How is the bridge supported?

Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known, sailed into New YorkHarbour in 1524 and named it Angouleme. He described it as 'a very agreeablesituation located within two small hills in the midst of which flowed a greatriver.' Though Verrazano is by no means considered to be a great explorer, hisname will probably remain immortal, for on November 21st, 1964, the longestsuspension bridge in the world was named after him.

The Verrazano Bridge, which was designed by Othmar Ammann, joins Brooklynto Staten Island. It has a span of 4,260 feet. The bridge is so long that theshape of the earth had to be taken into account by its designer. Two greattowers support four huge cables. The towers are built on immense underwaterplatforms made of steel and concrete. The platforms extend to a depth of over100 feet under the sea. These alone took 16 months to build. Above the surfaceof the water, the towers rise to a height of nearly 700 feet. They support thecables from which the bridge has been suspended. Each of the four cablescontains 26,108 lengths of wire. It has been estimated that if the bridge werepacked with cars, it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity.However, size and strength are not the only important things about this bridge.Despite its immensity, it is both simple and elegant, fulfilling its designer'sdream to create 'an enormous object drawn as faintly as possible'.

New words and expressions 生词与短语

suspension

n. 悬，吊

agreeable

adj. 宜人的

situation

n. 地点，地方

locate

v. 位于

immortal

adj. 永生的，流芳百世的

Brooklyn

n. 布鲁克林(纽约一区名)

Staten

n. 斯塔顿(岛)

span

n. 跨度

cable

n. 缆索

concrete

n. 混凝土

suspend

v. 悬挂

length

n. 根，段

estimate

v. 估计

capacity新概念英语mp3下载

n. 承受量

immensity

n. 巨大

elegant

adj. 优美别致的

faintly

adv. 微细地

本文参考译文

1524年，一位鲜为人知的意大利人维拉萨诺驾船驶进纽约港，并将该港名为安古拉姆。他对该港作了这样的描述：“地理位置十分适宜，位于两座小山的中间，一条大河从中间流过”。虽然维拉萨诺绝对算不上一个伟大的探险家，但他的名字将流芳百世，因为1964年11月21日建成的一座世界上最长的吊桥是以他的名字命名。

维拉萨诺大桥由奥斯马·阿曼设计，连结着布鲁克林与斯塔顿岛，桥长4,260英尺。由于桥身太长，设计者不得不考虑了地表的形状。两座巨塔支撑着4根粗大的钢缆。塔身建在巨大的水下钢盘混凝土平台上。平台深入海底100英尺。仅这两座塔就花了16个月才建成。塔身高出水面将近700英尺。高塔支撑着钢缆，而钢缆又悬吊着大桥，4根钢缆中的每根由26，108股钢绳组成。据估计，若桥上摆满了汽车，也只不过是桥的总承载力的1/3。然而，这座桥重要特点不仅是它的规模与强度。尽管此桥很大，但它的结构简单，造型优美，实现了设计者企图创造一个“尽量用细线条勾画出一个庞然大物”的梦想。

(兼职编辑：张博)