Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge Island with the rest of the city. Various issues delayed the start of construction until 1959. The bridge opened on November 21, 1964, and a second deck beneath the existing span was opened in June 1969. The New York City government began a $1.5 billion reconstruction of the bridge's two decks in 2014. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge has a central span of . It was the longest suspension bridge in the world from 1964 until it was surpassed by the Humber Bridge in the United Kingdom in 1981. The bridge has the 13th longest main span in the world, as well
Suspension bridge types are present in the majority of larger suspension bridges. Although the earlier types of suspension bridges are suitable only for relatively short spans, all of the 14 longest bridges in the world are suspension bridges (see List of longest suspension bridge spans). Ignoring the possibility of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, there were two independent inventions of the suspension bridge, in Eurasia (probably in China) and in Central and South America. Types of suspension bridge include the following: A pure suspension bridge is one without additional stay cables and in which the main cables are anchored in the ground. This includes most