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How the Bridge was Built
Considered one of the greatest triumphs of nineteenth-century engineering when it opened in May, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was built to provide a suitable all-weather link between the then independent and rapidly growing cities of New York and Brooklyn. The brilliant engineer John Roebling proposed a great suspension bridge, a pioneering structure in its use of steel which would leave the busy East River free of obstruction. When he died in an accident as the bridge was being surveyed, his son Washington was chosen to complete the structure.
Washington was totally disabled in 1872 by caisson disease (the bends) and could never visit the site again. His remarkable wife Emily became his chief administrative aide and enabled Washington to finish the project successfully. |