Manhattan Bridge
Suspension bridge with ornate Beaux-Arts towers, carrying four subway lines and vehicle traffic.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Manhattan Bridge in New York follows a design flaw baked in when the bridge opened at the end of 1909: engineer Leon Moisseiff placed the subway tracks along the outer edges rather than the center, so every passing train pulled the whole span sideways for decades. You'll hear how inspectors tallied dozens of serious defects by the 1980s, and how a 1990 decision to reopen tracks despite explicit warnings played out. It ends with what it finally took to set things right.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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