ENR Cablewalkers Create Memorable Bridge Video
ENR Editors Scott Blair and Aileen Cho try to look relaxed atop one tower of the George Washington Bridge spanning New York City and New Jersey, in visiting a project where long cable restoration is underway.
Some people’s idea of a good time is being up in the sky in an airplane or helicopter. ENR editors also like the heights, but with something firmer underfoot, such as a bridge cable.
Infrastructure Deputy Editor Aileen Cho and Editor-in-Chief Scott Blair have walked on a number of the world’s most magnificent bridges. But accessing the higher levels of the George Washington Bridge, with its 604-ft-high towers, is a special experience. Designed by famed engineer Othmar Amman, it has been open since 1931.
_____________________________________________________________
RELATED
_____________________________________________________________
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s ongoing cable restoration and rehabilitation project for the iconic span between the two states is a once-in-a-generation chance for the two to get deeply acquainted with its structure.
Their visit produced a video entitled Restoring the George, featuring on-the-bridge conversations with crew leaders and Port Authority officials supervising the work that Cho and Blair have long followed. But walking along cables and upper parts of bridge towers is something else.
Ascending the bridge by elevator and standing at the top was fine, reports Cho. But “walking up wooden stairs along the cable and eventually losing access to handrails was scary,” she recalls. The descent was worse: “Coming back down those stairs without the rail to cling to was petrifying.” Cho conquered her fears by “scooting down the steepest parts on my butt,” she noted, adding that one Port Authority official on site that day “was also very nervous around heights.”
Cho and Blair were able to peek inside the bridge anchorage house where all cable ropes converge. The size of the container atop the western tower that stores the 60-x-90-ft American flag, the world’s largest, which is hung to mark holidays and the Sept. 11 anniversary, was another surprise.
Looking for quick answers on construction and engineering topics?
Try Ask ENR, our new smart AI search tool.
Ask ENR →
Blair, who recorded work activities, says he did not experience fear during the high-level bridge tour and interviews. “I found being up in the towers and walking along the cables to be exhilarating,” he says. “It was the first time I had walked up the main cables of a bridge that far.” But on a more practical level, Blair says the strong wind “interfered with the mic audio.” Drew Lockwood, skilled video editor for ENR and BNP Media, later used his expertise to enhance audio and minimize noise.
Areas visited by Cho and Blair are not open to the public, nor are exposed cables, except for a project like this when they are being checked and treated and then sealed up in dehumidification encasement. “It will be the last time we’ll see those cables for the next 100 years,” notes Blair. See the video at enr.com/videos.
