impetus from anyone to reopen the bridge
and do corresponding park and path revitalization while they were in the midst
of fairly serious urban decay which they were for a long time.

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negativity
Ha! Yeah, that'd be like an hour's walk from 110th St. And subway connections
readily cross-pollinate both sides of the bridge, in terms of actual human
movement. Especially, given that Yankee Stadium is nearby. Not to mention that
buses also offer a connection, but maybe someone would try to suggest that a
bus isn't an option for some people.

Anyway, the George Washington bridge is actually much, much closer to High
Bridge Park than 110th St. The next closest _walkable_ bridge between The
Bronx and Manhattan, open to pedestrians, is probably at 145th St. on the
Manhattan side. It's not connected to a park, though.

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superfx
No pictures of the restored bridge?

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electic
Here is a couple of articles that offer more details:

[http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/06/05/the_historic_high_b...](http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/06/05/the_historic_high_bridge_will_finally_reopen_after_40_years.php)

[http://www.welcome2thebronx.com/wordpress/2015/06/04/the-
ori...](http://www.welcome2thebronx.com/wordpress/2015/06/04/the-original-
high-line-the-high-bridge-to-reopen-this-tuesday-june-9th/)

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PhantomGremlin
I thoroughly enjoyed the article up until near the very end:

    
    
       it cost $60.8 million
    

Ouch! A lot of money for simply restoring a bicycle and foot bridge.

~~~
jrockway
Wait until you hear what three new subway stations cost.

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nether
A few billion?

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zatkin
Why was it closed 40 years ago?

~~~
Spooky23
In 1975 the city was close to complete and utter fiscal collapse. It was only
averted at (literally) the last minute by the teacher's union agreeing to
invest their pension fund in city bonds and creditors agreeing to a haircut.

They cut things to the bone. Where I grew up in Queens, a store was held up at
gunpoint, and the police response time was something like 2 hours.

See: [http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/when-new-
york-t...](http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/when-new-york-
teetered-on-the-brink-of-bankruptcy/)

~~~
perfTerm
Great post that really gets to the heart of the issue. New York City was a
shithole for a very long time and it's only recently that things have been
this pristine here. Talking to my parents is like entering a time machine into
the mega grungy when it comes to the city. You couldn't walk around Union
Square after 7PM! I can't even imagine as I walk around Bushwick at all times
of day and night now and couldn't care less. I've always been a bit reckless
but while I may be dumb, I'm certainly not stupid and even I think I would be
hardpressed to walk around this city in the 70s.

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Spooky23
It is amazing how things have improved. I recall my dad working in the
projects in Bushwick, and not getting home until late because there was a
running gun battle going on outside. Many of buildings around there were
boarded up or burned.

Another time, my dad and I were bringing some stuff to an elderly family
friend somewhere around Greenpoint or Williamsburg. We stopped at some store
on the way back to make a phone call, was gone no more than 5-7 minutes and
"poof", wheels were gone from the car.

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highbridge
Here is a site with a lot of information
highbridgeparkdevelopment.blogspot.com

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perfTerm
Awesome. I ride past this pretty often when I visit my family upstate. It'll
be great to walk across it.

