Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge anchorage on the Staten Island side contains a facility for heating cinders that are used to de-ice the bridge deck during winter. At the time of opening, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world; its 4,260-foot center span, between the two suspension towers, was longer than the Golden Gate Bridge's center span. Despite being only slightly longer than the Golden Gate Bridge, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge could carry a 75% greater load than the former could. In 1981, the Verrazzano Bridge was surpassed by the Humber Bridge in England, which has a center span of , as
Suspension bridge major wire-cable suspension bridge was the in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by Charles Ellet, Jr. and completed in 1842, it had a span of 109 m. Ellet's Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge (1847–48) was abandoned before completion. It was used as scaffolding for John A. Roebling's double decker railroad and carriage bridge (1855). The Otto Beit Bridge (1938–39) was the first modern suspension bridge outside the United States built with parallel wire cables. The main forces in a suspension bridge of any type are tension in the cables and compression in the pillars. Since almost all the force on the pillars is