The hills which line the bank of The Hudson River in the Fort Lee, New Jersey area, made the building of the
New Jersey anchorage an arduous process. Rock was blasted and many tons of earth removed to make way for the anchor blocks, and tunnels were dug to make way for the eyebars.
Workers installed steel frames in the tunnels, attached eyebars (which
will anchor the main cables) to these
frames, and gave the frames and eyebars a sense of permanence with the help of 8500 cubic yards of concrete.
Between the eyebars and the towers lie the anchor blocks. These blocks
are made of concrete on top of steel reinforcement bars, and serve as a turning point for the main cables (like a cable bent) by altering their angle in relation to the towers.
The footings in the middle of the approach cut support the pillars which support the approach steel. Ultimately, the roadway will lie on top of this steel, but until then it will serve as a base to which cranes and spinning machines can be affixed.
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The geographical features of the New York shoreline difer greatly from those of New Jersey's, and an entirely different anchorage resulted.
Little digging was necessary because of the nearly ideal original ground level, and the eyebars actually sit (for the most part) above the original ground level.
Tower erection continued throughout the construction of the anchorages.
All work depicted on these two pages occurred between September, 1928 and Spring, 1929.
New Jersey Tower as it appeared on 9/12/28
New Jersey cut
Before blast
After blast
Hudson River Bridge, New Jersey approach, looking West in
rock cut
Drilling and mucking in South tunnel
North tunnel
New Jersey Tower on October 1, 1928