Bridging New York
Documentary (52 min.)

Thirteen major bridges unite the island that is New York City together and connect it to the rest of the country. One engineer was responsible for nearly half of them, yet hardly anyone knows his name. Othmar Ammann came to America as a graduate of Swiss engineering schools and learned bridge building from the reigning top bridge builder, Gustav Lindenthal. Ammann worked under him on the Hell Gate railroad bridge, an arch bridge of unprecedented strength and beauty. Lindenthal had plans for a huge rail bridge across the Hudson River, but they were rejected as too expensive. Ammann proposed a lighter, less expensive bridge for automobiles and trucks. In a painful parting, he left his mentor and built the landmark George Washington Bridge, twice as long as any suspension bridge in the world. Ammann went on to build the Bayonne, the Triborough, Whitestone, Throgs Neck and Verrazano Narrows. But all that commemorates his accomplishments is a modest bust in a bus terminal at the east end of the George Washington Bridge. Ammann cared little about honorifics. For him, the fact that his bridges, all built on time and on budget, carry a million vehicles a day was honor enough.