                                          _____                 _____
                                         /     \               /     \
                                        |  ^ ^  |             |  ^ ^  |
                                        |  |||  |             |  |||  |
                                       /|  |||  |\           /|  |||  |\
                                      / |  |||  | \         / |  |||  | \
                              ___    /  |  |||  |  \       /  |  |||  |  \    ___
                             /   \  /   |  |||  |   \_____/   |  |||  |   \  /   \
                            /     \/    |  |||  |             |  |||  |    \/     \
             _             /      /\    |  |||  |             |  |||  |    /\      \             _
            / \           /      /  \   |  |||  |             |  |||  |   /  \      \           / \
           /   \   ______/      /    \  |  |||  |             |  |||  |  /    \      \______   /   \
          /     \ /            /      \ |  |||  |             |  |||  | /      \            \ /     \
    ~~~~~/__._.__\____________/__._.__\_|_~|||~_|_~~~~~~~~~~~~_|_~|||~_|/__._.__\____________/__._.__\~~~~~
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                                              E A S T   R I V E R

THE BRIDGE

Today's Crossing History The Builders Statistics Poetry Opening Day About

A BRIDGE ACROSS TIME

Before the bridge, the only way across the East River was by ferry - weather-dependent, slow, and sometimes dangerous. In the harsh winter of 1866-67, the river froze solid, trapping ferries and stranding thousands.

John Augustus Roebling, a German immigrant and brilliant engineer, had already built suspension bridges across the Ohio River and at Niagara Falls. He proposed something unprecedented: a bridge so long, so high, that tall-masted ships could pass beneath it. A bridge built not of iron but of steel.

1867 - John A. Roebling presents his design for the East River Bridge

1869 - Roebling's foot is crushed surveying the site; he dies of tetanus three weeks later

1870 - Washington Roebling takes over as Chief Engineer; construction of the Brooklyn caisson begins

1871 - The Manhattan caisson is sunk

1872 - Washington Roebling is crippled by caisson disease (the bends)

1873 - Emily Warren Roebling begins supervising day-to-day construction

1876 - The first cable is strung between the towers

1877 - All four main cables completed

1881 - Suspender cables and roadway begun

1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge opens on May 24th

The shapes arise! Shapes of factories, arsenals, foundries, markets; Shapes of the two great cities with their numberless ships, and the outgoing and incoming steamers;

— Walt Whitman, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry"