Why Bridges Stand Up
Tension, Compression and the Lessons of the Ones That Fell
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These incidents illustrate how different bridge types handle forces. The Brooklyn Bridge uses suspension cables under tension while the Queensboro Bridge employs a hybrid design with both tension and compression elements. Engineers study these structures to understand why some bridges stand up while others fall.
The book explains how tension pulls on materials while compression pushes them together, using real-world examples from failed bridges. Readers learn about aeroelastic flutter that destroyed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940, and how redundancy in design can prevent catastrophic failures. This audiobook is essential for anyone interested in understanding why some structures last decades while others fail quickly.
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Overview
Structural engineering is a part of civil engineering where engineers design the frameworks and connections that give shape and strength to human-made structures. These professionals calculate how buildings and other structures will handle forces like wind, weight, and earthquakes. They work closely with architects and other designers, and often oversee construction sites. Their job includes making sure structures are safe, stable, and made efficiently with available materials and budgets. The field draws on physical laws and past experience with different materials and shapes. Using basic structural ideas, engineers build complex systems that stand tall and strong.
History
Structural engineering has ancient roots, going back to 2700 B.C. when Imhotep built the step pyramid for Pharaoh Djoser—the first engineer known by name. Pyramids were common because their shape naturally resists collapse and can be scaled up indefinitely, unlike most other structures. The pyramid’s strength came not just from its form but also from the limestone blocks used, which had compressive strengths between 30 and 250 megapascals. For thousands of years, building was done by artisans like stonemasons and carpenters who passed down knowledge through guilds, relying on trial and error rather than theory. Real understanding of how structures work only emerged during the Renaissance, with advances in science and later, computers in the 1970s.
Structural failure
The history of structural engineering is filled with collapses and failures that teach us how things can go wrong. One such case was the Pétion-Ville school collapse, where Rev. Fortin Augustin built the three-story schoolhouse by himself, claiming he didn’t need an engineer because he had good knowledge of construction. A partial collapse sent neighbors fleeing, and the final collapse killed 94 people, mostly children. Other failures require deeper study, like those involving box girders in Australia during the 1970s, where even when engineers followed accepted practice, failures still occurred. These cases led to better understanding and improved methods in structural engineering.
Theory
Structural engineering is rooted in applied mechanics, materials science, and mathematics, all of which help engineers understand how buildings and bridges carry their own weight and outside forces. A structural engineer needs to know design codes, analysis techniques, and how materials react when exposed to the elements. Since the 1990s, software like AutoCAD, StaadPro, ETABS, Prokon, Revit Structure, and Inducta RCB has made designing structures more precise, helping with drawing, analyzing, and building with accuracy. These tools also factor in environmental forces such as wind and earthquakes.
Profession
Structural engineers design and analyze how buildings and bridges stand up, working with forces like tension and compression. They might build individual parts like beams and columns, or oversee entire systems. Some focus on specific structures—like bridges, ships, or aircraft—while others specialize in materials such as steel or concrete. The field developed formally during the industrial revolution in the late 1800s, when architecture and engineering began to separate. Before that, one person usually handled both roles. Today, structural engineers need strong education and experience, often earning a degree and gaining several years of practice. They’re licensed by groups like the Institution of Structural Engineers in the UK or accredited as civil and structural engineers. The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering works to share knowledge globally.
Earthquake engineering structures
Earthquake engineering is the field focused on designing structures that can handle the forces of seismic activity. The goal is to understand how buildings respond to shaking ground, predict what might happen during an earthquake, and then build them to perform safely under those conditions. Not all earthquake-resistant buildings need to be incredibly strong—take the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza, for example, which has endured centuries without being overly robust. A key method used in this field is base isolation, a technique that lets the bottom of a structure move freely along with the motion of the ground beneath it.
Aerospace structures
Aerospace structures come in many forms, from launch vehicles like the Atlas, Delta, and Titan, to missiles such as the ALCM and Harpoon. There are hypersonic vehicles like the Space Shuttle, along with both military aircraft like the F-16 and F-18, and commercial planes such as the Boeing 777 and MD-11. These structures are built using thin plates with stiffeners for their outer surfaces, supported by bulkheads and frames that maintain their shape. Components are held together with welds, rivets, screws, and bolts.
Nanoscale structures
A nanostructure is an object that falls between the size of molecules and microscopic structures, typically measuring between 0.1 and 100 nanometers. When talking about these structures, it helps to think in terms of dimensions: nanotextured surfaces have just one dimension on the nanoscale, meaning only their thickness is in that range. Nanotubes have two dimensions, with their diameter falling within the nanoscale while their length can be much greater. Spherical nanoparticles are three-dimensional, with each spatial measurement falling between 0.1 and 100 nanometers. The terms nanoparticles and ultrafine particles are often used interchangeably, though ultrafine particles can extend into the micrometer range. The term 'nanostructure' is also commonly used in magnetic technology.
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Overview
The Silver Bridge, officially called the Point Pleasant Bridge but known for its silver aluminum paint, was built in 1928 to carry U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River between Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio. On December 15, 1967, during heavy rush-hour traffic, it collapsed, killing 46 people, including two whose bodies were never found. A preliminary report within ten months identified a single eyebar failure in a suspension chain as the main cause. That flaw was just 0.1 inches deep, leading to a fracture. It took three years to finish the full accident report. The bridge was replaced in 1969 by the Silver Memorial Bridge.
History of eyebar-chain bridge construction
When the Silver Bridge was constructed, eyebar bridges had already been built for nearly a century. These designs commonly used redundant bar links, with four to six bars in each row, and sometimes multiple chains running side by side. The Clifton Suspension Bridge, created by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is one such example; its eyebars were arranged redundantly in two directions and it remains in use today. Another early structure was the bridge over the Menai Strait, built by Thomas Telford in 1826. In Budapest, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge was erected between 1839 and 1849, following a similar approach, though it was destroyed during World War II and later rebuilt exactly as it had been by 1949. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Three Sisters—three self-anchored suspension bridges built from 1924 to 1928—each featured suspension chains made of no fewer than eight eyebars per link.
Low redundancy, high strength
The Silver Bridge fell in 1967 when its suspension chains failed. The chains used eyebars with little redundancy—each link had only two eyebars in parallel. These eyebars were made from a new high-strength steel, which meant fewer bars were needed to carry the load compared to older bridges. But because each link relied on just two eyebars, the failure of one immediately overloaded the other, causing the whole structure to collapse. Investigators said that if there had been three or more eyebars per link, the failure of one might not have led to disaster. The Brooklyn Bridge, built decades earlier, took a different approach. Its cables were made of thousands of individual wires, giving the bridge a safety factor of six and great redundancy. During construction, substandard steel was discovered, so 150 extra good wires were added to each cable to make up for it.
Rocker towers
The Silver Bridge relied on two towering structures, each over 131 feet high, called rocker towers. These towers could tilt slightly at their bases, helping the bridge respond to uneven weight or temperature changes. This design had already been used on a similar bridge in Brazil and earlier in Europe. The rocker towers let engineers build simpler, more economical structures than traditional fixed-base towers. During the collapse investigation, clues from how the towers fell helped pinpoint where the failure happened. Both towers toppled eastward—toward the West Virginia side—showing that a suspension chain broke somewhere to the west, on the Ohio side. If the break had been in the center, the towers would have fallen in opposite directions. The towers themselves showed no signs of structural failure.
Design loads
The Silver Bridge, built between 1926 and 1927, met engineering standards of its time according to investigation into its collapse. The review examined original stress calculations and found no major mistakes. AASHO, a national group that sets bridge design standards, had issued guidelines in 1923 to help engineers figure out forces and loads, choose steel types, and estimate traffic. The bridge used eyebars made of new, stronger steel with maximum allowable stress of 50,000 psi—much higher than most steels of the day. It also had a safety factor of 1.50, which was within normal engineering practices. Investigators found no sign that the bridge carried more weight than it could handle, even on the day it failed. The load it was carrying was within its normal capacity, and the point where it broke was under less than half the maximum live load it had been designed for.
Wreckage analysis
The Silver Bridge collapsed due to a flaw in eyebar 330, located in the north Ohio subsidiary chain just below the top of the Ohio tower. A small crack formed from wear and grew through stress corrosion cracking, a type of internal corrosion. The crack was only 0.1 inches deep when it finally broke, failing suddenly and brittlely. Once the lower side gave out, the full load shifted to the other side, which failed from ductile overload. The chain was then held together by just three eyebars, and one slipped off the pin at the center, severing the structure completely. Because the damage was so small and hidden, it would have been nearly impossible to spot during routine inspections—only disassembling the eyebar could have revealed the fracture, and the inspection tools of that time weren't advanced enough to detect such a flaw.
Aftermath
The Silver Bridge collapse led to tighter inspections and replacements of older bridges, especially those with similar designs like the one in St. Marys, West Virginia, which was closed and demolished in 1971, and the Hercílio Luz Bridge in Brazil, which stayed open until 1991 before closing due to corrosion but later reopening in 2019 after renovation. The disaster inspired new laws, including the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968, which created the first national bridge inspection program. Later collapses, like the Mianus River Bridge in 1983 and the I-35W bridge in 2007, reminded the country that aging infrastructure remains a serious issue. A memorial now honors the 46 victims in Point Pleasant, and remnants of the original bridge are displayed at the Point Pleasant River Museum, which reopened in 2024 after a fire damaged its former location. The bridge was also designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
Silver Memorial Bridge
The Silver Memorial Bridge is a cantilever structure that crosses the Ohio River between Gallipolis, Ohio, and Henderson, West Virginia. It opened in 1969 to replace the bridge that had collapsed before it. The new bridge sits about three-quarters of a mile downstream from where its predecessor stood. It carries U.S. Route 35 and is not tolled. People and goods travel across it regularly between Charleston, West Virginia, and parts of Ohio. The speed limit set on the bridge is sixty-five miles per hour.
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Overview
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge, officially Bridge 9340, was an eight-lane steel truss arch bridge spanning the Mississippi River half a mile downstream from Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1967 and carried about 140,000 vehicles daily, making it Minnesota's third busiest. After 39 years in service, the structure gave way on August 1, 2007, during the evening rush hour, resulting in 13 deaths and 145 injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determined a design flaw likely caused the collapse, pointing to a gusset plate that was too thin and failed along a row of rivets. At the time of the incident, the weight on the bridge also contributed to the failure. Emergency response came swiftly from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation moved quickly to plan a replacement. The new I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge was finished and opened on September 18, 2008.
Location and site history
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge connected Downtown East and Marcy-Holmes in Minneapolis, with its south abutment near the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and north abutment close to the University of Minnesota East Bank campus. It marked the southeastern edge of the Mississippi Mile riverfront parkland. Downstream stood the 10th Avenue Bridge—formerly Cedar Avenue Bridge—while upstream was the Saint Anthony Falls lower lock and dam. Even farther upstream was the historic Stone Arch Bridge, built in 1883 for the Great Northern Railway and now used for pedestrians and cyclists. The north pier was near a hydroelectric plant torn down in 1988. The south abutment sat on land once used by a coal gas processing plant and petroleum storage facility, leaving behind a contaminated site that led to a lawsuit and soil removal. No link has been made between those past uses and the bridge's collapse.
Design and construction
Bridge 9340, the official name for the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, was designed in 1961 by Sverdrup & Parcel following AASHTO standards and built from 1964 to 1967. Construction began with contracts awarded to HurCon Inc. and Industrial Construction Company, though HurCon later withdrew after raising concerns about Pier 6. At the time, it was the most recent river crossing in Minneapolis. The structure stretched 1,907 feet long with fourteen spans—three main deck truss sections and eleven approach spans, mostly steel multi-girder except for two concrete slab sections. Its center span featured a 458-foot steel arched truss supported by piers on opposite banks. The main trusses ranged in depth from 60 feet at the piers to 30 feet at the outer ends, with 12-foot-deep deck trusses atop them. The roadway was 113 feet wide and about 115 feet above water level.
Black ice prevention system
On December 19, 1985, when temperatures dropped to thirty below Fahrenheit, vehicles faced black ice and a major pile-up occurred on the northbound side of the bridge. By February and December 1996, the site was known as the most dangerous cold-weather spot in the Twin Cities freeway system due to persistent black ice. In January 1999, Minnesota DOT began testing magnesium chloride solutions, and by October 1999, temperature-activated nozzles were installed to spray potassium acetate onto the bridge deck. The automated system went into operation in 2000. Though no further major collisions happened after that, some raised the possibility that the potassium acetate may have contributed to the bridge’s collapse by corroding its supports, although the NTSB's final report found corrosion was not a factor.
Maintenance and inspection
Since 1993, the I-35W bridge was inspected annually by MnDOT, except 2007 when construction work occurred. By 2005, it had been rated "structurally deficient" with a sufficiency rating of 50, placing it among the lowest-scoring bridges nationally. A 2001 University of Minnesota study found unexpected cracking in cross girders caused by stress from truss connections. Engineers addressed this by drilling cracks and adding support struts, while noting lack of redundancy in the truss system increasing collapse risk. Despite assurances that fatigue cracking was unlikely in the near future, the study recommended ongoing monitoring and strain gauges. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Transportation again rated the bridge as needing replacement. Inspectors found more problems in 2006 reports, including cracking and fatigue. Governor Tim Pawlenty said the bridge was scheduled for replacement in 2020. A steel reinforcement project planned for late 2006 was canceled in early 2007 after engineers realized it would weaken the structure. Internal MnDOT documents showed concerns about possible collapse and the need to condemn the bridge.
Collapse
At 6:05 p.m. CDT on August 1, 2007, the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis collapsed suddenly, its central span followed by adjacent sections falling into the river and onto surrounding banks. The southern portion toppled 81 feet eastward, landing on three unoccupied freight cars in a nearby rail yard. Rush hour traffic moved slowly through limited open lanes when failure occurred. Construction was underway with four of eight lanes closed for resurfacing and 261 tonnes of materials and equipment positioned on structure. A total of 111 vehicles and 18 construction workers were sent as far as 115 feet down into river or onto banks. The next day, August 2, the city of Minneapolis and State of Minnesota declared a state of emergency. President Bush visited scene on August 4, pledging support and announcing that United States Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters would lead rebuilding effort. Assistance arrived from FBI evidence team and United States Navy divers who began arriving on August 5.
Victims
Thirteen people died when the I-35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Triage centers sent 50 victims to local hospitals, some by truck due to ambulance shortages. Many had blunt trauma injuries. Those near the south end went to Hennepin County Medical Center, others to Fairview University Medical Center. At least twenty-two or twenty-four children were hurt, with thirteen treated at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, five at HCMC and four or five at North Memorial Medical Center. In the first forty hours, eleven hospitals treated ninety-eight victims. Only a few vehicles went under water, but many people were stuck on the wreckage. A semi-trailer truck caught fire, and firefighters had to bring hoses from blocks away. A school bus with sixty-three children was wedged against the guardrail near the burning truck. Jeremy Hernandez, a twenty-year-old staff member, helped rescue children by breaking open the rear exit, while one youth worker was seriously injured.
Rescue
When the I-35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River on August 1, 2007, civilians and first responders sprang into action. The Minneapolis Fire Department arrived in six minutes, helping people trapped in their cars and transporting 145 patients over 81 minutes with help from Hennepin County Medical Center and other paramedics. By the next morning, crews shifted to recovering bodies, with divers using side-scan sonar to locate submerged vehicles. The Army Corps of Engineers lowered river levels by two feet to aid in the search. The city’s Emergency Preparedness Director Rocco Forte said they had no confusion about who was in charge because of prior training and clear roles. The response was swift thanks to investments in 800 MHz radio communications, a rescue team, and an Emergency Operations Center set up at Minneapolis City Hall.
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Overview
The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City spanning the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn. It opened on May 24, 1883, as the first fixed crossing and at the time was the world's longest suspension bridge with a main span of 1,595.5 feet. Designed by John A. Roebling, with major contributions from his son Washington Roebling and his wife, engineer Emily Warren Roebling, the project began in 1870 and took over thirteen years to complete. Controlled by the Tammany Hall political machine, it was renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915. After opening, it carried horse-drawn vehicles and elevated railway lines until 1950, and has been renovated several times since then, including in the 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s. It is now one of five vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan and Long Island, allowing only passenger vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists. A major tourist attraction and National Historic Landmark, it has also been the site of stunts, crimes, and vandalism over the years.
Description
The Brooklyn Bridge stands as one of the earliest steel-wire suspension bridges, blending features of both cable-stayed and suspension designs. It includes suspender cables that run vertically and diagonally. The bridge’s towers are built from stone in a neo-Gothic style, showcasing pointed arches. According to the New York City Department of Transportation, which is responsible for maintaining the structure, the original color scheme consisted of “Brooklyn Bridge Tan” and “Silver.” Other sources suggest it was initially painted entirely in “Rawlins Red.”
Deck
To give enough room for ships to pass through the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge needed tall approach roads on both sides, lifting the bridge up from the low land on each shore. When you measure from the edge of the road at Park Row in Manhattan all the way to Sands Street in Brooklyn, the whole structure stretches 6,016 feet long. Sometimes people use a slightly shorter measurement of 5,989 feet, which is the distance from Centre Street in Manhattan. These numbers show just how long and carefully planned this bridge was, built to carry traffic over water with room for boats below.
Suspension span
The Brooklyn Bridge's main span stretches 1,595.5 feet between towers, width 85 feet, expanding or contracting up to 16 inches with temperature changes. That 1909 Engineering Magazine article noted the center could rise more than nine feet due to heat and traffic. The side spans are each 930 feet long, and John Roebling designed the truss system six to eight times stronger than needed—though a supplier later substituted inferior wire, leaving the bridge only four times as strong as it should have been. Originally six trusses supported the deck, but two were removed during a 1940s renovation. The bridge holds 18,700 short tons, a design leftover from when it carried heavy elevated trains. Suspender ropes hang from the main cables to support the trusses, which are reinforced by crossbeams and stiffening rods. An elevated pedestrian promenade runs between the roadways, 18 feet above them, except near the towers where it connects to a balcony over the roadway. The iron railings were made by Janes & Kirtland, the same company that crafted the U.S. Capitol dome and the Bow Bridge in Central Park.
Approaches
The Brooklyn Bridge has two approach ramps, one from each side, with the Manhattan side stretching 1,567 feet compared to the Brooklyn side’s 971 feet. These ramps are supported by Renaissance-style masonry arches, filled with brick walls and small windows. The ramp crosses nine street-level bridges in both boroughs. Beneath the Manhattan approach, the brick “banks” were turned into a skate park called the Brooklyn Banks in the late 1980s, using the ramp’s pillars as obstacles. The skateboarding community fought to save them after the city destroyed smaller sections in the 2000s and later removed bricks in 2020, sparking an online petition. In the 2020s, resident Rosa Chang pushed for the area under the Manhattan approach to become a park, which opened as Gotham Park, then the Arches in May 2023, followed by another section in November 2024.
Cables
The Brooklyn Bridge's main cables are four massive steel cables running from tower tops to support the deck. Two outer cables and two center cables each exceed fourteen inches in diameter, built from 5,282 individual galvanized steel wires bundled into 19 strands of 278 wires each—a new method for suspension bridges taking months to complete. Since the 2000s, these cables have carried 24-watt LED lights shaped like a necklace. Hanging from main cables are suspender cables—1,088, 1,096, or 1,520 of them—that support the deck structure. Additional 400 diagonal cable stays extend from towers to maintain stability. Original wire rope suspenders were replaced in the 1980s with galvanized steel from Bethlehem Steel. Vertical suspender cables stretch eight to 130 feet long, and diagonal stays range from 138 to 449 feet.
Anchorages
The Brooklyn Bridge's anchorages are massive trapezoidal limestone structures, each weighing 60,000 short tons and measuring about 129 by 119 feet at the base. The Manhattan anchorage sits on bedrock, while the Brooklyn one rests on clay. Each has four anchor plates, 16 by 17.5 feet, thick as 2.5 feet, and weighing 46,000 pounds each, connected to the main cables by sets of eyebars that curve down from the cables toward the plates. Starting in 1876, the Manhattan anchorage's vaults were rented out to fund maintenance, and during the early 1900s, they stored wine due to their constant 60°F temperature. One was called the "Blue Grotto" because of a Virgin Mary shrine at its entrance. The vaults were closed during World War I and Prohibition but reopened afterward. In 1978, one chamber still bore the inscription: "Who loveth not wine, women and song, he remaineth a fool his whole life long." Leaks in the late 1980s and early 1990s required repairs, and by the late 1990s, they were used for maintenance equipment storage.
Towers
The Brooklyn Bridge’s two suspension towers rise 278 feet tall, built with limestone from a quarry in Essex County, New York, granite from Vinalhaven Island, Maine, and Rosendale cement. The Manhattan tower holds 46,945 cubic yards of masonry, the Brooklyn one 38,214 cubic yards. Each tower features Gothic Revival arches through which the roadways pass—117 feet high and 33.75 feet wide—and the tops of the towers sit 159 feet above the arch openings, making the full height 278.25 feet above mean high water. Fifty-six LED lamps are mounted on the towers.
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Overview
The Queensboro Bridge, officially called the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge but known locally as the 59th Street Bridge, spans the East River in New York City connecting Long Island City in Queens to Midtown and the Upper East Side in Manhattan, passing over Roosevelt Island. Built in 1909 and completed on March 30, it was one of the first bridges to link Manhattan with Long Island City, carrying New York State Route 25 and featuring two levels—upper roadways and a lower level with four lanes, walkways, and bike paths. It's one of only four vehicular bridges directly connecting Manhattan and Long Island, and lies along routes for the New York City Marathon and the Five Boro Bike Tour. The bridge was designated a New York City landmark in 1973, underwent major renovations from the late 1970s through the 1990s, and was renamed in honor of former mayor Ed Koch in 2011, with another renovation in the early 2020s.
Name
The Queensboro Bridge originally bore the name of Queens, making it the third East River crossing to honor a borough, following the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. By the late 20th century, its location between 59th and 60th streets in Manhattan led people to call it the 59th Street Bridge, a name that upset many in Queens. In December 2010, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced it would be renamed the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, recognizing former mayor Ed Koch, whose administration oversaw major renovations in the 1980s. The change took effect on March 23, 2011, but drew criticism from residents and business leaders, with The Los Angeles Times calling it disrespectful to the borough. Despite the official renaming, many still referred to it as the Queensboro Bridge for years afterward. In 2013, Queens Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. proposed removing Koch's name, and Mayor Bill de Blasio later expressed similar views.
Description
The Queensboro Bridge stretches 7,449 feet from end to end, its five steel truss spans connecting Manhattan and Queens across the East River. Two of those spans are cantilevered over channels on either side of Roosevelt Island, linked in the center by a fixed truss. The structure rises 2,166 feet above water, with approach viaducts extending 1,052 feet in Manhattan and 2,588 feet in Queens. New York State Route 25 runs along the bridge, terminating at its western end.
Spans
The Queensboro Bridge spans the East River with steel cantilever arms extending from towers above four central piers, each arm measuring between 808 and 1,061 feet long. The bridge features two parallel trusses on each side of the deck, spaced 60 feet apart, with box girders forming the bottom chord and eyebars up to 12 inches deep making up the top chord. These trusses rise from 45 to 118 feet high, and the steel towers reach 185 feet tall. The spans are directly connected, not suspended, and include transverse floor beams protruding 13 feet from the trusses. Originally equipped with galvanized steel ropes for handrails and five hand-operated scaffolds, the bridge was built to carry a dead load of 32,200 pounds per foot, with decks designed to handle up to 16,000 pounds per foot. The total weight of the steel spans is 52,000 short tons, and until 1917, it held the record as the longest cantilever in North America.
Levels
The Queensboro Bridge has two levels, each with its own purpose and history. The upper level is 67 feet wide and originally held pedestrian walkways and elevated railway tracks connecting Manhattan to Queens, with space for two more tracks and cantilevered walkways outside the trusses. By 2023, it carried four lanes of automobile traffic, splitting in Manhattan—westbound lanes heading toward 62nd or 63rd Streets, and eastbound lanes toward 57th or 58th Streets, with the southern lanes used as a high-occupancy vehicle lane during rush hours. The lower level is 86 feet wide, divided into three sections, and originally had trolley tracks on either side of a central roadway. As of 2025, it carries four vehicular lanes in the center, while the northern section became a permanent pedestrian and bicycle path in 2000, and pedestrians were moved to the southern lower-level roadway in 2025.
Piers
The Queensboro Bridge relies on six piers supporting five spans, with westernmost and easternmost acting as anchorages. Each pier consists of two columns topped by fifty-foot-wide elliptical arches, ranging one hundred to one hundred twenty-five feet in height, tallest on Roosevelt Island. Foundations vary in depth—shallow where bedrock is near surface, deeper in Manhattan and Queens. Piers are faced with Maine granite and backed with concrete and Mohawk Valley limestone, using twenty-two thousand eight hundred cubic yards of granite, seventeen thousand cubic yards of concrete, and fourteen thousand cubic yards of limestone. Above piers rise towers decorated with domed features and Art Nouveau spires extending one hundred eighty-five feet above bridge's lower chords. Tower tops were completed in 1937 with two hundred twenty-five granite blocks, originally part of design. Anchorages, located about five hundred feet inland from shore, include spiral staircases and elevators situated between First Avenue and York Avenue in Manhattan and near Vernon Boulevard in Queens.
Manhattan approach
The Manhattan approach to the Queensboro Bridge is the only one decorated with ornate steel frames and Guastavino tile vaults, three inches thick and arranged in a series of 30-by-30-foot spaces beneath a 120-by-270-foot area. Originally meant for storage, the space was used as a food market from 1909, later became a sign shop and garage, and by the 1970s housed the Department of Highways. In 1973, the Cinematheque leased space there but never opened; a proposed Bridgemarket was blocked until 1996, finally opening in 1999. It closed in 2015, and Trader Joe's moved in by December 2021. At the end of the approach near 59th Street stood a large bronze lamppost with five tiers of decoration and inscriptions of borough names; a second one near 60th Street was removed in 1974 but restored in 1976, while parts of the other were rediscovered in 2012 and rededicated on Roosevelt Island in 2015.
Queens approach
The Queens approach to the bridge features a set of elevated concrete-and-steel ramps that were never officially decorated. In late 2024, plans were announced for the LIC Ramps—a public park built under one of those ramps—and construction began in June 2025. Also in 2025, a proposal came forward to turn another 370,000 square feet of open space under the bridge into parkland. That area spans 15 separate land lots and includes Baby Park, which closed in the 1980s near the waterfront.
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Overview
Ebanie Bridges is an Australian boxer who was born on September 22, 1986. She became a professional fighter and held the IBF female bantamweight title from 2022 to 2023. Before turning professional, she competed as an amateur and won gold medals in the women’s bantamweight division at the Australasian Golden Gloves in both 2016 and 2017.
Early life
Bridges was born on 22 September 1986 in Toongabbie, a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, and was the youngest of three children. She was the younger of twins, born six minutes after her brother, and the only girl in her family. At five years old, her parents introduced her to karate, where she competed until she was thirteen. After that, she trained in kickboxing and Muay Thai at secondary school. Later, she found competitive bodybuilding under Arina Manta, competing for eight years and winning many regional and state titles. She spoke of her teenage years as difficult, but with her parents’ support, she made a change at eighteen. Growing up, she admired fighters like Kostya Tszyu, Julio Cesar Chavez, Mike Tyson, and Marco Antonio Barrera. She earned the nickname “Blonde Bomber” from her coach, Arnel "Bomber" Barotillo.
Amateur career
Bridges had a strong amateur career, going 26 wins and 4 losses between 2016 and 2018. She claimed the National Golden Gloves title in both 2016 and 2017, and also won state championships at bantamweight. She competed in the Australian Women Selection Tournament in Perth, where she was defeated by Antonia Kay in the quarter-finals by a 4-1 points decision.
Early career
In November 2018, Ebanie Bridges was set to fight Thai boxer Rungnapha Kaewrachang, but the match was called off due to clearance issues. She instead boxed Bianca Elmir in an unofficial exhibition. Her official pro debut came February 8, 2019, at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion, where she beat Mahiecka Pareno via majority decision after being knocked down in the first round—only later revealed she had broken her ankle and kept going. On October 12, 2019, she TKO'd Laura Woods, then followed with a second-round TKO over Kanittha Ninthim. In February 2020, she signed with Split-T Management and made her U.S. debut on February 8 in Hammond, Indiana, winning a unanimous six-rounder against Crystal Hoy. Later that year, after defeating Jorgelina Guanini, Rachel Ball expressed interest in challenging Bridges for the vacant WBA bantamweight title. On March 13, 2021, Bridges won the Australian National Boxing Federation super-bantamweight title via unanimous decision over Carol Earl at Bankstown City Paceway in Sydney.
Bridges vs. Courtenay
On 14 March, it was confirmed that Ebanie Bridges would step into a world bantamweight title fight against Shannon Courtenay for the vacant WBA female bantamweight crown. The bout was set for the undercard of Conor Benn’s defense of his WBA Continental title against Samuel Vargas at the Copper Box Arena on 10 April. Courtenay had first been scheduled to face Rachel Ball, but after Ball recovered from coronavirus, Bridges moved in as a last-minute replacement.
Return to the ring
After her first loss to Courtenay, Bridges returned to the ring on August 7, 2021, facing Bec Connolly. She knocked Connolly down twice before the midpoint of the second round, and the fight was stopped by referee Kieran McCann. Her next match came September 4, 2021, against Mailys Gangloff. Bridges won narrowly on points, with one judge scoring the fight 77–76.
Bridges vs. Román
Bridges stepped into the ring to challenge the reigning IBF female bantamweight champion María Cecilia Román, marking Román’s eighth defence of her title. The fight happened on 26 March 2022 at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England, on the undercard of a bigger bout between Kiko Martinez and Josh Warrington. Bridges won by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 97–93 for her and a third giving her every round of the fight.
Bridges vs. Yoshida
Bridges was set to defend her IBF bantamweight title against Avril Mathie on December 9, 2023, at the Chase Center in San Francisco, but Mathie had to pull out due to an injury. That left Bridges with no choice but to face Miyo Yoshida instead, a fight she ultimately lost, surrendering her title by unanimous decision.
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Background
Buddy Lewis, born in Gary, Indiana and known from birth by that name, went on to Howard University before heading to Los Angeles to chase his dreams in entertainment. He’s appeared in films like Black Dynamite and The Group, and has made guest appearances on comedy shows such as Martin Lawrence's 1st Amendment and Comics Unleashed. His writing credits include work for D.L. Hughley and Jamie Foxx, and he’s contributed scripts to multiple TV series, including Tyler Perry's House of Payne. In 2017, he co-created the TV series White Famous. A former member of The Comedy Act Players and a brother in the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Lewis is also a devoted golfer and self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Comic Golfer,” hosting his own vlog series with celebrity friends.
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Overview
The show 13 Reasons Why, based on Jay Asher's novel and developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey with Selena Gomez as executive producer, follows Clay Jensen and Hannah Baker at Liberty High School. Before her suicide, Hannah leaves behind cassette tapes explaining the reasons she chose to end her life, naming people she believes are responsible. The first season premiered March 31, 2017, becoming the second most-watched Netflix series at the time. It was renewed for a second season released May 18, 2018, followed by a third on August 23, 2019, and final fourth season on June 5, 2020. The show received mixed reviews, with early praise for its themes and performances, especially from Dylan Minnette and Katherine Langford, but later criticism for its graphic content. A support website and crisis numbers were provided after the second season. Langford was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role.
Series overview
In the fictional town of Crestmont, California, Liberty High student Clay Jensen finds himself haunted by cassette tapes left behind by Hannah Baker, a former student who took her own life two weeks earlier. Each tape names someone from Hannah's life—people like Bryce Walker, Kevin Porter, and others—who played a role in her final days. The story continues through four seasons, with the release of those tapes sparking legal action and revealing hidden truths. In season three, set eight months later, new student Ani Achola takes over narration as Clay and his friends deal with Tyler's attempted school shooting and the fallout from Bryce's death, which leaves Clay under suspicion. By the final season, as graduation looms, the group struggles to hold together the secrets they've built, especially as Clay's mental health begins to unravel, forcing him to face what he's been running from with help from his therapist, Dr. Ellman.
Development
Universal Studios bought the rights to the novel in 2011, casting Selena Gomez as Hannah Baker. Netflix later stepped in to adapt it for television, with Gomez becoming an executive producer and Tom McCarthy directing the first two episodes. The show was made by Anonymous Content and Paramount Television, with a team of executive producers including Gomez, McCarthy, and Steve Golin. After its debut, the series was renewed for a second season in 2017, then a third in 2018, which was dedicated to Golin after his death from cancer in April 2019. A fourth and final season was announced in 2019 and released in June 2020.
Casting
In June 2016, Dylan Minnette, Katherine Langford, Christian Navarro, Alisha Boe, Brandon Flynn, Justin Prentice, Miles Heizer, Ross Butler, Devin Druid and Brian d'Arcy James were cast as the main leads for the show. By September, Amy Hargreaves, Kate Walsh and Derek Luke joined the cast. Langford left after the second season. The following August, Jake Weber, Meredith Monroe, R. J. Brown, Anne Winters, Bryce Cass, Chelsea Alden, Allison Miller, Brandon Butler, Samantha Logan, Kelli O'Hara, and Ben Lawson were added for season two. In September 2018, Timothy Granaderos and Brenda Strong became series regulars after earlier recurring roles. Gary Sinise joined as a regular in the fourth season on September 5, 2019. On February 11, 2020, Jan Luis Castellanos was promoted to series regular for that season.
Filming
The series was filmed in Northern California towns like Vallejo, Benicia, and Sebastopol during the summer of 2016, with the first season and a special releasing on Netflix March 31, 2017. Actors had therapy dogs on set because of the heavy emotional content. Production for the second season began June 12, 2017, but paused in October due to wildfires nearby, wrapping in December 2017 and releasing May 18, 2018. The third season started August 12, 2018, was halted again by fire, then resumed until December 17, with filming scheduled to end February 6, 2019. The fourth season began in July 2019 and wrapped up in December of that year.
Release
The first season of 13 Reasons Why premiered on March 31, 2017, on Netflix and was praised for its subject matter and acting, especially Minnette and Langford's performances. For her role, Langford earned a Golden Globe nomination. Mental health professionals raised concerns due to graphic content including suicide and rape. In response, Netflix added warning cards and began playing a video at the start of each season starting March 2018. By July 2019, the suicide scene from the first season's final episode had been edited out. The show was renewed for a second season in May 2017, with filming beginning the next month and wrapping up in December, airing May 18, 2018. A video with the cast warned viewers about the show's themes, and a support website with crisis numbers was made available. A third season followed in June 2018, released August 23, 2019. Netflix ordered a fourth and final season in August 2019, which premiered June 5, 2020. The series has drawn both criticism and a devoted fanbase.
Critical response
The series received a mixed response from critics, with an average score of 35% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, the weighted average rating across all seasons except the final one stood at 60 out of 100, based on 38 reviews, which is described as "mixed or average reviews."
Season 1
13 Reasons Why received widespread critical acclaim for its mature handling of difficult themes, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting 77% positive reviews from critics and an average score of 7.1/10. IGN's Jesse Schedeen praised it as "a very powerful and hard-hitting series" and ranked it among the best high school dramas of the 21st century, while The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert called it "sensitive, consistently engaging, and, most importantly, unblinking." Variety's Maureen Ryan described it as "simply essential viewing," and Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt gave it a B+ for its "frank, authentically affecting portrait of what it feels like to be young, lost and too fragile for the world." Critics also lauded Katherine Langford and Dylan Minnette's performances, with particular praise for their chemistry and emotional depth. Supporting actors like Kate Walsh, Alisha Boe, Miles Heizer, and Christian Navarro were also highlighted. The show's direction and storytelling techniques were praised, though some critics found the plot device of Clay listening to the tapes one by one unbelievable. Despite its strengths, some reviewers noted that the series leans too heavily on messaging, lacking subtlety and nuance.
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