Designers and Engineers

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chose Othmar H. Ammann, Chief Bridge Engineer, and Cass Gilbert, Consulting Architect, to work together on the Bayonne Bridge, creating an elegant steel arch truss span over the Kill Van Kull that was efficient, affordable, suited to its site, and aesthetically pleasing. The bridge design was the brainchild of Ammann, who was born in Switzerland in 1879, studied under Swiss engineer K. E. Hilgard, moved to the United States in 1904, and worked with Gustav Lindenthal on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Hell Gate Bridge between Queens and the Bronx, the world's largest arch bridge when it was completed in 1917. In 1924 the Port of New York Authority hired Ammann as Chief Bridge Engineer, and in his early years there he supervised construction of the Goethals Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing, the authority's first bridge projects; the Bayonne Bridge and the George Washington Bridge were his first major bridge designs. Over a long career he designed several major bridges in and beyond the New York City area and received many awards and commendations. Gilbert, born in 1859, was already nationally known for buildings including the Woolworth Building and the U.S. Customs House in Manhattan and the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. For the Bayonne Bridge, he envisioned decorative granite facing around the steel towers at each end, meant to convey strength, weight, and performance, but the stone facing was never completed because of the financial crisis of the 1930s. The Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia was being built at the same time and offered ideas for constructing the arch without obstructing the shipping channel; the two bridges became known as sister bridges because of their similar appearance and age, the same pair of golden scissors cut the ceremonial ribbon at both openings, and the Bayonne Bridge is 23 feet longer and two months older than its Australian counterpart.

New York, New York · United States