In the early 1900's, settlers of the San Francisco Bay Area considered the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which spans over eight miles long and 500 feet above the water at its highest point, an impossible feat. However, with only a few complications, the bridge was completed by November, 1936. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge consists of two bridge types. The east section is a cantilever bridge, and the west, a suspension bridge.
The 1.78 mile western span of the bridge between San Francisco and Yerba Buena Island presented the first obstacle. The bay was up to 100 feet deep in some places and required a new foundation-laying technique. Engineers developed a type of foundation called a pneumatic caisson to support the western section. A series of concrete cylinders were grouped together and then capped-off, having the air pressure of each cylinder identical to balance the beginning of the structure. From there, the workers added sets of new cylinders until the caisson reached the bottom of the bay. Then, in order to reach the bedrock, they inserted long drills down the cylinders, digging until they reached bedrock. After the caisson was balanced at the bottom of the bay, workers filled it with 1 million cubic yards of concrete, more concrete than was used for the construction of the Empire State Building! This caisson connected the two suspension bridges that make up the western part of the bridge.
The eastern span was an incredible engineering feat as well. The cantilever bridge from Yerba Buena Island to Oakland was the longest bridge of its kind at the time. Yerba Buena Tunnel connected the western half of the bridge to the eastern half and measured 76 feet wide, 56 feet high, and 1,700 feet long. The spoils from constructing this tunnel were used in part to make Treasure Island. The foundations used in the east section differed from those in the west section because the bottom of the bay contained clay and was too deep to reveal bedrock. The steel superstructure of the cantilever bridge was the largest order for steel ever placed when the bridge was constructed. They built the bridge in two pieces, intending to join them in the middle. However, extreme temperatures from sunlight caused the side of the bridge facing the sun to expand while the opposite side contracted. When they were ready to join the two pieces, they did not initially fit.
“It was designed with a twenty-two foot roadway and one five-foot sidewalk” (Silver). The silver bridge is a very long bridge. “An eye-bar is a long steel plate having large circular ends with an "eye" or hole through which a pin is used to connect to other eyebars (to make a chain) or to other parts of the bridge.” according to Richard Fields. The whole bridge was built using the eye-bar suspension.
It became a link between Fort Erie, Canada and Buffalo, New York. The bridge is over one mile long, 5,800 feet, and holds three lanes of traffic. The center lane may go north or south depending on the volume of traffic. In 1934, the Great Depression caused a change.
In the novel, The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson, the author capitalizes upon society’s expectation of a character to emphasize the struggle to achieving his goals. Ian, one of the central characters in the plot line, is heavily impacted by these expectations, which hold a substantial influence upon his decision’s regarding his future. To teenagers an expectation: a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future, is nothing but a restriction upon them. Ian believes he is contained within these expectations; to the point where he does not wish to follow this given path. In a time of adolescence, teenagers are compelled by the strong desire to denounce that which is expected of them; Ian is no exception to this. Societies expectations create a negative influence upon Ian’s struggles to achieve his goals. These effects are due to the following expectations: to leave Struan for a superior education, to obtain the opportunity to become successful; to strive for a medical career, since he excels at the trade already; and to settle into a happy relationship, to raise a family.
Since it would be easier and less expensive to build a bridge rather than a tunnel, a bridge was initially thought to be a better solution. However, to construct a bridge over the Hudson River it would require a minimum clearance of 200 ft. for ships to travel to and from Hudson River ports. Since the Manhattan side of the Hudson did not meet the 200-foot elevation requirement needed for a bridge, new and expensive apparatuses would have to be built on the New York side. Also, a bridge would be affected by poor weather conditions more than a tunnel. In 1913, the joint coalition finally decided to construct a tunnel.2
When I was a small child, I remember my parents crossing the James River on the ferry in Surry County while taking my brother and me to Jamestown. At the time, I thought it was thrilling to ride the ferry. It was fun to stand out at the bow and watch as we went over the river to the other side where the boats are docked at Jamestown. We fed the birds on the front deck, and I also remember going up into the top of the ferry where they had a seated area that allowed someone to get out of the wind and still be able to see out. As an adult, I no longer have this glowing admiration for the ferry services in Surry. It never fails that when I am approaching the dock; the ferry is pulling away. Thereafter, it will be at least a thirty-minute wait for the next ferry to arrive. As well as, the actual ride across which could be an additional thirty minutes depending on which ferry pulls into the dock. One ferry is extremely slower than the other is. I will go to great lengths to avoid the ferry services to cross the James River to Williamsburg and will rather drive around Newport News than to use the ferry. My husband and I moved to Surry County two years ago, and it would be nice to be able to travel safely to Williamsburg without the added time it takes to cross the James River on the ferry. There has been talk over the years about replacing the ferry services with a bridge; however, those notions are always disregarded. The residents of Surry County would be better served if a bridge were put in place of the ferry at Scotland Wharf.
On May 24, 1854, construction began of the Victoria Bridge. This was a difficult task for the workers given the size of the bridge (“almost two miles in length from shore to shore” ) was the largest construction project during this period of time. Moreover, the construction of the bridge did not cease during the winter months. Therefore, many of the workers on the bridge would continue even while the St-Lawrence River froze underneath their
At 5:12 a.m. on April 18th, 1906, the California city of San Francisco was awoken by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Chaos erupted with the earthquake leading to fire break outs throughout San Francisco (Cameron and Gordon. Pgs 69-73).The earthquake and the resulting fires caused destruction to majority of the city with buildings crumbling and igniting into flames. Many people died along with thousands and thousands of people being left homeless. This devastating earthquake left the city and United States in a financial crisis. Although the 1906 earthquake was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, the city of San Francisco was able to overcome these substantial physical, social and economic impacts it had.
The San Francisco Earthquake commenced at five thirteen o’clock in the morning, with the epicenter offshore of San Francisco. The city carried more than 400,000 people during this event (Earthquake of 1906, 1). Most of the
In the early twentieth century, San Francisco, a bustling city full of people from diverse cultures, stood in the midst of the Second Industrial Revolution. At this time, the brilliant inventions of airplanes, automobiles, and radios were changing the everyday lives of many. San Francisco had just recovered from the four-year burden of the bubonic plague (“Bubonic”). However, right when things were going back to normal, a destructive earthquake hit the city on April 18, 1906. Although the shaking lasted for less than a minute, the devastated city had crumbled buildings and a substantial loss of lives. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 consisted not only of earthquakes, but also of even more destructive fires; it had a scarring effect on the city and its people, yet it gave much of the knowledge that seismologists have today and allowed San Francisco to stand as a place of intriguing buildings and structures.
Faber Park has been, is and will be a very important asset of the Port Richmond Community; it is equipped with a public pool, a playground, a skate park and open space- not to mention a beautiful view. The Bayonne Bridge is almost directly above it and if we sit in the benches overlooking the Kill Van Kull, a three feet long and one thousand feet wide channel, we are able to see ships sail through. Almost every summer day we see the park filled with people of all ages looking for somewhere to spend time outdoors. It is the closest park to Port Richmond Ave, home to people of diverse backgrounds and more or less low incomes.
The bridge opened in 1927 at the time the toll was 50 cents and the trip took eight minutes. The tunnel, when it opened, was the longest underwater tunnel in the world, with its north tube 8,558 feet long and its south tube 8,371 feet long. On its first day of operation 51,694 vehicles passed through it. The total cost of the tunnel was $48 million. Today, it would cost approximately $1.4 billion not including the purchase of the necessary land from Manhattan and Jersey City.
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is perhaps the most notorious failure in the world of engineering. It collapsed on November 7, 1940 just months after its opening on July 1, 1940. It was designed by Leon Moisseiff and at its time it was the third largest suspension bridge in the world with a center span of over half a mile long. The bridge was very narrow and sleek giving it a look of grace, but this design made it very flexible in the wind. Nicknamed the "Galloping Gertie," because of its undulating behavior, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge drew the attention of motorists seeking a cheap thrill. Drivers felt that they were driving on a roller coaster, as they would disappear from sight in the trough of the wave. On the last day of the bridge's existence it gave fair warning that its destruction was eminent. Not only did it oscillate up and down, but twisted side to side in a cork screw motion. After hours of this violent motion with wind speeds reaching forty and fifty miles per hour, the bridge collapsed. With such a catastrophic failure, many people ask why such an apparently well thought out plan could have failed so badly?(This rhetorical question clearly sets up a position of inquiry-which iniates all research.) The reason for the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is still controversial, but three theories reveal the basis of an engineering explanation. (Jason then directly asserts what he found to be a possible answer to his question.)
When it comes to building a bridge, there are two main phases. First comes the engineering, designing, and planning of the bridge. Then comes the physical building of the bridge, a truly difficult task in the middle of a city over a highway. That being said, the flaw had to be made during construction. The bridge was designed to withstand a class five hurricane, earthquakes, and to last for over 100 years (Ahmed).
In her essay,”Importance of the Golden Gate Bridge,” Stephanie Stiavetti suggest that “It maintained this point of pride for nearly 25 years until the Verrazano- Narrows Bridge was built in New York in 1964. Today, this historic San Francisco landmark holds its place as the second largest suspension bridge in the country, behind Verrazano Narrows.” Back then, experts thought that it would be impossible to build a bridge across the tides and currents in that area because strong currents and tides would make construction extremely difficult and dangerous. The water is over 500 feet deep in the center of the channel, and along with the area's strong winds and thick fog, the idea of building a bridge there seemed nearly impossible. Despite all of the problems of building a bridge across the Golden Gate, Joseph Strauss was named as lead engineer for the project. Construction began January 5, 1933, and in the end cost more than $35 million to
At the time of Spanish conquests, Mexico City comprised Tenochtitlan a neighboring city (Tlatelolco) at the same time. Since then, the city extended from the north border of Tlatelolco to the swamps, which were slowly disappearing to the west of the city. The city borders ended at the location of Bucareli Street in present-day Mexico, D.F. It was connected to the mainland by causeways to south, north, and west of the city districts and led to neighboring cities. These causeways had bridges that allowed canoes to pass through freely. The bridges could be pulled away, if necessary, to defend the city. The city was built around a series of canals so that all sections of the city could be traversed both on foot and in canoes.