Bright Lights, Big Bridge: GW Bridge's Beacon Turns 75
14 photos
<p>Fans of the beacon in awe of its service over the years.</p>
<p>The beacon of the hour! The Will Rogers-Wiley Post Memorial Beacon.</p>
<p>Looking east from the Manhattan tower.</p>
<p>Tommy Burke, the Electical Maintanance Supervisor for the George Washington Bridge, with a "precision lamp for optical devices" manufactured by General Electric.</p>
<p>The beacon from another angle.</p>
<p>Westinghouse just calls the fine beacon a "rotating beacon."</p>
<p>On top of the tower is a telescope that is FREE! </p>
<p>To get to the top of the tower, you have to climb up a ladder through a tiny access hatch.</p>
<p>The elevator from road-level to a level 82-steps to the top of the tower. To get to the top, you can take stairs or a short ride on another elevator. Either way, you have to climb two more sets of ladders, including the final ladder with a hatch. </p>
<p>Looking west from the top of the Manhattan tower. Note the Little Red Lighthouse on the lower left of the photo.</p>
<p>West from between the cables that help support the weight of the bridge and traffic.</p>
Looking east from a room that houses the suspension cables. Each cable has 26,474 wires, long enough to go around the world.
<p>Andrea Giorgi Bocker, the bridge's Resident Engineer, who has her "dream job" at the Port Authority. Her father worked for PANYNJ at the George Washington Bridge. As a child, she decided to become an engineer because of the bridge.</p>
<p>Don't look down!</p>