Next Level

Next Level. . , The George Washington Bridge led to substantial economic and community development. Approach roads were built and expanded to keep pace. Two additional lanes were paved on the bridge's upper level, then a second deck was added to total 14 traffic lanes – the most of any suspension bridge in the world., The lower roadway deck opened on August 29, 1962, with a ceremony at the midpoint of the bridge. A bronze bust of Othmar Amman was unveiled, and is now on display in the George Washington Bridge Bus Station that opened the following year. The completed bridge has become a major part of the regional highway system., [Captions:] , The bridge was built to support an additional deck, which became necessary as traffic steadily increased. Construction of the tower level, nicknamed Martha, began in September of 1968. It added six lanes of travel., River barges bring preassembled sections of the lower deck to the bridge where they are lifted into position by cranes., While a maintenance crew makes routine repairs to the upper deck, construction workers prepare the lower level for its first layer of reinforced concrete., The Little Red Lighthouse is a protected landmark that predates the bridge above it. It was not disturbed during construction., At the opening ceremony for the lower deck, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller shakes hands with New Jersey Governor Richard J. Hughes (right). The expansion project received an Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award of Merit from ASCE in 1963, and the bridge itself was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1981.