On Dec. 31, 1909, New York City Mayor George Brinton McClellan, Jr., opened the Manhattan Bridge to traffic. This was to be McClellan’s last day in office, so as a good omen he opened the bridge, which wasn’t completed officially until 1910, to allow Brooklyn residents to bring New Year’s gifts to their friends in Manhattan, and vice versa.

On Dec. 31, 2009, the Manhattan Bridge becomes a centenarian, and the bridge is stronger than ever. For most people, the bridge is merely a means to an end, be it Brooklyn or Manhattan. For some, it’s a symbol of New York City’s greatness. For me, it’s a second home — I’ve climbed and photographed it 13 times.

From an artist’s perspective, the Manhattan Bridge is bursting with character and architectural embellishments. Look closely and you’ll see diamond patterns all over the structure, and at the very top of the towers, located just above the saddle housing, there are magnificent ornamental spheres (see photo). And that’s just to name a few.

Dave Frieder “On Top of the World,” Dave Frieder atop the Manhattan Bridge in 1996. Bridge building, 1909

From an engineer’s perspective, there are some wonderful firsts in Leon Moisseiff’s design. It was the first suspension bridge to use flexible steel towers, and it was the first suspension bridge to use a Warren stiffening truss. There were also some significant flaws, like the road deck, which situated the subway trains in the outer lanes instead of in the center of the deck. Initially, this caused the deck to deflect 4 to 6 feet. A series of measures were taken to alleviate this deflection, such as: suspenders changeovers, wooded buffers, end frames on both sides of the stiffening truss, and heavy steel plates added to the diagonals of the Warren truss. Today the deflection is only a foot or two, but the bridge does need constant monitoring to spot any potential problems before they get out of hand.

Overall, and like many of New York’s bridges, the Manhattan Bridge is in excellent condition thanks to government-funded programs that have allowed the city to restore its bridges to a condition 4 or better. Before these funds were appropriated, many of New York’s bridges were in a condition 2 or condition 1.

The people of New York should recognize that without government intervention, their bridges might not withstand the test of time, and this reality should be appreciated by the nation at large, as well.

Dave Frieder has been climbing and photographing New York’s bridges for more than 16 years. To learn about his influences, and to see or purchase his wonderful photography, visit www.davefrieder.com