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The Kosciuszko Bridge is a truss bridge that spans Newtown Creek between the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, connecting Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Maspeth, Queens. It is a part of Interstate 278, which is also locally known as the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway or BQE. The bridge opened in 1939, replacing the Penny Bridge from Meeker Avenue in Brooklyn to Review Avenue and Laurel Hill Boulevard, and is the only bridge over Newtown Creek that is not a drawbridge. It was named in honor of Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Polish volunteer who was a General in the American Revolutionary War. Two of the bridge towers are surmounted with eagles, one with the Polish eagle and the other the American eagle. In 2014, a contract was awarded and work begun to build a replacement bridge with more capacity.〔 ==History== The Kosciuszko Bridge was originally referred to as the new Meeker Avenue Bridge and was opened in August 1939.〔Anonymous. "Meeker Avenue Bridge Opened." Queens Borough. Aug. 1939.〕 the new structure of this bridge replaced the old Meeker Avenue Bridge (originally called the "Penny Bridge"), which had been in use since 1894.〔 The history of the old bridge dates back to 1803 and was built through an Act of Legislature, authorizing the "building of a Toll Bridge over Newtown Creek: this bridge charged one cent per foot passenger, which was the reason the bridge was called the "Penny Bridge."〔 Until 1888, the bridge was operated by private companies and then after became the property of the people〔 In 1896, the bridge became the property of the city of Brooklyn and in 1898, upon consolidation, it was taken over by the Department of Bridges of the Greater City of New York.〔 The original Meeker Avenue Bridge had been replaced several times. The Kosciuszko Bridge's 1939 design and form was vastly different than the first Meeker Avenue Bridge.〔 The latter was a swing drawbridge and carried a two-lane roadway 20-ft wide and two sidewalks.〔 The new bridge carried two three-lane concrete roadways each 32-ft wide and separated by a 4-foot center mall.〔 Additionally, this new bridge structure contains 16,315 tons of steel, along 88,120 cubic yards of concrete masonry.〔 One of the builders of the Kosciuszko Bridge was a man named John Kelly, of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, who was a former Navy deep sea diver who became famous for helping to work on the Kosciuszko Bridge.〔Anonymous. "His Mistake In Joining Navy Instead Of The Army Makes Former Flushing Man Famous As Diver." Long Island Daily Press. 11 OCT. 1938.〕 In 1938, he completed his task of building a cofferdam, a box-like structure made of 250 steel sheets.〔 This enabled workmen to operate and build an underwater pier in dry surroundings on the Greenpoint side of the new $1,500,000 Meeker Avenue Bridge; after that, Kelly began cutting away cofferdam bracings on the Queens side, at Laurel Hill Boulevard and Review Avenue.〔 One of the tools he worked with was an underwater-operated cutting torch, which burned oxygen, hydrogen, and compressed air.〔 Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, on Monday September 22, 1940, formally named the new Meeker bridge over Newtown Creek after Tadeusz Kościuszko in the presence of 15,000 people,〔Anonymous. "Kosciuszko Bridge Is Named By Mayor." New York Times. 23 SEP. 1940.〕 mainly Polish residents and city and state government representatives, some stating that the spirit of Polish liberty would never die.〔 In making an ovation, the mayor described President Franklin D. Roosevelt, like Kościuszko, as a "champion of liberty during a difficult period", referring to World War II in which Poland was occupied by Germany; he also stated "I am confident that Poland will live again. Any land that breeds such lovers of freedom can never be kept enslaved. The Polish people may be captive, but the flaming spirit of Polish liberty will never be destroyed."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kosciuszko Bridge (New York City)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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