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[00:01.54]Lesson 17
[00:03.59]The longest suspension bridge in the world

How is the bridge supported?

[00:06.80]Verrazano,an Italian about whom little is known,

[00:10.03]sailed into New York Harbour in 1524 and named it Angouleme.

[00:15.23]He described it as 'a very agreeable situation

[00:18.56]located within two small hills in the midst of which flowed a great river.'

[00:23.25]Though Verrazano is by no means considered to be a great explorer,

[00:27.48]his name will probably remain immortal,

[00:29.96]for on November 21st, 1964,

[00:33.14]the longest suspension bridge in the world was named after him.

[00:36.35]The Verrazano Bridge,which was designed by Othmar Ammann,

[00:40.53]joins Brooklyn to Staten Island.It has a span of 4,260 feet.

[00:46.91]The bridge is so long

[00:48.12]that the shape of the earth had to be taken into account by its designer.

[00:52.42]Two great towers support four huge cables.

[00:55.73]The towers are built on immense underwater platforms made of steel and concrete.

[01:01.11]The platforms extend to a depth of over 100 feet under the sea.

[01:05.86]These alone took sixteen months to build.

[01:09.11]Above the surface of the water,the towers rise to a height of nearly 700 feet.

[01:14.53]They support the cables from which the bridge has been suspended.

[01:18.58]Each of the four cables contains 26,108 lengths of wire.

[01:24.05]It has been estimated that if the bridge were packed with cars,

[01:27.72]it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity.

[01:31.76]However,size and strength are not the only important things about this bridge.

[01:36.72]Despite its immensity,it is both simple and elegant,

[01:40.76]fulfilling its designer's dream to creat

[01:43.39]'an enormous object drawn as faintly as possible'.