...they sure look ugly.
Whatever they are doing to the cables on the GWB...
for the first time since the original construction. Supposedly they now have about 90% of their original strength. The 75th anniversary of the bridge opening is in 2006.
You can read the history of the bridge here:
http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/george-washington/
If you are referring to the grey sleeves that are several feet tall, I think they are some kind of a security measure.
Several weeks ago, there was news story on a local channel about some job to re-inforce the cables on the Verrazano against explosive blasts. Not long thereafter, these sleeves started appearing on the GWB cables. When they restricted bridge sidepath hours last year, I spoke with Port Authority's customer service rep for the GWB. He cited some unspecified vulnerable area of the bridge that was accessible from the sidepaths.
You might check the PA website on the bridge; it might have some info or a pdf description of what they are doing.
>the PA website ... might have some info ... of what they are doing.
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Evan, your response was so helpful and informative; thanks!
The PA website for the bridge has no information about the work being done on the cables. It does have a lot of information about the painting work being done on the bridge, pedestrian access (including directions) for both side paths, and hours of operation for the sidepaths.
So I called the GW Bridge cust service, and asked them what the tall sleeves on the cables were for; and indeed, it is a security measure.
Rich
I spent an hour, you could say I wasted an hour, trying to find any information at all pertaining to the cable work on the PA website but came away empty-handed. I knew from past experience with the PA website that it was probably going to be a waste of time and in fact it was, so I was amused that I wasn't the only one who fell into the hopefulness trap of expecting the PA to treat cyclists and pedestrians as anything more than dirt.