A walk across Brooklyn Bridge

---

http://www.heygo.com 10th March - A walk across Brooklyn Bridge



The Brooklyn Bridge was designed by John A. Roebling. Construction began in 1869 and was completed in 1883. At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Between 1944 and 1954, a comprehensive reconstruction took place. The inner and outer trusses were strengthened, new horizontal stays were installed between the four main cables, the railroad and trolley tracks were removed, the roadways were widened from two lanes to three lanes, and new approach ramps were constructed.



The Brooklyn Bridge was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972.



A few interesting facts about the bridge.



In its initial conception, the Bridge had an honorable goal: Providing safe passage across the rough and frigid East River for Brooklyn residents who worked in Manhattan. John A. Roebling dreamed of a suspension bridge that would make the commute easier for the working class New Yorkers.

However, the methods employed to get the project rolling weren’t quite as honorable. After Roebling was hired by the New York Bridge Company to help span the river, infamous political kingpin William “Boss” Tweed took $65,000 in bribes to city aldermen to secure funding for the bridge.



The Bridge was Roebling’s brainchild, but sadly he didn’t live to see its completion. While making measurements for the bridge a ferry crushed his foot. The engineer developed tetanus as a result of the wounds and passed away in July 1869.



After Roebling’s death, his son took over as the project’s chief engineer but he soon developed a problem of his own.

To build the structure’s foundation, workers labored in sealed chambers that kept the riverbed dry and allowed for digging. Breathing and working deep in the caissons required compressed air which meant workers who came up from the depths were vulnerable to “caisson disease,” better known today as the bends. In 1872, Roebling came down with this sickness and was confined to bed.



After the son fell ill, a third Roebling stepped in as the chief engineer of the bridge, his wife Emily. Emily began running orders between her husband, who was laid up in their Brooklyn apartment with a view of construction, and his workers, she soon took command of the project, overseeing the design, construction, and business management of the tremendous undertaking. Emily Warren Roebling is now widely recognized as a pioneering female engineer and a driving force behind the bridge.



The Brooklyn Bridge opened to the public on May 24, 1883 and enjoyed a fairly harmonious first five days in operation. On May 30, disaster struck when either a woman tripping or a rumor of a possible collapse a created a panic among the huge crowd of people crossing the bridge. Sadly, the frantic race to escape the bridge resulted in 12 people dying and 36 serious injured.



To convince the people of New York that this new bridge was safe the city called upon showman P.T. Barnum to march 21 elephants across the Bridge in May of 1884 to show just how sturdy the span was.



It has just been agreed that In the coming weeks cyclists will no longer have to dodge pedestrians. Cars we be banned from the inside lane of the Manhattan-bound side to transform it into a two-way protected bike lane and turn the existing shared promenade space into a space just for pedestrians.

---