Brooklyn Bridge. When it opened on 24 May 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world and among the most celebrated creations of the nineteenth century. In 1867, the New York State legislature chartered a company to build a bridge across the East River, between Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, to provide more reliable transportation than the existing ferries for a growing stream of commuters. John Augustus Roebling (1806–1869), a German‐born wire manufacturer, designed a span that incorporated many innovations, including extensive use of steel. When Roebling died of injuries in 1869, as construction was about to begin, his son, Washington Roebling (1837–1926), took over as chief engineer. Though crippled by the bends while supervising excavation for the bridge towers, the younger Roebling conquered innumerable technical problems during the long course of construction.

The Brooklyn Bridge helped pave the way for the consolidation of the cities of Brooklyn and New York in 1898. Its success spurred a national wave of bridge building. Though the bridge carried massive vehicular traffic, generations of New Yorkers found its elevated walkway a haven from the city's bustle.

From its opening, the Brooklyn Bridge served as a symbol of the new industrial America. Though the novelist Henry James deemed it a “monster” obliterating the city of his youth, the cultural critic Lewis Mumford judged it an artistic success as “a fulfillment and a prophecy” of the Machine Age. The painters John Marin and Joseph Stella saw the bridge as embodying modernity, while the poet Hart Crane in The Bridge (1930) viewed it as an affirmation of faith in the possibilities of America. As the twentieth century ended, the Brooklyn Bridge continued to move commuters into and out of New York City's downtown business district while conjuring up hope and harmony.

Bibliography

Alan Trachtenberg , Brooklyn Bridge: Fact and Symbol, 1965.
David McCullough , The Great Bridge, 1972.

Joshua B. Freeman

BROOKLYN BRIDGE

The Brooklyn Bridge, which spans New York's East River to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn, was completed in 1883. Extending 1595 feet (486 meters), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was finished. The bridge hangs from steel cables that are almost 16 inches (41 centimeters) thick. The cables are suspended from stone and masonry towers that are 275 feet (84 meters) tall. Upon opening, the span was celebrated as a feat of modern engineering and, with its twin gothic towers, as an architectural landmark of considerable grace and beauty.

The Brooklyn Bridge was conceived of and designed by German American engineer John Augustus Roebling (1806–1869) who first proposed the project in 1857. Roebling's earlier accomplishments included a span over Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Monongahela River (1846) and one over the Niagara River at Niagara Falls (1855), between New York and Ontario. The engineer's plans for the Brooklyn Bridge (officially called the East River Bridge) were approved in 1869; Roebling died one month later. He was succeeded by his son, Washington Augustus Roebling (1837–1926), who took on the role of chief engineer. Specially designed watertight chambers allowed for the construction of the two towers whose bases were built on the floor of the East River. The project proved to be an enormous and dangerous undertaking. Underwater workers, including Roebling, suffered from the bends—a serious and potentially fatal blood condition caused by the decrease in pressure that results from rising from the water's depth too quickly. But man prevailed against the elements, and after fourteen laborious years, on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was inaugurated. Five years later Brooklyn became a borough of New York City. In 1964 the bridge was designated a national historic landmark.

See also: John Augustus Roebeling

BROOKLYN BRIDGE

BROOKLYN BRIDGE. This steel-cable and stone-tower suspension bridge was the outstanding American engineering achievement of the late nineteenth century for three reasons: its towers were based on foundations built up from underwater caisson excavations, it made novel use of steel cables, and its main span was 1,595 feet in length. Built between 1869 and 1883 from a design by John Roebling and his son Washington, and costing $15 million, it served as the first bridge across the East River and connected Brooklyn and New York. An accident took John Roebling's life early during construction, and Washington was severely crippled subsequently. The beauty and utility of the bridge make it one of New York's enduring symbols.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brooklyn Museum. The Great East River Bridge, 1883–1983. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Brooklyn Museum, 1983.

McCullough, David G. The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001.

Trachtenberg, Alan. Brooklyn Bridge: Fact and Symbol. 2d edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.

MichaelCarew

See alsoBridges .

Brooklyn Bridge vehicular suspension bridge, New York City, southernmost of the bridges across the East River, between lower Manhattan and Brooklyn; built 1869–83. The achievement of J. A. Roebling and his son W. A. Roebling, it has a span of 1,595.5 ft (487 m). It was the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world and was the world's longest suspension bridge at the time of its completion.

Bibliography: See D. G. McCullough, The Great Bridge (1983); M. J. Shapiro, A Picture History of the Brooklyn Bridge (1983); A. Trachtenberg, Brooklyn Bridge (1990); P. Lopate and B. Dogancay, Bridge of Dreams (1999).