The Great Gray Bridge And The Cement Mixer

This week marked the 80th anniversary of the dedication and opening of the George Washington Bridge in 1931. Much has been said about the bridge itself, but little about its connection to the people of Fort Lee back in the 1920s. 

The mid-1920s saw the last of the large movie studios move out of Fort Lee for the sunshine and open spaces of California. What had been the first American film town and center of production from 1908 through World War I, by the mid 1920s was a shadow of its former self. 

Sure, there were studio buildings still in Fort Lee, but, by and large, much of the space was used for film laboratories and processing or film storage. A few film companies would come to Fort Lee through 1948 with sporadic productions, including those of pioneer African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, but the days of Universal, Fox and Selznick Studios headquartered in Fort Lee were coming to a close. And more importantly for the people of Fort Lee, the jobs associated with the movie industry in many cases went west along with them. 

People needed work.

In October of 1927, there was a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the George Washington Bridge. This brought jobs to Fort Lee over the course of its construction until it opened four years later. During that time, America was hit by the Great Depression in 1929, and these jobs proved even more important. Many of us whose families go back to this period of time in Fort Lee have relatives who worked on the construction of the GWB. 

My grandfather, Joe Viola, worked on the construction of the bridge. along with many of his Fort Lee neighbors--most of them World War I veterans like himself.

The bridge itself is a testament to their sweat and skill. Most people would assume that is all that is left of their work and their skills that produced this engineering wonder after 80-plus years. 

But a lonely dead end street in Fort Lee--not very far from the great gray bridge itself--yields a hidden treasure covered with decades of weeds. Recently we revisited this spot and saw a 1920s era industrial-sized cement mixer. For decades we have been told by locals of its use in the construction of the bridge back in the late 1920s and early 1930s. All of the men who worked on the bridge have passed over the years, and there is little left from that period of time. This piece of construction equipment that sits amidst the weeds silently tells us a story of the men of Fort Lee who helped construct the most beautiful bridge in the world.

The picture of the mixer above has been sent to George Washington Bridge General Manger Robert Durando. The Fort Lee Historic Committee has requested that Mr. Durando send some people from the Port Authority over to look at this piece of equipment to determine if in fact it was used during the construction of the GWB. 

If they can determine it was, we hope the Port Authority can then reclaim this piece of history and restore and display it as a tribute to the average working man from Fort Lee whose efforts led to the construction of the Great Gray Bridge over the mighty Hudson River. 

What better tribute to the George Washington Bridge on its 80th birthday?