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The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, pictured in the glimmering moonlight in 2012, weights 1,265,000 tons,

(Photo courtesy of Sri Walpola)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Love or hate it. Tolls and traffic aside, here's a collection of intriguing facts about the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge:

The Verrazano's road deck is 12 feet lower in the summer than in the winter, because the steel cables contract or expand as temperature changes.

Its monumental 693-foot-high towers are not parallel to each other. In fact, they are nearly two inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases to compensate for the curvature of the Earth.

Each tower contains 10,000 steel boxes bonded by 3 million rivets and 1 million bolts. Together, they contain as much steel as the Empire State Building.

Four cables, each weighing 9,798 tons, suspend the road deck.

If they were unraveled, the wire used in the bridge's cables would stretch 143,000 miles -- more than halfway to the moon.

The Verrazano weighs 1,265,000 tons -- 70 percent more than the Golden Gate Bridge -- or an average of 37,000 pounds per linear foot.

Nearly 12,000 workers were involved in the bridge's construction. Three died during the project.

The Verrazano currently ranks 11th longest in the world when measured by its main span length: 4,260 feet. The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (6,532 feet) in Japan has been the longest since its completion in 1998.

While the distance between the towers is 4,260 feet, the total length of the bridge -- including the approaches -- is 13,700 feet.

It cost $324 million to construct the bridge.

The bridge was named for Giovanni da Verrazzano, who sailed a French ship into the narrows in 1524, becoming the first European to enter New York Harbor. But the bridge's name is actually spelled wrong due to a typographical error.

Many wanted the bridge named in honor of the late President John F. Kennedy.