the brooklyn bridge ana cristina ayala anette rossi

THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE Ana Cristina Ayala Anette Rossi

The Brooklyn Bridge crosses the East River, is a symbol of the city of New York that also marked a milestone in the first use in its type of steel construction and being over 20 years, the longest suspension bridge in the world.

What was the cause of the creation of this bridge? It begins when in 1852, the engineer and owner of a metal company named John Augustus Roebling was unable to move to Brooklyn with the Atlantic Avenue-Fulton Street Ferry due to ice covering the river, the solution devised by the construction of a bridge. Three years later he had developed the project to which he would call a great work of art.

The idea of Roebling was enthusiastically received by the rulers of Manhattan and Brooklyn, then independent cities, but the financial support he found in William C. Kingsley, due to his political influence, pushed for a private company could build and manage the construction of a bridge that would connect the two cities.

On June 1st, 1869, the design of the bridge was approved but five days after an accident occured when a ferry that entered the Brooklyn pier crushed Roeblings foot. Despite the amputation of the limb, died of tetanus. His son Washington took over the project and in January 3rd, 1870, construction began. In August 1876, the shores of Manhattan and Brooklyn are connected for the first time through a steel cable. In February 1877, ended the construction of towers and pillars anchor would be provisionally attached via a walkway.

Originally the bridge was designed to accommodate the ends dual carriageway, two-way for carriages and cavalry, two tram tracks in the center and a platform pedestrian high. The main span of the bridge linking the two pillars, has a length of 486 meters and a wide of 26 meters. On May 23, 1883, the President Chester Arthur and Governor Grover Cleveland officially opened the Brooklyn Bridge in front of more than 14,000 guests.

Significant Events: Six months after opening the bridge. A woman who climbed the stairs to access the part of Manhattan stumbled and screamed as she fell. The call triggered a rumor that the bridge was sinking. The panic and subsequent avalanche killed 12 people and seriously injured 35 others. Distrust of the bridge resistance was overcome a year later after the circus entrepreneur P. T. Barnum marched across the bridge along with a herd of 21 elephants.

In 1944, he began a major reconstruction of the bridge that would last 20 years. The tram lines were removed, pillars and main cables were reinforced, new suspension cables were added, the bridge widened from two lanes to three in each direction for vehicles and the construction of new roads began. Currently the bridge has two levels. The bottom level has two three-lane roads by which more than 145,000 vehicles circulate daily. The top level is a walkway for pedestrians and also a bike lane. The walkway can be dangerous if you are not aware of not passing to the bicycle lane, as you could be hit by a cyclist who often carry considerable speed.

In conclusion, the Brooklyn Bridge is an important symbol of the development of the city. With it, the people can cross from one side to the other (from Manhattan to Brooklyn) in less time, making the travel safer, easier, more economic and faster, going across the bridge, than with a ship, crossing the river.