Crossing the Hudson

"Crossing the Hudson" reveals the often multileveled stories of the river's bridges and tunnels, from timber arch and truss bridges on stone piers to long-span suspension and cantilevered bridges, railroad tunnels, and improvements in iron and steel technology, providing a history of where, why, when, and how these structures were built; the social, political, and commercial forces that influenced decisions to erect them; the personalities of the planners and builders; the unique connection between builder and bridge; and the design and construction techniques that turned mythical goals into structures of utility and beauty.

DONALD E. WOLF worked in engineering for approximately forty years before switching to writing about it. He is the author of Big Dams and Other Dreams and Turner's First Century.

"In Crossing the Hudson, Donald E. Wolf shows with a fine eye for detail how the engineering accomplishments embodied in bridges and tunnels are inseparably linked to the larger social and political context in which they are conceived and built. This extremely well written book not only provides revealing insights into the history of the Hudson River, its environs, and their people and infrastructure, but also demonstraters in case after case how interesting the stories surrounding them can be." - Henry Petroski, Duke University, and author of Engineers of Dreams"