Robert F. Kennedy Bridge

The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, formerly known and still commonly referred to as the Triborough Bridge, is a complex of bridges and elevated expressway viaducts. The bridges link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. The viaducts cross Randalls and Wards Islands, which were previously two islands but are now joined by landfill. The Triborough Bridge, a toll bridge, carries Interstate 278 (I-278) and the unsigned highway New York State Route 900G. It connects with the FDR Drive and the Harlem River Drive in Manhattan, the Bruckner Expressway (I-278) and the Major Deegan Expressway (Interstate 87) in the Bronx, and the Grand Central Parkway (I-278) and Astoria Boulevard in Queens. The three primary bridges of the Triborough Bridge complex are: The vertical-lift bridge over Harlem River, the largest in the world, connecting Manhattan to Randalls Island The truss bridge over Bronx Kill, connecting Randalls Island to the Bronx The suspension bridge over Hell Gate (a strait of the East River), connecting Wards Island to Astoria in Queens These three bridges are connected by an elevated highway viaduct across Randalls and Wards Islands and 14 miles (23 km) of support roads. The viaduct includes a smaller span across Little Hell Gate's former site, which separated Randalls and Wards Islands. Also part of the complex is a grade-separated T-interchange on Randalls Island, which sorted out traffic in a way that ensured that drivers paid a toll at only one bank of tollbooths. The tollbooths have since been removed, and all tolls are collected electronically at the approaches to each bridge. The bridge complex was designed by chief engineer Othmar H. Ammann and architect Aymar Embury II and has been called "not a bridge so much as a traffic machine, the largest ever built." The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the Triborough Bridge Project as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1986. The bridge is owned and operated by MTA Bridges and Tunnels (formerly the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, or TBTA), a Metropolitan Transportation Authority division.