This suspension bridge, after a succession of designs were born and then rejected, was ultimately engineered by Gustav Lindenthal with architect Henry Hornbostel. The masterfully detailed metal ornaments as well as the Beaux Arts Manhattan side entry court are designed by Carrere and Hastings. While it is a predominantly a steel structure, the more overtly ornamental design of this third East River bridge was in part a response to the more purely functional character of the recently completed Williamsburg Bridge.
With its eight lanes for train, horse-drawn and automobile traffic, it was designed to be a muscle, a working horse, a purely utilitarian structure. However, it caught the attention of the City Beautiful movement, and the Carrère & Hastings architectural firm was engaged to beautify the approaches to the bridge on both sides.Carrère & Hastings introduced its design in the Beaux-Arts style in 1910 and the plan was not only approved, but also lauded as the most artistic treatment of a bridge entrance attempted on this continent.The Manhattan end of the bridge featured a Beaux-Arts plaza with its signature arch and colonnade. The arch was modeled after Porte St. Denis in Paris, and the colonnade after Bernini's famous colonnade that encircles St. Peter`s Square in the Vatican.Arches were very popular in those days. The Manhattan Bridge arch is one of only three remaining in the city now (the other two are the Soldiers` and Sailors` Arch on Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn and the Washington Square Arch in Manhattan.)
