In 1924, Othmar Amman began promoting a plan to cross the Hudson River from New York City after a century of bridge proposals and amid growing need in the early 1900's, when automobiles could cross only by ferry and the shipping port was overcrowded. Although an underwater passage was approved and work on the Holland Tunnel began in 1920, the push for a bridge continued. In 1921, Gustav Lindenthal, engineer of New York's Hell Gate Railroad Bridge, advocated a double-deck bridge from Weehawken, New Jersey, to West 57th Street in Manhattan with 12 railroads and 16 paved lanes, but its cost and scale were questioned and he refused to alter it. Ammann, who had worked with Lindenthal, saw problems in that scheme and argued for fewer lanes and a more northern location that would fit economic and political constraints, leading the two men to part ways. Ammann then developed his own vehicular suspension bridge linking Fort Lee, New Jersey, with West 178th Street in Manhattan, a design that avoided a contentious midtown site, omitted rail travel, and used deflection theory to achieve strength and a graceful appearance with relatively little material. As automobile use surged and Ford Motor Company announced its 10 millionth automobile the same year Ammann presented his design, both states placed the bridge's financing, construction, and operation under the recently established Port of New York Authority, and Ammann was hired to carry the project through.
