Suspended high above the Hudson River, crews unfastened and replaced the final steel rope of the George Washington Bridge earlier this month.
The suspender rope replacement stands as a major undertaking within the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s $2 billion Restoring the George program, a comprehensive rehabilitation of the nearly century-old bridge. The effort marks the end of a seven-year project to swap out all 592 cables that connect the bridge’s soaring main supports to its roadway, Rick Cotton, Port Authority executive director, said in a press release.
“The George Washington Bridge is the busiest bridge in the world and an essential link in this region’s transportation network as a critical anchor of the regional economy,” said Cotton in the release. “Replacing the suspender ropes is the centerpiece of our complete rehabilitation of this bridge.”
Management of the suspender rope replacement on a live bridge required intricate planning and expertise, said Kevin O’Toole, Port Authority chairman. For nearly a decade, workers have been methodically swapping out each of the original steel suspender ropes, all while keeping the world’s most used vehicular bridge operational. Sweden-based builder and developer Skanska is the general contractor on the project.
“Replacing all 592 suspender ropes on the George Washington Bridge is a remarkable feat of engineering,” said O’Toole in the release. “Over seven years, our teams diligently planned and worked with precision and perseverance to ensure the bridge remains safe and reliable for millions who depend on it.”
At each panel point along the bridge, workers first secured temporary ropes to support the bridge’s weight before removing the existing cables. Once the new ropes were installed and anchored, crews disconnected the temporary supports and moved to the next set.
The suspender ropes ranged from 38 feet to 674 feet in length, with the longest positioned near the bridge’s towers, according to the release.
Workers also rehabilitated the bridge’s main cables during the project, recoating and rewrapping the 26,474 compacted steel wires within each cable. They then added an elastomeric wrap and a dehumidification system to protect against corrosion and extend the cables’ lifespan.
With the suspender rope project done, the Port Authority will now focus on reopening the bridge's south sidewalk, which closed in 2023.
The renovated path will feature a new crosswalk at Hudson Terrace, new entry plazas and a 14-foot-wide accessible ramp, among other enhancements. When it reopens in 2026, pedestrians will have exclusive use of the south sidewalk, while cyclists will be restricted to the north path.
The north sidewalk, which reopened in February 2023, included similar upgrades such as improved accessibility, open-air viewing platforms and new safety lighting.
The completion of the suspender rope replacement marks just one of 11 major projects under the Restoring the George initiative, which is expected to wrap up construction by 2030. Other ongoing projects of the program include:
- Rehabilitation of the 178th and 179th street ramps, bus ramps and bus turnaround, as well as construction of new street-level sidewalks from Cabrini Boulevard to the New York anchorage.
- Replacement of roadway finger joints and 32 deck panels at the two towers.
- Rehabilitation of upper-level eastbound roadway pavement.
- Rehabilitation of the Center Avenue and Lemoine Avenue bridges.
- Rehabilitation of lower-level steel, paint removal and replacement of movable maintenance platforms.
