THE DELAWARE AQUEDUCT

Presidential Design Award

Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct is the oldest existing wire rope suspension bridge.  It is also known as the Delaware Aqueduct, or Roebling Bridge. Begun in 1847 as one of four suspension aqueducts on the Delaware and Hudson Canal, it was designed by and built under the supervision of John Roebling, who would design the Brooklyn Bridge 35 years later. The Delaware Aqueduct, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968.

The project has won numerous awards since its reconstruction was completed.

DESIGNING THE HIGHLINE

Competition Advisor Selection Award

The High Line: An Integrating Force was a winning entry in the recent design ideas competition for reuse of NYC’s elevated railway, the High Line. Six design professionals from both coasts teamed up to create this submission.

“We viewed the High Line as not only a vital connection between neighborhoods, but as a ‘missing link’ reconnecting people to nature in lower Manhattan. Ecology was one of our primary themes — we proposed using the High Line to collect rainwater runoff (perhaps in the form of a seasonal stream running through a ‘wilderness’ of native plants), filtering it through landscaped terraces that would serve as both gardens and as vertical access via a network of paths.”

The competition can be viewed at www.thehighline.org/competition.

THE DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN TUNNEL

New York State Department of Transportation

The Downtown Brooklyn Tunnel was conceived of as an alternative to rebuilding the Brooklyn-Queens-Expressway in place as a project funding by Pratt Institute in the 1990’s.  The BQE is a major north-south vehicular artery that bisects Brooklyn, its residential neighborhoods, and commercial and municipal districts from its waterfront and the East River.

The Tunnel project came from studies of both European and Asian cities and how they were eliminating vehicular infrastructure from its residential and waterfront districts.

The New York State DOT has not taken the lead in developing this project.  Allen Swerdlowe serves as a consultant on its advisory committee.