George Washington Bridge and Triborough Bridge construction photographs
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Approximately 100 black-and-white photographs of the construction of the George Washington Bridge (opened 1931), connecting Manhattan with New Jersey, and the Triborough Bridge (opened 1936), connecting Manhattan with the Bronx and Queens. The photographs were taken by Frank J. Trani (1902-1981), a civil engineer for the Port Authority of New York, who worked on both projects. Also present are two periodical clippings that feature a photograph of Trani on the George Washington Bridge, a 442-page report published soon after that span's completion, and digital versions of the physical images in the collection, as well as additional digitized views and biographical documentation.
Biographical note
Frank J. Trani, born "Francesco" Trani in Messina, Sicily, in 1902, came to New York as an infant with his family. A graduate of Cornell University (1924, 1927), Trani worked as a civil engineer for the Port Authority of New York. Among their many infrastructure projects, he was involved in constructing the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel. Trani died in Drexell Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1981. [See his obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Friday 16 October 1981, p. 37, and "The Man on the Bridge," a biographical sketch by his son-in-law, Walter Fox, from the Fall 2011 issue of Italian America (copies of each in Folder 8).]
Arrangement
The collection remains in the order imposed by the donors, who assigned numbers—001 through 103—to each item (except for the four negatives and the USB flash drive holding digital versions of the photographs), and placed them all in numbered sleeves. Numbers 001-089 are George Washington Bridge construction photographs. Numbers 090-102 are Triborough Bridge construction photographs. Number 103 is a published report on the George Washington Bridge. See the container list for details.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of approximately 100 black-and-white photographs (most measure 3 x 5 inches; some are slightly larger or smaller) taken by Frank J. Trani (1902-1981), a civil engineer for the Port Authority of New York. Trani worked on construction of the George Washington Bridge (opened 1931), connecting upper Manhattan with Fort Lee, New Jersey across the Hudson River, and the Triborough Bridge (opened 1936; renamed for Robert F. Kennedy, 2008), connecting Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens across the Harlem River, Bronx Kill, and East River. The George Washington Bridge photographs, taken between 1928 and 1931, document the raising of its piers, anchorages, and towers, its girders being hoisted into place, and its cables being strung. Trani himself appears in a number of views, one of which illustrates a 1929 article in a periodical called "Construction Methods." The same image, edited to include additional figures, illustrates an undated magazine story called "Strong Arms" (clippings of each publication are found in Folder 2). Supplementing these photographs is a 442-page report replete with maps, diagrams, expenditures, statistics, and images: George Washington Bridge Across the Hudson River at New York, N.Y., reprinted from Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. 97 (1933). Trani's Triborough Bridge photographs, taken in 1935, show similar views of the construction methods employed on that project. Refer to the container list for transcriptions of Trani's descriptive captions.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
This collection may be stored offsite. To arrange to consult it, please go to www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282. Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: www.nyhistory.org/rights-and-reproductions.
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as: George Washington Bridge and Triborough Bridge Construction Photographs, PR 461, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.
Credit line (for exhibitions): "The family of Frank J. Trani."
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Peter Fox and Francine (Trani) Fox, 2019 (accession no. PPAC-2019-017). Ms. Fox is the daughter of Frank J. Trani (1902-1981).
About this Guide
Processing Information
Archivist Joseph Ditta arranged and described the physical portion of this collection in May-June 2023. Digital Archivist Margo Padilla processed the digital media in May 2023. Digital files were transferred off a USB drive using TeraCopy. Virus and malware scan was completed using ClamWin and Malwarebytes with no results.