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Episode 297: A Big Bridge In The Wrong Place

Published January 1, 2013 at 7:00 AM MST
The Tappan Zee Bridge in New York
Stuart Ramson
/
AP
The Tappan Zee Bridge in New York

This episode was originally released in August, 2011.

You would never look at a map of the Hudson River, point to the spot where the Tappan Zee Bridge is, and say, "Put the bridge here!"

The Tappan Zee crosses one of the widest points on the Hudson — the bridge is more than three miles long. And if you go just a few miles south, the river gets much narrower.

Our question for today's show: Why did they build a three-mile-long bridge when they could have built a much shorter, cheaper bridge nearby?

Our search for an answer leads us to a forensic engineer, the Statue of Liberty, and a governor who wanted to be an opera singer.

Download the Planet Money iPhone App. Music:Chris Pureka's "Burning Bridges." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Planet Money PodcastNew York
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