The construction of the George Washington Bridge started with laying the cement bases of the two towers. The tower foundation on the New Jersey side had to be constructed on water so two large steel cofferdams were used to pump out the water. Once this was done sixteen tower footings were bolted to each tower The towers were both made up of sixteen columns of steel and each section had to be individually brought out to the piers where the construction was going on. Next to be constructed were the anchorages. On the New Jersey side the anchorage was just carved into the palisades that were already there. However on the New York side they had to create a replica of the palisades out of concrete so that later on the cables could be anchored in the same way on both sides. Once the anchorages were finished they could begin working with the cables. To transport the wires between the towers they used boats and built footbridges. When the wire arrived it was then brought up to the top of the towers. Once it was at the top of the towers the wire was secured to the anchorages and then they used a machine to spin the wires back and forth and layer them on top of each other to create the four main suspension cables. While this was being done they built the roadways going until they meet in the middle. This was done again section by section brought on barges to the construction sites then hoisted up and put in place. Once the concrete was poured and the lanes were laid down the only thing left to do was paint it. The bridge was completed eight months ahead of schedule and under budget but don't let this make you think that the construction went anywhere near perfectly. On December 23,1927 the cofferdam buckled drowning three men. This was the most famous incident that occurred during bridge construction but it was not the only one. Another incident occurred later on in the construction process when one worker perished due to a explosive charge that had been put in the wrong location going off prematurely. The official death toll during the construction of the George Washington bridge was twelve workers.

Construction