The bridge / Drawings by Lili Réthi. Photos. by Bruce Davidson.

In the facinating story of the building of the longest span in the world- the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge over the entrance to New York harbor--a first-rate newspaperman has created an absorbing drama of the ways in which this man-made structure has affected myriad lives. There were, first, the dispossessed--the families and the tradespeople of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, who lost their homes and, in many cases, their livelihoods to the bridge. Then, following the wrechers, bulldozers and deep-sea divers, came the bridge builders themselves--an army of Indians, Newfound landers, rebels...the apprentice workers called "punks," the steel connetors, the "pushers" and "walkin' bosses," and, over them all, Hard Nose Murphy, the man in charge of the whole job. All of these were daring men who were paid high and lived high--and, inevitably, some of them died. Here, too, is a telling portrait of the Swiss designer of the Verrazani, O.H. Ammann, creator of great bridges all over the world, including the George Washington and the Triborough. While The Bridge is primarily a story about people, it also provides engrossing lore of bridge-building throughout North America. It is a step-by-step account of the Verrazano-Narrows construction itself: the building of the caissons and anchorages, the erecting of the towerscalbe spinning and teh lifting of the links to form the span. Accompanying the text are the astonishingly beautiful working drawings of Lili Rethi, marvels of engineering precision in themselves. In addition there are portraits of the principal figures by the well-known photographer Bruce Davidson.