The Brooklyn bridge; engineering at its best

The Brooklyn bridge is considered to be a masterpiece of the 19th century. It connects the island of Manhattan with Brooklyn over the east river. The original design belongs to John Roebling, a German civil engineer,  who designed and constructed other suspension bridges, such as Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, PA, and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati, OH, those designs highly contributed to the prototype he had for the Brooklyn bridge. In 1869, he formed the New York Bridge Company and his design was approved. However, during the early stages of construction in  the construction, John Roebling encountered an accident that resulted in his death. The work he left behind was left to his son, Washington Roebling.

John Roebling faced numerous problems that prevented other engineers from  building a crossway connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan. The first challenge was the width of the river and it’s unique feature of being salty and constantly exposed to tidal conditions and turbulence. Another difficulty was that the east river was a gateway for various ships transporting goods. John’s solution for the first problem was using steel instead of iron, which was commonly used in suspension bridges. Steel made the bridge much stronger and stable. To achieve a solid foundation for the bridge, workers excavated the riverbed in massive wooden boxes called caissons. Compressed air was pumped into them, and men inside would dig away at the sand and rock on the river bottom. Caissons work was very difficult and who ever was working on them was called a “sang hog.” Approximately 30 men died on site building the Brooklyn bridge and their work guarantied the safety of millions who use the bridge until today. The towers loom 276½ feet above the water at high tide. The Brooklyn bridge is  3460 feet in length and was the longest of its kind in the world, being fifty percent longer than any other suspension bridge.

Recourses:

–http://www.brighthubengineering.com/building-construction-design/91144-building-the-brooklyn-bridge/#imgn_1

–http://www.history.com/topics/brooklyn-bridge

–http://history1800s.about.com/od/bridgebuilding/a/brooklynbrid01.htm

–http://www.brooklynbridgeaworldwonder.com/safety-design.html

–http://www.roeblingplay.com/roebling_history.shtml