If you’ve ever been to the Statue of Liberty in New York, you may know that one of the best ways to view it is from the interior. Inside, you can look straight up at the structure that supports the monument. The precise engineering involved to reinforce all of Lady Liberty’s features including her upright arm uses an intricate network of beams and is very impressive. Conversely, you are not able to look up inside the 555-foot-high Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
While it’s only 515 feet high and constructed with concrete and dense rebar, versus white marble blocks like its monolithic cousin in D.C., the inside of the new bridge’s east tower (pictured above) gives us a good sense of the view looking up a 50-story-high shaft. The inside is lighted. A ladder runs to the top with staggered stations along the way to stand and inspect the surrounding structure.
Near the top where the photo disappears into darkness, there is a winch crane that lifts and places the cable stays that support the main-span road deck. Toward the end of construction, an elevator will be installed inside the tower to enable inspection crews to perform routine, ongoing maintenance for the tower or survey the inside after any seismic event.
