The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge: Opening in 1964 and Changes on Both Shores

On the afternoon of 21 November 1964, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opened to motor traffic. Gay Talese's report the following day described celebrations in the harbor and motorists competing to cross, with the first car paying a fifty-cent toll. This was the clear transition from construction to public use. The upper deck entered service first; the later addition of lower-deck lanes must not be moved back into 1964.

The bridge crosses the Narrows at the entrance to New York Harbor, connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island. Its role in the regional road system was to let traffic from Long Island travel through Staten Island toward New Jersey, reducing the need to detour through Manhattan. The bridge therefore formed a transport network with expressways, ramps and existing water crossings on both shores, its usefulness depending on more than the main span above the water.

References: [1] [2] [9]

Robert Moses of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority vigorously promoted a Narrows bridge in 1947. The Army still feared obstruction of New York Harbor's entrance and favored a tunnel. Following negotiations, preliminary approval in 1949 required that the bridge avoid Fort Wadsworth, and the original route did pass north of the fort.

The route was later changed to run through the fort. A 1960 engineering account cited reduced neighborhood disturbance, fewer demolitions of tax-paying properties, terrain and cost as reasons for the choice. The revised alignment required further lengthy Army negotiations before approval in 1957. Difficulties in the crossing thus included rights of way over military land and responsibility for replacing demolished buildings.

Local administrative procedures continued. The Board of Estimate approved the plan in late 1958, and construction began in 1959. An earlier arrangement had envisaged the Port Authority building the bridge and the Triborough authority operating it and later purchasing it; ultimately, the latter assumed full construction responsibility. These dates refer to permits, decisions or construction stages and do not conflict with the 1964 opening.

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In his design account published in 1966, Othmar Ammann described a double-deck, twelve-lane suspension bridge with a main span of 4,260 feet, about 1,298 meters, and two side spans of 1,215 feet each. The main span is the distance between towers, distinct from the full bridge length including side spans and approaches. Four main cables suspend the steel structure, whose integral rigid framework provides wind resistance within a relatively shallow structural depth.

A 1961 engineering report stated that each main cable contained 26,108 wires and that the central span provided 228 feet of navigational clearance above mean high water. The enormous cables, towers, deck and anchorages had to form one load-bearing system; the bridge was more than a road laid over the water.

Donald Sayenga's engineering history noted that American Bridge won the cable contract, with American Steel & Wire participating in manufacture of the giant cables. This reflected the interdependence of American long-span bridge design and the steel and wire industries' production capabilities.

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Construction left clear marks at Fort Wadsworth. Drawing on site records and historical photographs, the National Park Service's cultural landscape report describes excavation for the anchorage, equipment storage and approach grading. Materials were stored inside Battery Weed, broad areas in the fort's central-western section were leveled, and space for the anchorage was excavated in its south-central area.

The work caused complete or partial demolition of nearly fifty buildings or structures in the fort, including more than twenty permanent buildings. Some old batteries were buried and others partly demolished. Under the agreement, the authority supplied replacement housing, offices and garages, a theater, shops, medical facilities and barracks to address the effects on military facilities.

After completion, the massive anchorage and roadway cut through the former military post, effectively dividing it into northern and southern sections. The engineering difficulties and land costs can be identified concretely in these changes to terrain and buildings, rather than represented solely by project size or investment figures.

References: [3]

In early 1959, Talese visited Bay Ridge and recorded residents' and merchants' anger over demolition for the Seventh Avenue approach. His figures of about 800 homes and 7,500 residents represented the scale of disruption expected at that time. Concerns focused on loss of housing, customers and neighborhood relationships; many objections targeted the expressway approach cutting through the community.

After opening, connections between Staten Island and Brooklyn strengthened, while residential development changed island life. A contemporary report dated 28 June 1969, describing six lower-deck lanes scheduled to open that day, linked their early addition to growing traffic. It also recorded new housing, declining woodland and residents' worries about congestion and inadequate public transport. Roads improved accessibility while bringing development pressure to previously less densely settled areas.

References: [7] [8]

More than fifty years later, the original upper deck of steel grid and concrete entered replacement. A 2016 engineering paper recorded that renovation begun in 2013 used lighter, stiffer orthotropic steel deck panels to improve bridge performance. Closed U-shaped ribs beneath the panels provided stiffening, with weld quality important to long-term fatigue behavior.

The project used phased-array ultrasonic testing to inspect weld penetration and defects, calibrating procedures against test-specimen results. Continuity of traffic across the Narrows thus depended on replacement materials, manufacturing quality and inspection systems. Opening in 1964 began the facility's public service; subsequent capacity additions and maintenance continued to redefine its operating conditions.

References: [9]