Lesson 17
The longest suspension
bridge in the world
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1Lesson 17
2The longest suspension bridge in the world
3How is the bridge supported?
4Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known,
5sailed into New York Harbour in 1524 and named it Angouleme.
6He described it as 'a very agreeable situation located within two small hills in the midst of which flowed a great river.'
7Though Verrazano is by no means considered to be a great explorer, his name will probably remain immortal,
8for on November 21st, 1964, the longest suspension bridge in the world was named after him.
9The Verrazano Bridge, which was designed by Othmar Ammann, joins Brooklyn to Staten Island.
10It has a span of 4, 260 feet.
11The bridge is so long that the shape of the earth had to be taken into account by its designer.
12Two great towers support four huge cables.
13The towers are built on immense underwater platforms made of steel and concrete.
14The platforms extend to a depth of over 100 feet under the sea.
15These alone took sixteen months to build.
16Above the surface of the water, the towers rise to a height of nearly 700 feet.
17They support the cables from which the bridge has been suspended.
18Each of the four cables contains 26, 108 lengths of wire.
19It has been estimated that if the bridge were packed with cars,
20 it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity.
21However, size and strength are not the only important things about this bridge.
22Despite its immensity, it is both simple and elegant,
23fulfilling its designer's dream to creat 'an enormous object drawn as faintly as possible'.