Editing Manhattan Bridge (section)

=== Planning and caissons ===
The earliest plans for what became the Manhattan Bridge were designed by R. S. Buck.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=51}}<ref name="ABM 1904">{{cite magazine |date=Sep 1904 |title=The New Manhattan Bridge; A Bridge Beautiful As Well As Useful |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924015151412&view=1up&seq=559 |journal=Architects' and Builder's Magazine |volume=36 |pages=547–554 |number=12}}</ref>{{Rp|548}} These plans called for a suspension bridge with carbon steel wire cables and a suspended stiffening truss, supported by a pair of towers with eight braced legs. This design would have consisted of a main span of {{Convert|1470|ft}} and approaches of {{Convert|725|ft}} each.{{sfn|Architects' and Builders' Magazine|1904|p=548}} In early 1901, the city government approved a motion to acquire land for a suspension tower in Brooklyn;<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 18, 1901 |title=Mayor Chafes at Delay on Bridge |pages=2 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-mayor-chafes-at-delay/137019020/ |access-date=December 18, 2023}}</ref> the city shortly began soliciting bids for the tower's foundations.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 26, 1901 |title=Bids On Bridge No. 3. – All the Propositions for Building Tower Foundations Will Be Rejected |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/03/26/117958826.pdf |access-date=December 23, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The contract for the Brooklyn suspension tower was awarded in May 1901.<ref name="n138417512">{{Cite news |date=May 6, 1901 |title=Bridge Contract Awarded |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-bridge-contract-award/138417512/ |access-date=January 10, 2024 |work=The Standard Union |pages=1}}</ref>

The [[Caisson (engineering)|caisson]] under the tower on the Brooklyn side was installed in March 1902; workers excavated dirt for the foundations from within the caisson, a process that was completed in December 1902.<ref name="ER-BR-SE p. 334">{{harvnb|Engineering Record, Building Record and Sanitary Engineer|1904|ps=.|page=334}}</ref> Three workers had died while working on the Brooklyn-side tower's caisson.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 22, 1903 |title=Work in the Caisson of Third East River Bridge – Death of Three Laborers Employed in Making Foundations for the Brooklyn Tower Causes Contractors to Desist from Their Attempt to Reach the Actual Rock Bottom |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/02/22/101974938.pdf |access-date=December 24, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A plan for the bridge was announced in early 1903. Elevated and trolley routes would use the Manhattan Bridge, and there would be large balconies and enormous spaces within the towers' anchorages.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 4, 1903 |title=Plans for Third Bridge – The Manhattan to Be Ornamental as Well as Useful – Halls in Anchorages to Be Larger Than Cooper Union Auditorium – Globular Lights on High Pinnacles |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/02/04/101971266.pdf |access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref> Work on the Manhattan caisson had commenced in January 1903; it was towed to position in July, and the caisson work was completed by January 1904.<ref name="nyt-1909-06-06" />  The foundations were completed in March 1904.<ref name="nyt-1909-06-06" /> A $10 million grant for the bridge's construction was granted in May 1904 with the expectation that work on the bridge would start later that year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 7, 1904 |title=Grants $10,000,000 For World's Biggest Bridge – Board of Estimate Authorizes Expenditure for Manhattan Span – Aldermen Will Act Next Week – Work on Superstructure Will Begin July 1 – Will Be Finished in 1909 – Most Capacious Bridge on Earth |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/05/07/101391164.pdf |access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref>

The [[Municipal Art Commission]] raised objections to one of the bridge's plans in June 1904, which delayed the start of construction.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 25, 1904 |title=Manhattan Bridge |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/06/25/101393709.pdf |access-date=December 23, 2017}}</ref> Another set of plans was unveiled that month by New York City Bridge Commissioner [[Gustav Lindenthal]], in conjunction with [[Henry Hornbostel]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/06/30/100472052.pdf |title=Manhattan Bridge Plans – Lindenthal Design Promises Structure of Lasting Credit to City (Letter) |date=June 30, 1904 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=December 23, 2017}}</ref> The proposal also called for each of the suspension towers to be made of four columns, to be braced transversely and hinged to the bottom of the abutments longitudinally. The same span dimensions from Buck's plan were used because work on the masonry pier foundations had already begun.{{sfn|Architects' and Builders' Magazine|1904|p=548}}  Additionally, the towers would have contained Modern French detail, while the anchorages would have been used for functions such as meeting halls.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=51}} Lindenthal's plan was also rejected<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/07/14/118946866.pdf |title=Manhattan Bridge Plans |date=July 14, 1904 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=December 23, 2017}}</ref> due to a dispute over whether his plan, which used [[eyebar]]s, was better than the more established practice of using [[Wire rope|wire cables]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 14, 1904 |title=Lindenthal Objects to Wire Gable Plan – Should Not Be Used on Manhattan Bridge – Warns Art Commission – Says New Plan Would Cost More, Would Make Bridge Less Rigid, And Be Inferior in Many Ways |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/07/14/118946908.pdf |access-date=December 23, 2017}}</ref>  The Municipal Art Commission voted in September 1904 to use wire cables on the bridge.<ref name="p571602354">{{cite news |date=September 16, 1904 |title=Wire Cables Approved: For the New Bridge Only One Vote of Art Commission Against Best's Plan |work=New-York Tribune |page=4 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571602354}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=September 16, 1904 |title=Adopts Wire Cables for Manhattan Bridge – Art Commission Sustains Commissioner Best – Turns Down Eye-Bar Plan – John De Witt Warner Protests Against Action – Bids to be Advertised For at Once |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/09/16/117948520.pdf |access-date=December 23, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Lindenthal was ultimately dismissed and a new design was commissioned from [[Leon Moisseiff]].<ref name="structurae" />{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=51}} George Best replaced Lindenthal as the city's bridge commissioner{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=51}}{{sfn|National Park Service|1983|p=3}} and discarded the eyebar plans in favor of the wire cables.<ref name="n138539186">{{Cite news |date=September 15, 1905 |title=Roeblings Win Again: Big Hole in Contract Contractors May Take Their Own Time—City Helpless |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-roeblings-win-again-bi/138539186/ |access-date=January 11, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |pages=2}}</ref> Hornbostel was replaced by [[Carrère and Hastings]] as architectural consultants.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|pp=51–52}} By late 1904, the disputes over the types of cables had delayed the contract for the bridge's superstructure (composed of its towers and deck).<ref name="n138531749">{{Cite news |date=December 8, 1904 |title=Manhattan Bridge Delay |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-manhattan-bridg/138531749/ |access-date=January 11, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=3}}</ref> The bridge's completion had been delayed by two years, and its cost had increased by $2 million.<ref name="n138539186" /> The cable dispute was not fully resolved until 1906, when Best's successor James W. Stevenson announced that the bridge would use wire cables.<ref name="p571786490a">{{cite news |date=March 24, 1906 |title=Eye-Bar Advocates Fail to Appear: Manhattan Bridge Cables to Be of Wire. Says Commissioner Stevenson |work=New-York Tribune |page=4 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571786490}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 10, 1906 |title=Biggest of River Bridges Should Be Open in 1910 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-biggest-of-rive/138577813/ |access-date=January 12, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=5}}</ref>