Brooklyn Bridge: The Bridge That Cost 27 Lives
The Brooklyn Bridge cost twenty-seven lives, including - eventually - its designer's. John Augustus Roebling conceived the bridge in 1867 and died from tetanus in 1869, his foot crushed while surveying the site. His son Washington took over and was crippled by caisson disease, spending the remaining 11 years of construction bedridden, watching progress through a telescope while his wife Emily coordinated the work. Workers died in the underwater caissons, fell from the towers, and succumbed to compression sickness that medicine barely understood. When the bridge opened in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, a marvel of engineering that Americans had been told was impossible. It cost $15 million and twenty-seven bodies.
The Vision
John Roebling had built suspension bridges before - the Covington-Cincinnati Bridge was his previous triumph - but nothing approached the East River crossing. The span would be nearly a mile long. The towers would be taller than any structure in New York. The anchorages would require thousands of tons of stone. Critics said suspension bridges couldn't carry railroad traffic; Roebling designed for it anyway. He was surveying the Brooklyn tower site in 1869 when a ferry boat crushed his foot against a piling. Tetanus set in; he died three weeks later. Washington, his son and assistant, became chief engineer.
The Caissons
The towers required foundations on bedrock beneath the riverbed, and bedrock meant caissons - watertight chambers sunk to the bottom, their interiors pressurized to keep water out while workers dug toward stone. The work was hellish: hot, pressurized air; excavation by candlelight; constant danger of blowouts. Workers emerging from the caissons developed 'caisson disease' - the bends - as nitrogen dissolved in their blood under pressure formed bubbles at surface atmospheric conditions. Washington Roebling worked in the caissons until the disease crippled him permanently. The Brooklyn caisson reached bedrock at 44 feet; the New York caisson stopped at 78 feet, the deepest ever attempted.
The Towers
With foundations complete, the towers rose - granite monoliths 276 feet tall, the tallest structures in New York until the downtown skyline would overtake them decades later. The construction required precision: the towers had to align perfectly for the cables to function. Workers died in falls; stones fell and crushed others below. Washington Roebling, unable to visit the site, coordinated through his wife Emily, who became effectively the project manager, carrying instructions to engineers and reporting progress back. Her role was unprecedented; she would later become the first woman to address the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The Cables
The main cables, 15.75 inches in diameter, were spun in place - thousands of wires bundled and wrapped to form the cables from which the roadway would hang. A contractor named J. Lloyd Haigh fraudulently supplied inferior wire, discovered too late to remove; extra cables were added to compensate. The roadway was suspended from the cables; the approaches were built; and on May 24, 1883, President Chester Arthur and Governor Grover Cleveland walked across. A week later, a crowd panic killed 12 people when someone screamed that the bridge was collapsing. It wasn't; it wouldn't. It still hasn't.
Visiting the Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is accessible 24 hours daily, free of charge. Pedestrian access is from the Manhattan side via City Hall or from the Brooklyn side via Cadman Plaza. The walkway is shared between pedestrians and cyclists; stay in your lane. The walk takes 30-45 minutes at a leisurely pace. Views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, the harbor, and the Statue of Liberty are spectacular, especially at sunset. The bridge is crowded at peak times; early morning offers relative solitude. Photography is permitted; tripods attract crowds. Both ends connect to extensive dining and attractions. The Brooklyn Bridge Park offers waterfront views of the span. The bridge is a working component of NYC infrastructure; over 100,000 vehicles cross daily.
From the Air
Located at 40.71°N, 73.99°W spanning the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn. From altitude, the Brooklyn Bridge is unmistakable - its Gothic stone towers and suspension cables distinctive among the other East River crossings. The bridge is shorter and older than neighboring spans. Manhattan's financial district rises on the western shore; Brooklyn Heights on the eastern. The Brooklyn Bridge Park stretches along the Brooklyn waterfront. The pedestrian walkway is visible above the roadway. This was the longest suspension bridge in the world when completed; from altitude, its relative modesty illustrates how engineering advanced in 140 years.