BROOKLYN BRIDGE, Brooklyn Bridge

Hi, my name’s Scott, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: Brooklyn Bridge.

Brooklyn Bridge is the most famous bridge in New York, and indeed probably in the whole world.

When it was inaugurated in 1883, its 1825-meter span made it the longest suspension bridge in the world, and the first to be stayed with steel cables. However, this marvelous work of architecture, which now stands out in all its splendor above the East River, conceals a tragic past.

During the fourteen years it took to build, almost thirty construction workers died, mostly from decompression sickness caused by having to dive into the underwater caissons. The engineer who designed the bridge, John Roebling, was one of the many victims of the lengthy building process, having fallen fatally ill with tetanus after fracturing his foot and having his toes amputated after they were crushed against a ferry piling. As if this were not enough, his son, who took charge of the project after his death, was left partially paralyzed by decompression sickness, and it was only thanks to the enterprising spirit of the latter’s wife that this seemingly cursed bridge was finally completed....