The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York across the East River. It connects the Lower East Side in Manhattan to Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

Crossing over

Construction on the Williamsburg Bridge began in 1896 and opened in 1903 at a cost of 12 million dollars. At the time that it was finsihed, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world, a title it held until 1924. The structure was unusual when it was built. The main span hangs from cables in the usual manner, with the side spans leading to the appraoches are cantilevered, with no support from the cables above. The Williamsburg Bridge is one of two bridges that you can use with your car rental or 15 passenger van rental in NYC, as well as it is open to rail traffic. The Manhattan Bridge is the only similar bridge now. The subway's BMT Nassau Street Line and BMT Jamaica Line run across the bridge. Reconstruction has been taking place since the 1980s to make up for deferred maintenance. As an added perk, there are no toll fees! You drive your luxury car rental across for free.

Getting across the river

The Williamsburg Bridge is often compared to the Brooklyn Bridge, and most of the time it is the inferior one. The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, stretching 5989 feet over the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn. When it was finished, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world and the world's first steel-wire suspension bridge when it opened in 1883 and a great place to see with your car rental New York. The bridge's construction began in early 1870, and it was completed 13 years later.

Sound science

When the bridge was built, aerodynamics of bridge building were unknown and the structures were untested. Many of the bridges that were built around the same time have been replaced or have collapsed, as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge showed us in the 1940s. Luckily, Roebling designed a bridge with a truss system that was six times as strong as he thought it needed to be. Even when it was discovered that the cables were not as high-quality as he wanted, he still determined that the bridge was four times as strong as it needed to be. Because of this the bridge was allowed to stand and it still stands today. Don't worry when you cross it with your Brooklyn car rental though! It is very safe!

There are many ways to get around New York with your van rental. The Williamsburg Bridge is a great way to get to Brooklyn for the day, or to come into New York. Don't miss this classic piece of New York arcitecture!