# What are these things on the George Washington Bridge?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-things-on-the-george-washington-bridge/687741>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 5, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-things-on-the-george-washington-bridge/687741 "2014-05-05T20:09:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-things-on-the-george-washington-bridge/687741/1 "2014-05-05T20:09:11Z")

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What are these things on the George Washington Bridge?

[Here](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40.853326,-73.961377&spn=0.005729,0.008272&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.853302,-73.961266&panoid=jBMA-TzQCogfSGuk7ZQeGA&cbp=12,75.94,,3,-4.52) is a nice close-up photo. The link goes to Google Street View. It’s a large screen of some kind, with two holes which look like Batman’s eyes.

There are four cables holding up the bridge: two on the north, and two on the south. Each cable has four of these: one at each end, and two near the middle. ([Here](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40.851915,-73.954413&spn=0.000391,0.00067&t=h&deg=270&z=21)’s a view near the middle.)

My only guess is that they are to prevent people from climbing up the cable. Maybe the Batman-eyes are handholds for the guys who installed it? I drive on this bridge almost every day, and am very curious. Does anyone know?

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**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-things-on-the-george-washington-bridge/687741/2 "2014-05-05T20:18:21Z")

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Or [rats](http://untappedcities.com/2013/08/05/daily-what-sculpted-rats-nyc-graybar-building-grand-central/).

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**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-things-on-the-george-washington-bridge/687741/3 "2014-05-05T20:58:16Z")

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You are correct that they are meant to keep unauthorized people from climbing the cable. The “batman” eyes appear to allow the handrail wires for maintenance workers to pass through.

If you look closely, there are a pair of handrail wires suspended a few feet above the main cable (there are a couple photos stitched together, so the cables might not appear continuous). Workers can hook their harnesses on to the cables, alternating sides so that they can climb safely.

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**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-things-on-the-george-washington-bridge/687741/4 "2014-05-06T00:19:31Z")

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Thanks!