

After 14 years and 27 deaths while being constructed, the
Brooklyn Bridge over the East River is opened, connecting the great cities of
New York
and Brooklyn for the first time in history. Thousands of residents of
Brooklyn and Manhattan Island turned out to witness the dedication
ceremony, which was presided over by President
Chester A. Arthur and New York Governor
Grover Cleveland. Designed by the late John A. Roebling, the Brooklyn Bridge was the largest suspension bridge ever built to that date.

John Roebling, born in Germany in 1806, was a great pioneer in the
design of steel suspension bridges. He studied industrial engineering in
Berlin and at the age of 25 immigrated to western
Pennsylvania,
where he attempted, unsuccessfully, to make his living as a farmer. He
later moved to the state capital in Harrisburg, where he found work as a
civil engineer. He promoted the use of wire cable and established a
successful wire-cable factory.


Meanwhile, he earned a reputation as a designer of suspension
bridges, which at the time were widely used but known to fail under
strong winds or heavy loads. Roebling is credited with a major
breakthrough in suspension-bridge technology: a web truss added to
either side of the bridge roadway that greatly stabilized the structure.
Using this model, Roebling successfully bridged the Niagara Gorge at
Niagara Falls, New York, and the
Ohio
River at Cincinnati, Ohio. On the basis of these achievements, New York
State accepted Roebling's design for a bridge connecting Brooklyn and
Manhattan--with a span of 1,595 feet--and appointed him chief engineer.
It was to be the world's first steel suspension bridge.


Just before construction began in 1869, Roebling was fatally injured
while taking a few final compass readings across the East River. A boat
smashed the toes on one of his feet, and three weeks later he died of
tetanus. He was the first of more than two dozen people who would die
building his bridge. His 32-year-old son, Washington A. Roebling, took
over as chief engineer. Roebling had worked with his father on several
bridges and had helped design the Brooklyn Bridge.

The two granite foundations of the Brooklyn Bridge were built in
timber caissons, or watertight chambers, sunk to depths of 44 feet on
the Brooklyn side and 78 feet on the New York side. Compressed air
pressurized the caissons, allowing underwater construction. At that
time, little was known of the risks of working under such conditions,
and more than a hundred workers suffered from cases of compression
sickness. Compression sickness, or the "bends," is caused by the
appearance of nitrogen bubbles in the bloodstream that result from rapid
decompression. Several died, and Washington Roebling himself became
bedridden from the condition in 1872. Other workers died as a result of
more conventional construction accidents, such as collapses and a fire.

Roebling continued to direct construction operations from his home,
and his wife, Emily, carried his instructions to the workers. In 1877,
Washington and Emily moved into a home with a view of the bridge.
Roebling's health gradually improved, but he remained partially
paralyzed for the rest of his life. On May 24, 1883, Emily Roebling was
given the first ride over the completed bridge, with a rooster, a symbol
of victory, in her lap. Within 24 hours, an estimated 250,000 people
walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, using a broad promenade above the
roadway that John Roebling designed solely for the enjoyment of
pedestrians.

The Brooklyn Bridge, with its unprecedented length and two stately
towers, was dubbed the "eighth wonder of the world." The connection it
provided between the massive population centers of Brooklyn and
Manhattan changed the course of
New York City
forever. In 1898, the city of Brooklyn formally merged with New York
City, Staten Island, and a few farm towns, forming Greater New York.
Happy 130th Birthday, Brooklyn Bridge (2013). Thanks for the good posting about it, Juan Nel.
ReplyDelete