If the name Othmar Ammann doesn't ring a bell, it's about time that it should: The Swiss-born engineer is the man responsible for nearly half of New York City's most magnificent bridges, including some of the most recent constructions ("recent" being relative, of course). He first worked with visionary designer Gustav Lindenthal on the Hell Gate Bridge, the beautiful arched structure that carries trains over the East River, completed in 1916. In 1925, Ammann was appointed the Port Authority's bridge engineer, and was later tapped by Robert Moses to design four more river crossings (including the Verazanno-Narrows Bridge, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary). Many of his designs have a similar look: they're suspension bridges with support towers that have an elegant, high arch (you can see this in his designs for the Walt Whitman and Delaware Memorial Bridges, too). So the next time you're traveling over the GWB, be sure to give Ammann some praise—and check out the map of his creations below.

