Иностранный язык в профессиональной деятельности.The first bridges are believed to be made by nature – as simple as a log fallen across a stream.The Empire State Building is an iconic office building known as "the Most Famous Skyscraper in the World.

The Empire State Building (1) is an iconic office building known as "the Most Famous Skyscraper in the World." Construction (2) began in 1930, and the grand opening (3) was held on May 1, 1931. It was the world’s tallest free-standing structure until 1967 and the world’s tallest skyscraper for over 40 years. It (4) was displaced in 1972 by the construction of the World Trade Center towers. Today it stands as the tallest building in New York City, a sad, but defiant, reminder of the World Trade Center tragedy.

The site of the Empire State Building was originally occupied by brownstone mansions (5) owned by members of the illustrious Waldorf Astor family. Built in 1856 (the site was previously farmland), the houses were torn down to make way for hotels. The Waldorf Hotel was built first; not long after, a second hotel was built on the land, and they (6) were joined, thus creating the legendary Waldorf-Astoria. The epitome of style at the time of its construction in 1897, it (7) took only a few decades for the Waldorf-Astoria to fall out of fashion. It was purchased for roughly $15 million in 1929 and scheduled for demolition in favor of an office building.

At the time, new technologies (8) were pushing commercial real-estate development ever higher. Steel-frame construction allowed a building to support more weight, allowing for taller structures. The elevator was a vital invention that (9) could provide access to upper floors – no one would lease space on the 50th floor if they had to take the stairs to get there. In 1930, the Chrysler building (a building some people mistake for the Empire State Building) (10) took the record for world’s tallest skyscraper at 77 stories and just over 1,000 feet tall. Even more notable is the sunburst design at the top, one of the best examples of Art Deco design.


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Building the Tower Bridge

The most famous example of the bascule bridge is the Tower Bridge across the River Thames in the heart of London. Engineers were able to build this type of bridge without interrupting traffic on the great commercial waterway.

THE problem of building a bridge over a busy river with low banks so that shipping is not obstructed is one that taxes the resource and ingenuity of the engineer. He surmounts the difficulty by resorting to the opening type of bridge, of

which the main types are the drawbridge or bascule bridge, turning about a horizontal axis; the swing bridge, turning about a vertical axis; the rolling lift bridge and the vertical lift bridge. One of the most famous examples of the bascule type is the Tower Bridge, which spans the River Thames just below London Bridge. It is the most distinctive of London’s bridges and its construction was a masterly engineering achievement.

The building of the Tower Bridge came about because the development of cross-Thames traffic had far outstripped the capacity of the existing bridges. By the year 1870 the position had become serious, and between 1874 and 1885 some thirty petitions from various public bodies were brought before the authorities urging either the widening of London Bridge or the building of a new bridge. A two days’ census taken during August 1882 showed that the average traffic for twenty-four hours over London Bridge - which at that time was only 54 feet wide - was 22,242 vehicles and 110,525 pedestrians.

A committee was appointed to consider the matter and to report upon the different plans that had been proposed. These included schemes for low-level bridges with swing openings of various kinds, and high-level bridges with inclined approaches or with lifts at either end. There was also a proposal for a railway line to be built at the bottom of the river and to carry a travelling staging with its deck projecting above high-water level. Proposals for a subway and for large paddle-wheel ferry boats were also considered. None of these schemes was approved.

In 1878 Horace Jones, the City architect, put forward a proposal for a low-level bridge on the bascule principle - that is, a bridge on a level with the streets with two leaves or arms that could be raised to let ships pass up and down the river and lowered to let vehicles pass to and fro across the waterway. Successful bridges of this type already existed, though on a much smaller scale, at Rotterdam and Copenhagen.


“Bascule” is derived from the French word for “see-saw”, and the bascule bridge is a kind of drawbridge which works on a pivot and has a heavy weight at one end to balance the greater length at the other. This was the type of bridge finally decided upon, and it has proved a great success. The Tower Bridge is, perhaps, the most

famous bascule bridge in the world, and its working from the day it was first opened to the present has been perfect, far exceeding the hopes even of its most enthusiastic advocates.

An Act of Parliament empowering the Corporation of the City of London to build the bridge was passed in 1885. Horace Jones was appointed architect and was knighted, but died the same year, and Mr. (afterwards Sir) John Wolfe Barry was appointed engineer. The work was divided among eight different contractors. Among them Sir John Jackson was responsible for the piers and abutments, Sir William Arrol for the steel superstructure, Sir W. G. Armstrong, Mitchell and Co, Ltd, for the hydraulic machinery and Perry and Company for the masonry superstructure. Work was started on the bridge in April 1886, the foundation stone being laid, on behalf of Queen Victoria, by the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII. The bridge was to have been finished by 1889, but difficulties arose and Parliament was twice asked to extend the time for the completion of the work. It did so, and the bridge was eventually opened on June 30, 1894, having cost about £1,000,000 sterling to build, a remarkably small sum for such a bridge in such a position.

The total length of the bridge, including the approaches, is half a mile. The roadway has a width of 35 feet and on either side of it is a footway 12½ feet wide. The total height of the towers on the piers, measured from the level of the foundations, is 293 feet.

140 Feet Headway for Ships

In building the bridge there were used about 235,000 cubic feet of Cornish granite and Portland stone, 20,000 tons of cement, 70,000 cubic yards of concrete, 31,000,000 bricks and 14,000 tons of iron and steel.

The bridge is a combination of the suspension and bascule type. The width of the river between the abutments of the bridge on the north and south sides is 880 feet. This is crossed by three spans. The two side spans, each 270 feet long, are of the suspension type. They are carried on stout chains that pass at their landward ends over abutment towers of moderate height to anchorages in the shore. At their river ends the chains pass over lofty towers which are themselves connected at an elevation of 143 feet above high water. Heavy tie bars, at the level of the connecting girders, unite the two pairs of chains so that one acts as anchorage for the other at the centre. The central span has two high-level footways side by side, and one low-level roadway. High-level girders carry the upper footways, which are reached by hydraulic lifts or staircases in the main towers. The roadway, or central opening span, is 200 feet long and consists of two bascules or leaves.