How Brooklyn Bridge has earned the title of New York business card: facts that will surprise you

Brooklyn Bridge is over 130 years old, but it still looks modern and presentable. To build it, it took a lot of sacrifices and a lot of money to spend. The author of the “Interesting Architecture” channel shared the amazing facts about the popular building in New York. Yandex Zen.

The Brooklyn Bridge is the most expensive project at the time of construction ($ 15 million), the longest bridge during construction (1825 meters) and the very first suspension bridge in the Big Apple (construction began in 1870).

But not only these facts are famous for the famous Brooklyn Bridge. Amazingly, this building is more than 130 years old, but it looks modern and presentable even today.

Beautiful and popular

The Brooklyn Bridge has been thrown over the East River, connecting Brooklyn with Manhattan. It looks especially beautiful at night. “The cables are illuminated by thousands of lamps that emphasize the graceful lines of the entire structure,” writes the author. - In Hollywood films, you can often see the outlines of the Brooklyn Bridge. Many couples in love make a date here and do not miss the opportunity to immortalize their love with a lock on a hanging cable. "

Amazing facts about construction

The bridge design was proposed by engineer John Robling. He presented a fundamentally new approach in bridge construction, proposing to move away from cast-iron structures and pay attention to promising suspension systems. He also recommended the use of zinc coated steel cables.

When they decided to reconstruct the bridge 100 years after the construction, it turned out that its steel cables were in perfect condition and practically did not need restoration.

During the construction of the bridge, many sacrifices were made. The engineer himself was the first to die. “John Roebling accidentally injured his leg while on a construction site. The injury required surgical intervention. The operation was successfully carried out, but the body could not cope with the infection and after a while the engineer passed away, ”the author said.

On the subject: The story of the legendary Brooklyn Bridge. A PHOTO

The engineer’s son, Washington Roebling, undertook to continue construction. He, unfortunately, inherited the sad fate of his father. “The new construction manager took part in the sinking to the river bed, during which he suffered decompression sickness. After that Roebling became disabled, lost his sight, hearing and became practically dumb, ”the author writes.

Then the leadership post of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge was inherited by the wife of Washington - Emily. Having successfully mastered the exact sciences, she became the first female engineer in the field of bridge building. Under her leadership, the bridge was finally completed. Emily was the first to drive across the bridge.

The construction of the bridge lasted 13 years. $ 15 million was spent on its construction.

During the construction, another 27 workers died due to decompression sickness, more than 100 were seriously injured. Even after the bridge was put into operation, accidents did not stop. “As a result of an absurd accident, pedestrians on the bridge thought it was crumbling. As a result, 12 people were trampled by the crowd, ”the author writes.

Parade of elephants

To prove to the distrustful citizens that the bridge is safe and you can walk on it, the city authorities decided to organize a parade of elephants. The column consisted of 21 animals, each of which weighed approximately 5 tons. The spectacle was watched by tens of thousands of people, and the next day the newspapers were full of illustrations.

Today, there are six lanes on the bridge. Every day from Manhattan to Brooklyn and back drives 100-200 thousand cars.

“The Brooklyn Bridge has rightfully earned the title of New York's landmark, as has the Statue of Liberty. And in 1960 the building was included in the list of the US National Treasure ”, - summed up the author.

As previously wrote ForumDaily New York:

• Contemporaries called the Brooklyn Bridge the eighth wonder of the world, and for good reason: this bridge was a real breakthrough in construction, its construction cost a cosmic sum of $ 15 million, and the bridge itself became a symbol of America even before the appearance of the Statue of Liberty. About construction secrets read in this material.
• The longest suspension bridge on steel cables at the end of the XNUMXth century was for the world a miracle of technological progress. Today he does not cease to amaze with the beauty of his neo-Gothic style. A lot of interesting, sometimes tragic, historical facts are connected with the main New York bridge. You can familiarize yourself with them here.
• In total, there are 2027 bridges in New York! 11 of them have historical status. We wrote more about them in this material.