Video: Manhattan Bridge Sways

Sometimes things are just really cool to watch, like this video of the Manhattan Bridge moving along with the subway traffic.

A little history lesson from, um, Wikipedia—many moons ago, "because tracks were on the outer part of the bridge, passing trains caused the bridge to tilt and sway. The wobble worsened as trains became longer and heavier. The New York City Department of Transportation failed to maintain the bridge properly, and the tracks finally were closed [in the 1980s] for repairs. On February 22, 2004, the north side reopened, and all four tracks were in service simultaneously for the first time in 18 years." But don't worry, this swaying is totally normal, in fact, we'd love to see a time lapse of the Golden Gate Bridge during a strong wind... engineers built that one so that it could swing sideways up to 27 feet! [via Chrysanthe Tenentes]

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By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on July 24, 2009 4:14 PM

Comments [rss]

MiamiJose

That is too cool, To bad we dont have any bridges like that here in Miami Beach!!!! Thanks for the vid! Amazing how that much metal (etc) can move!!!

Living in Gin

Very cool video. The bridge (and every suspension bridge) is designed to have a certain amount of flexibility. Bad things happen when the bridge isn't flexible enough. Most of the repair work undertaken on the Manhattan Bridge over the past few years was to allow the bridge to move normally again, as many of the expansion joints had corroded to the point where they were completely frozen.

jules1000

I'm amazed the bridge can withstand this constant bouncing and moving....

nomnomnom

As far as I know, all elevated subway stations also sway. In fact, engineers account for a certain amount of sway in the stations.

Tower18

When I was riding the D train in Brooklyn, I could swear that the entire elevated structure would shake front-to-back for a second every time the train stopped. It's kind of disconcerting. I don't notice this on the A, F, or the 7, but those are the only other elevated trains I've been on.

famdoc

I think of swaying as a lateral (ie, side-to-side) movement.

That's more of a bouncing phenomenon.

ericf

Right, it's more of a roll, like an earthquake.

sj

Ha that's really cool. I remember reading that the Manhattan Bridge can deflect up to 8 feet depending on the subway traffic but it's neat to actually be able to see it.