Teaserbild-Quelle: Frenetic Films
Othmar Ammann shaped New York’s skyline: the Swiss engineer planned, among other things, the “Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge” and the “George Washington Bridge”. Martin Witz talks about this and the Skywalkers who built it in his documentary.
Source: Frenetic Films
Visible from afar: the “Verrazano Bridge”.
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Source: Frenetic Films
Around 190,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day.
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Source: Frenetic Films
Elegant beauty: the bridge seen from the water.
In 1964 the first cars rolled over the New York “Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge”, with a total length of 2039 meters it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Although the “Humber Bridge” in Northern England overtook it in 1981, it is still impressive in terms of traffic volume: around 190,000 vehicles cross the strait between Manhattan and Staten Island on it every day. With the name of the bridge, the city honored the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, who in 1524 discovered today’s “New York Bay” and the Hudson River.
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Source: Frenetic Films
Shaped the New York skyline like few: Othmar Ammann.
It is not only related to Europe because of its name: the bridge is the last work of the Schaffhausen engineer Othmar Ammann. When construction began in 1959, he was 80 years old. “The genius who built the bridge almost goes under in the crowd: Othmar Ammann,” commented a news anchor five years later on the opening report. “At the age of 85 he reached the climax of his life’s work with this magnificent bridge.” The “Verrazzano Bridge” is one of several bridges with which Ammann has shaped the image of New York to this day. His most legendary project is probably the “George Washington Bridge”: When it opened in 1931, it had the world’s largest span with 1067 meters.
The building was the reason that Ammann finally fell out with Gustav Lindenthal, for whose office he worked as chief assistant: After he had entrusted him with the calculation of a rail bridge over the Hudson for New York, Ammann increasingly doubted the project. He thought it was too big, too heavy and too expensive. He started planning his own project. Not for the railroad, however, but for motorized traffic. Most recently, he left the office and lobbied for his idea for over two years – with success: the authorities gave the project the green light and appointed Ammann chief engineer of the “New York Port Authority”.
Future optimism and motorization
Martin Witz tells such stories in his documentary “Gateways to New York”. He rolled out the life and career of Ammann, from a new graduate engineer in 1902 to a successful bridge builder in New York. Originally, Amman only wanted to gain experience in the Big Apple. But after he was able to participate in various large steel construction bridge projects there, he stayed. And his fiancée Lily Selma Wehrli followed him.
In addition to Ammann’s life story, the film also traces the changes that New York went through in the 20th century. He tells of the optimism and optimism of the post-war years, but also of increasing motorization. Witz illustrated all of them with quotations from Ammann. He was able to fall back on a rich fund of written records from Ammann himself. The material is now in the ETH archive and includes diary entries, notes and agenda notes as well as letters to parents and fiancées. Nevertheless, Ammann’s person would have remained rather pale if Joke had not been allowed to speak to anyone from his environment. “He was quite reserved,” recalls Edward Cohen, who started his career as a young engineer in Ammann’s office and later became its CEO. Ammann was “not a watchmaker”, he describes him. “He had bigger things in mind. But he worked with the same care as a watchmaker. “
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Source: Frenetic Films
Recalls his work as a Skywalker on the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge.
Brave mohawks
The retired Skywalkers Alex Mayo and Paul Deer, with whom Witz spoke for his documentary, have a special view of Ammann’s buildings. He found in the two the “probably last Mohawks” who were there as Skywalkers in the construction of Ammann’s last bridge. Skywalkers are steel workers who work at dizzying heights. As a rule, they are Mohawks whose fathers and grandfathers have already worked in the same profession.
Their reputation is legendary: “They say that the mohwaks don’t know fear,” says Paul Deer. “But when you’re up there, that’s not true. You have to learn to deal with fear and to find your balance. ” Cooperation is important. “You have to be able to trust your partner, be concerned about safety at work and help each other.” Mayo looks similar. “It was terrifying at times. You are at the top and have nowhere to hold on to. It’s flat. And if there is a gust of wind, you’re just trying to save your life. ” Fear is part of it, he muses. “I’ve never looked at it that way. Otherwise I would not have done my work for so long. “
Playing times and locations: https://outnow.ch/Movies/2018/GatewaysToNewYork/.
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