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BOOKS FEATURING NEW YORK-AREA
ROADS, BRIDGES, AND TUNNELS

The Magnificent Bridges of New York City

It is easy to take New York City's bridges for granted, but the photographs from NYCRoads.com contributor Dave Frieder bring the city's bridges to life by capturing the inherent beauty of these historical civil engineering landmarks. This is a fine art coffee table book with images from 20 of New York's great bridges.

by Dave Frieder (2019)

Six Bridges: The Legacy of Othmar H. Ammann

This book summarizes Ammann's career and exhibits 200 black-and-white photographs and design drawings of his principal achievements: the George Washington Bridge, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge, the Triborough Bridge, the Bayonne Bridge, and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

by Darl Rastorfer (2000)

The Bridges of New York

This reprint of the 1977 edition is an appropriate read for engineers, political historians, and anyone who has a desire to learn more about New York. This book includes numerous black-and-white photos, as well as an appendix with facts and figures on New York's bridges.

by Sharon Reier (2000)

The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

This lengthy tome chronicles the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, the politics surrounding its development, and the individuals who brought this dream to fruition.

by David McCullough (1983)

The Bridge: The Building of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

Gay Talese, then early in his career at The New York Times, closely followed the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and soon after its opening in 1964, he chronicled the human drama behind its construction.

by Gay Talese (2014)

The George Washington Bridge: Poetry in Steel

Since opening in 1931, the George Washington Bridge, linking New York and New Jersey, has become the busiest bridge in the world. Many people also consider it the most beautiful bridge in the world, yet remarkably little has been written about this majestic structure. This revised and expanded edition of Michael Rockland's rich narrative presents perspectives on the GWB, as it is often called, that span history, architecture, engineering, transportation, design, the arts, politics, and even post-9/11 mentalities.

by Michael Aaron Rockland (2020)

The Queensboro Bridge (Images of America)

Opened in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge is the longest bridge spanning the East River. The bridge had an immediate and profound effect on the development of Queens from a largely rural area into a bedroom and working community. Through historic photographs, this book documents the creation of this cultural icon and its contributions to the history of New York.

by Greater Astoria Historical Society and Roosevelt Island Historical Society (2008)

Highway Under the Hudson: A History of the Holland Tunnel

Robert W. Jackson explains the economic forces which led to the need for the world's first underwater vehicular tunnel, and details the extraordinary political and social politicking that took place on both sides of the Hudson River to finally enable its construction.

by Robert W. Jackson (2011)

Politics Across the Hudson: The Tappan Zee Megaproject

The New York State Thruway Authority built one of the world's longest, widest, and most expensive bridges: the new Tappan Zee Bridge. In this book, urban planner Philip Plotch offers a behind-the-scenes look at three decades of contentious planning and politics around this bridge.

by Philip Mark Plotch (2018)

Hudson River Bridges (Images of America)

From the George Washington Bridge north to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, Hudson River Bridges documents how these structures remain beautiful testaments to cooperative efforts during trying times in America's history.

by Kathryn W. Burke (2007)

Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike

First published in 1989, the updated version of this book profiles the New Jersey Turnpike's contributions to both highway engineering and popular culture. It also profiles the many changes made to the turnpike in the past 35 years.

by Angus Kress Gillespie and Michael A. Rockland (2024)

New Jersey Turnpike (Images of America)

The New Jersey Turnpike chronicles the history of the highway from 1949 through the present day. With vivid images, many of which chronicling construction of the turnpike, it follows the road's progress from an ambitious vision, through construction, to opening, and into the future.

by Michael Lapolla and Thomas A. Suszka (2005)

Garden State Parkway (Images of America)

The Garden State Parkway has transformed the lives of New Jersey residents since opening in 1954. Spanning 173 miles from Cape May to the New York State line, it has fostered tourism to the Jersey Shore and given commuters an easier way to get to work.

by New Jersey Turnpike Authority (2013)

Traveling the Merritt Parkway (Images of America)

This pictorial history preserves and pays tribute to the history of the Merritt Parkway, and explores the construction of the parkway, as well as the little-known parent highway for which the earliest bridges were constructed, including White Plains Road in the town of Trumbull.

by Larry Larned (1998)

The Merritt Parkway

In word and image Bruce Radde explores what is special about this parkway, from the sensitive routing that hugs the rolling rural landscape to its 68 masterful bridges, designed by a single architect mainly in the Art Deco style, making this the largest Art Deco design in the world.

by Bruce Radde (1996)

Long Island Motor Parkway (Images of America)

A forerunner of the modern highway system, the Long Island Motor Parkway was constructed during the advent of the automobile and at a pivotal time in American history. It would be the first highway built exclusively for the automobile.

by Howard Kroplick and Al Velocci (2008)

BOOKS ON ROBERT MOSES

The Power Broker

Widely regarded as Robert A. Caro's seminal work, this Pulitzer Prize-winning biography follows the background, rise and ultimate downfall of Robert Moses. The New York Times said, "In the future, the scholar who writes the history of American cities in the 20th century will doubtless begin with this extraordinary effort."

by Robert A. Caro (1974)

Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York

This book provides the most comprehensive review of Robert Moses' legacy since Robert A. Caro's 1974 biography, The Power Broker.In these pages eight short essays by leading scholars of urban history provide a revised perspective; stunning new photographs offer the first visual record of Moses's far-reaching building program as it stands today; and a comprehensive catalog of his works is illustrated with a wealth of archival records: photographs of buildings, neighborhoods, and landscapes, of parks, pools, and playgrounds, of demolished neighborhoods and replacement housing and urban renewal projects, of bridges and highways; renderings of rejected designs and controversial projects that were defeated; and views of spectacular models that have not been seen since Moses made them for promotional purposes.

by Hilary Ballon, PhD and Kenneth T. Jackson (2007)

Public Works: A Dangerous Trade

Several years before The Power Broker was published, Robert Moses offered his own perspective on his career and the challenges of public works projects.

by Robert Moses (1970)

Robert Moses: The Master Builder of New York City

Author Pierre Christin and illustrator Olivier Balez's graphic biography on Robert Moses shows a side of the "Power Broker" never before seen.

by Pierre Christin and Olivier Balez (2018)

Robert Moses: Single-Minded Genius

This work is a collection of papers presented at the "Long Island Studies Conference: Robert Moses and the Planned Environment," held in 1988. The contributors to this volume measure the impact that Moses had on the New York City-Long Island area, and re-evaluate Robert A. Caro's 1974 assessment of The Power Broker.

by Joann P. Krieg (1989)

Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City

For a different perspective, this biography on activist Jane Jacobs depicts Robert Moses as an antagonist. This book highlights Jacobs' fight against Moses for traffic lanes through Washington Square Park, as well as her fight against the Lower Manhattan Expressway.

by Anthony Flint (2011)

Saving Fire Island from Robert Moses: The Fight for a National Seashore

This book chronicles Robert Moses' unsuccessful fight to extend the Ocean Parkway east from Robert Moses State Park to Smith Point County Park. It also chronicles Otis Pike, a longtime Congressman from eastern Long Island, and his fight to create the Fire Island National Seashore.

by Christopher Verga (2019)

BOOKS ON ROADS AND HIGHWAYS

Divided Highways

Based on the 1997 Peabody Award-winning PBS documentary, this book describes the development --- and downsides -- of the Interstate highway network. Despite some anti-highway sentiments, this book is one of the more comprehensive road history works.

by Tom Lewis (2013)

The Roads That Built America

Best-selling author Dan McNichol, who chronicled Boston's "Big Dig" project during its construction in the 1990s and early 2000s, tells the fascinating story of the largest engineering project the world has ever known.

by Dan McNichol (2006)

The Big Roads

The Interstate highway system dramatically changed the face of our nation. These interconnected roads--now nearly 50,000 miles and still growing--are man-made wonders, economic pipelines, agents of sprawl, uniquely American symbols of escape and freedom, and an unrivaled public works accomplishment.

by Earl Swift (2018)

Asphalt and Politics: A History of the American Highway System

This examination of the Interstate highway system in the United States, and the forces that shaped it, includes the introduction of the automobile, the Good Roads Movement, and the Lincoln Highway Association. The book offers an analysis of state and federal road funding, modern road-building options, and the successes and failures of the current highway system.

by Thomas L. Karnes (2009)

The Road Taken

Acclaimed engineer and historian Henry Petroski explores our core infrastructure from both historical and contemporary perspectives, explaining how essential their maintenance is to America's economic health. Petroski reveals the genesis of the many parts of America's highway system--our interstate numbering system, the centerline that divides roads, and such taken-for-granted objects as guardrails, stop signs, and traffic lights--all crucial to our national and local infrastructure.

by Henry Petroski (2017)

The Freeway in the City

By the late 1960s, opponents managed to delay and even stop freeway construction in major cities, including New York. The Freeway in the City was written to demonstrate how thoughtful freeway design can be implemented in a variety of urban settings.

by The Urban Advisors to the Federal Highway Administrator (1968)

Saving Historic Roads: Design and Policy Guidelines

Written by a National Trust landscape architect and planner, this book provides not only the criteria for determining historic significance, but also guidelines to adapt to current AASHTO standards while maintaining design integrity.

by Paul Daniel Marriott (1997)

American Autobahn

Mark Rask, a lifelong automotive and racing enthusiast, analyzes the combination of safety and speed on Germany's Autobahn network and offers an exciting new direction for America's Interstates that would make speeds of 100 MPH or more commonplace on open stretches of rural freeway.

by Mark Rask (1999)

The Big Dig

This colorful photographic history documents what was at the time the nation's largest single public works project. Nearly a decade and a half later, and after more than $15 billion was spent, Boston had a new network of highways tunneling underneath the city. Could this be the future of highway construction in North America?

by Dan McNichol (2000)

BOOKS ON BRIDGES AND TUNNELS

Engineers of Dreams

This book profiles the important bridge engineers -- Eads, Cooper, Lindenthal, Ammann, and Steinman -- who contributed to the great engineering triumphs of the 19th and 20th centuries. The New York Times said, "With astonishing scope and generosity of view, Mr. Petroski places the tradition of American bridge-building in perspective."

by Henry Petroski (1995)

Great American Bridges and Dams: A National Trust Guide

This guide provides short histories on hundreds of bridges and dams throughout the United States. David P. Billington, professor of civil engineering at Princeton University, called it "a wide-ranging guidebook through the rich and dramatic heritage of large-scale structures."

by Donald C. Jackson (1988)

Bridges: A History of the World's Most Spectacular Spans

Thoroughly updated from the original edition published in 1997, this oversized "coffee table" book profiles notable bridging achievements in human history. While not written for the specialist, this is still an enjoyable read. The New York Times said that Dupre "captivates the eye, mind and imagination in this ode to the greatest spans and cantilevers of the world."

by Judith Dupre (2017)

High Steel: Building the Bridges Across San Francisco Bay

The Northeast was not the only center for innovative bridge construction in the United States. High Steel chronicles the planning, development, and construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, two works of architectural and engineering genius built during the 1930s.

by Richard Dillon, Thomas Moulin, and Don DeNevi (1979)

The Bridge at Quebec

Since it was completed in 1917, the Quebec Bridge has had the longest main span of any cantilever bridge in the world. Two tragedies during the bridge's construction took a total of 86 lives. The Bridge at Quebec provides a full account of the long effort to build a bridge at this difficult site, the tragedies that accompanied its construction, and the lessons that its story holds today.

by William D. Middleton (2001)

Bridge Engineering: Design, Rehabilitation, and Maintenance of Modern Highway Bridges

Revised to reflect the latest codes, standards, and technical advances, this practical reference covers every aspect of highway bridge engineering and management. Designed to be understood by entry-level engineers, the fourth edition of this book features the latest analysis, design, and construction methods as well as up-to-date information on materials and components.

by Jim J. Zhao and Demetrios E. Tonias (2017)

Introduction to Tunnel Construction

Tunneling provides a robust solution to a variety of engineering challenges. It is a complex process, which requires a firm understanding of the ground conditions as well as the importance of ground-structure interaction. This book covers the full range of areas related to tunnel construction required to embark upon a career in tunneling. It also includes a number of case studies related to real tunnel projects, to demonstrate how the theory applies in practice.

by David N. Chapman, Nicole Metje, and Alfred Stark (2017)

BOOKS ON NEW YORK HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE

Forgotten New York

Perfect for lifelong New Yorkers as well as first-time visitors to the city, Forgotten New York is a guide to the quirky elements that fall through the cracks of other guidebooks. Author Kevin Walsh is a long-time contributor to NYCRoads.com.

by Kevin Walsh (2006)

Empire on the Hudson

Revered and reviled in almost equal amounts since its inception, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been responsible for creating and maintaining much of New York and New Jersey's transportation infrastructure. Doig traces the evolution of the Port Authority from the battles leading to its creation in 1921 through its conflicts with the railroads and its expansion to build bridges and tunnels for motor vehicles. This book was written prior to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the Port Authority-owned World Trade Center.

by Jameson W. Doig (2001)

Perpetual Motion: The Illustrated History of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey

This "coffee table" book commemorated the first 75 years of history at the Port Authority. More than a historical overview, this book provides detailed structural information on Port Authority bridges and tunnels, and features rare photos from the Port Authority archives.

by Joe Mysak and Judith Schiffer (1997)

New York: An Illustrated History (Revised and Expanded)

Following up on the 1999 book and PBS mini- series, this well-written documentary captures the essence of America's largest city. The book features essays and interviews with prominent New York historians (most notably an interview with Robert A. Caro on The Power Broker), and is supplemented by more than 500 photos. The new version includes the 9/11 terror attacks, Hurricane Sandy, and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the city's response to these more recent challenges.

by Ric Burns, James Sanders, and Lisa Ades (2021)

Gotham: A History of New York to 1898

Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in history, and the product of more than two decades of research, this narrative volume chronicles the development of America's greatest city from the pre-New Amsterdam tribes to the creation of Greater New York.

by Edward G. Burrows and Mike Wallace (1998)

AIA Guide to New York City

Since it first appeared in 1968, the AIA Guide to New York City has been recognized as the authority on architectural treasures throughout the five boroughs.

by Norval White and Elliott Willensky (2010)

722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York

This book, which has 16 pages of black and white photos, chronicles the epic political, social and physical struggle to build the New York City subway system.

by Clifton Hood (2004)

Second Avenue Subway: Building New York City's Most Famous Thing Never Built

The Big Dig author Dan McNichol comes to New York to tell an entertaining and enlightening story about how the Second Avenue Subway--almost miraculously, after nearly a hundred years of planning--was finally completed .This 350-page book has more than 250 images, many of which have never been published before.

by Dan McNichol (2025)

The Center of the World: A Comprehensive History of New York's World Trade Center

From its controversial inception and groundbreaking construction to the major events that shaped its history, The Center of the World offers a comprehensive and meticulously researched account of one of the most ambitious architectural projects of the 20th century. With a detailed look at its construction, daily operations, and the terror attack of September 11, 2001, this work serves as both a tribute and an in-depth historical analysis of a place that once stood as a testament to human progress.

by Peter Wretzky (2025)

Long Island State Parks: A History from Jones Beach to Montauk

More than just Jones Beach, and more than just Robert Moses: author Kristen Matejka presents the hidden history of the New York state parks on Long Island.

by Kristen Matejka (2024)

OFFICIALLY LICENSED MERCHANDISE

Garden State Parkway T-Shirt

It's T-shirt time! So head out to Seaside Heights or your favorite Jersey Shore hangout with this Garden State Parkway T-shirt, officially licensed by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Easy care for when you have to do gym, tan, laundry.

HOME AND AUTO TECH

The HP Store @ Amazon

Choose from a wide variety of desktops, laptops, printers, ink and toner, and other accessories.

The Logitech Store @ Amazon

Choose from a wide variety of PC accessories including keyboards, mice, webcams, and headsets.

The Canon Store @ Amazon

Get on the road and take some pictures! Choose from a wide variety of digital cameras and accessories.

The Belkin Store @ Amazon

Power up! Choose from a wide variety of home and auto chargers for your laptop, tablet, digital camera, smartphone, or gaming device.

TRAVEL RESOURCES

Rand McNally Road Atlas Large- Scale 2026

Mapping since 1872. The latest annual edition of the big Rand McNally road atlas celebrates the nation's 250th birthday and the 100th birthday of US Route 66.

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