Brooklyn_Bridge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Bridge Island). Upon completion, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, the first steel-wire suspension bridge, and the first bridge to connect to Long Island. Originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, it was dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge in an 1867 letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle,[2] and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since its opening, it has become an iconic part of the New York skyline. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.[3][4][5] History and events Brooklyn Bridge, spanning the East River, in 2007. Carries Motor vehicles (cars only), elevated trains (until 1944), streetcars (until 1950), pedestrians, and bicycles East River New York City (Manhattan–Brooklyn) New York City Department of Transportation John Augustus Roebling Suspension/Cable-stay Hybrid 1,595 feet 6 inches (486.3 m) 5,989 feet (1825 m) 85 feet (26 m) 135 feet (41 m) at mid-span 145,000 May 24, 1883 Free both ways 40°42′21″N 73°59′53″W / 40.705953°N -73.998048°E / 40.705953; -73.998048Coordinates: 40°42′21″N 73°59′53″W / 40.705953°N -73.998048°E / 40.705953; -73.998048 Construction Crosses Locale Maintained by Designer Design Longest span Total length Width Clearance below AADT Opening date Toll Coordinates The Brooklyn Bridge, one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, stretches 5,989 feet (1825 m)[1] over the East River, connecting the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn (on Long Plan of one tower for the Brooklyn Bridge, 1867 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Brooklyn Bridge celebratory cannon fire and were greeted by Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low when they reached the Brooklyn-side tower. Arthur shook hands with Washington Roebling at Roebling’s home, after the ceremony. Washington Roebling was unable to attend the ceremony but held a celebratory banquet at his house on the day of the bridge opening. Further festivity included the performance of a band, gunfire from ships, and a fireworks display.[9] On that first day, a total of 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed what was then the only land passage between Manhattan and Long Island. The bridge’s main span over the East River is 1,595 feet 6 inches (486.3 m). The bridge cost $15.5 million to build and approximately 27 people died during its construction.[10] One week after the opening, on May 30, 1883, a rumor that the Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede, which crushed and killed at least twelve people.[11] On May 17, 1884, P. T. Barnum helped to squelch doubts about the bridge’s stability—while publicizing his famous circus—when one of his most famous attractions, Jumbo, led a parade of 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge.[12][13][14][15] At the time it opened, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world — 50% longer than any previously built — and it has become a treasured landmark. For several years the towers were the tallest structures in the Western Hemisphere. Since the 1980s, it has been floodlit at night to highlight its architectural features. The towers are built of limestone, granite, and Rosendale cement. Their architectural style is neo-Gothic, with characteristic pointed arches above the passageways through the stone towers. The bridge was designed by German-born John Augustus Roebling in Trenton, New Jersey. Roebling had earlier designed and constructed other suspension bridges, such as Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio and the Waco Suspension Bridge in Waco, Texas, that served as the engineering prototypes for the final design. During surveying for the East River Bridge project, Roebling’s foot was badly injured by a ferry, pinning it against a pylon; within a few weeks, he died of tetanus. His son, Washington, succeeded him, but in 1872 was stricken with caisson disease (decompression Currier & Ives print (1883) The Brooklyn Bridge opened to great fanfare in May 1883. The names of John Roebling, Washington Roebling, and Emily Warren Roebling are inscribed on the structure as its builders.[6] Construction began on January 3, 1870. The Brooklyn Bridge was completed thirteen years later and was opened for use on May 24, 1883. The Brooklyn Bridge might not have been built had it not been for Emily Warren Roebling. Most history books cite her father-in-law John Roebling and her husband Washington Roebling as the bridge’s builders. Early into construction, however, collapsing bridge timbers crushed John Roebling’s legs, leaving him incapacitated; he later died of an infection related to this injury and left his son, Washington Roebling in charge of the bridge. However, not long after taking charge of the bridge, Washington Roebling suffered a paralyzing injury as well, the result of decompression sickness. This condition plagued many of the underwater workers, in different capacities, as the condition was relatively unknown at the time and in fact was first called "caisson disease" by the project physician Dr. Andrew Smith.[7][8] With both men out of commission, Emily Warren Roebling took over. Under her husband’s guidance, Emily had studied higher mathematics, the calculations of catenary curves, the strengths of materials, bridge specifications, and the intricacies of cable construction. She spent the next 11 years supervising the bridge’s construction. The opening ceremony was attended by several thousand people and many ships were present in the East Bay for the occasion. President Chester Arthur and New York Mayor Franklin Edson crossed the bridge to 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia sickness, commonly known as "the bends"), due to working in compressed air in caissons.[16] The occurrence of the disease in the caisson workers caused him to halt construction of the Manhattan side of the tower 30 feet (10 m) short of bedrock when soil tests underneath the caisson found bedrock to be even deeper than expected. Today, the Manhattan tower rests only on sand.[17] Washington’s wife, Emily Warren Roebling, became his aide, learning engineering and communicating his wishes to the on-site assistants. When the bridge opened, she was the first person to cross it. Washington Roebling rarely visited the site again. Brooklyn Bridge already been constructed. Roebling determined that the poorer wire would leave the bridge four rather than six times as strong as necessary, so it was eventually allowed to stand, with the addition of 250 cables. Diagonal cables were installed from the towers to the deck, intended to stiffen the bridge. They turned out to be unnecessary, but were kept for their distinctive beauty. After the collapse in 2007 of the I-35W highway bridge in the city of Minneapolis, increased public attention has been brought to bear on the condition of bridges across the US, and it has been reported that the Brooklyn Bridge approach ramps received a rating of "poor" at its last inspection.[18] According to a NYC Department of Transportation spokesman, "The poor rating it received does not mean it is unsafe. Poor means there are some components that have to be rehabilitated.” A $725 million project to replace the approaches and repaint the bridge is scheduled to begin in 2009.[19] The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge is detailed in the 1972 book The Great Bridge by David McCullough[20] and Brooklyn Bridge (1981), the first PBS documentary film ever made by Ken Burns.[21] Burns drew heavily on McCullough’s book for the film and used him as narrator.[22] It is also described in Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, a BBC docudrama series with accompanying book. Brooklyn approach with elevated BMT and streetcar tracks and trains, ca. 1905 At the time the bridge was built, the aerodynamics of bridge building had not been worked out. Bridges were not tested in wind tunnels until the 1950s — well after the collapse of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Galloping Gertie) in 1940. It is therefore fortunate that the open truss structure supporting the deck is by its nature less subject to aerodynamic problems. Roebling designed a bridge and truss system that was six times as strong as he thought it needed to be. Because of this, the Brooklyn Bridge is still standing when many of the bridges built around the same time have vanished into history and been replaced. This is also in spite of the substitution of inferior quality wire in the cabling supplied by the contractor J. Lloyd Haigh — by the time it was discovered, it was too late to replace the cabling that had First jumper The first person to jump from the bridge was Robert E. Odlum on May 19, 1885. Odlum, a swimming teacher, made the jump in a costume bearing his initials. He survived the pre-announced jump, but died shortly thereafter from internal injuries.[23] Brooklyn Bridge U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. National Historic Landmark Built/Founded: Architectural style(s): Governing body: Added to NRHP: Designated NHL: NRHP Reference#: 1883 Gothic Local 1966[24] January 29, 1964[3] 75001237 3 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Brooklyn Bridge Later changes in use At various times, the bridge has carried horse-drawn and trolley traffic; at present, it has six lanes for motor vehicles, with a separate walkway along the centerline for pedestrians and bicycles. Due to the roadway’s height (11 feet posted) and weight (6,000 lb posted) restrictions, commercial vehicles and buses are prohibited from using this bridge. The two inside traffic lanes once carried elevated trains of the BMT from Brooklyn points to a terminal at Park Row via Sands Street. Streetcars ran on what are now the two center lanes (shared with other traffic) until the elevated lines stopped using the bridge in 1944, when they moved to the protected center tracks. In 1950 the streetcars also stopped running, and the bridge was rebuilt to carry six lanes of automobile traffic. 2006 bunker discovery In 2006, a Cold War era bunker was found by city workers near the East River shoreline of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The bunker, hidden within the masonry anchorage, still contained the emergency supplies that were being stored for a potential nuclear attack by the Soviet Union.[27] 125th Anniversary celebrations On May 24, 2008, festivities were held over the entire Memorial Day week-end to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge.[28] Pedestrian access 1994 Brooklyn Bridge shooting On March 1, 1994, Lebanese-born Rashid Baz opened fire on a van carrying members of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish Movement, striking sixteen-year-old student Ari Halberstam and three others traveling on the bridge. Halberstam died five days later from his wounds. Baz was apparently acting out of revenge for the Hebron massacre of 29 Muslims by Baruch Goldstein that had taken place days earlier on February 25, 1994. Baz was convicted of murder and sentenced to a 141-year prison term. After initially classifying the murder as one committed out of road rage, the Justice Department reclassified the case in 2000 as a terrorist attack. The entrance ramp to the bridge on the Manhattan side was named the Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp in memory of the victim.[25] The 2003 plot In 2003, truck driver Iyman Faris was sentenced to about 20 years in prison for providing material support to Al-Qaeda, after an earlier plot to destroy the bridge by cutting through its support wires with blowtorches was thwarted through information the National Security Agency uncovered through wiretapped phone conversations and interrogation of Al-Qaeda militant and mastermind on September 11, 2001 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.[26] Brooklyn Bridge at night Cross section diagram The Brooklyn Bridge is accessible from the Brooklyn entrances of Tillary/Adams Streets, 4 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sands/Pearl Streets, and Exit 28B of the eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. In Manhattan, motor cars can enter from either direction of the FDR Drive, Park Row, Chambers/Centre Streets, and Pearl/Frankfort Streets. Pedestrian access to the bridge from the Brooklyn side is from either Tillary/ Adams Streets (in between the auto entrance/exit), or a staircase on Prospect St between Cadman Plaza East and West. In Manhattan, the pedestrian walkway is accessible from the end of Centre Street, or through the unpaid south staircase of Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall IRT subway station. The Brooklyn Bridge has a wide pedestrian walkway open to walkers and cyclists, in the center of the bridge and higher than the automobile lanes. While the bridge has always permitted the passage of pedestrians across its span, its role in allowing thousands to cross takes on a special importance in times of difficulty when usual means of crossing the East River have become unavailable. During transit strikes by the Transport Workers Union in 1980 and 2005 the bridge was used by people commuting to work, with Mayors Koch and Bloomberg crossing the bridge as a gesture to the affected public. Following the 1965, 1977 and 2003 Blackouts and most famously after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, the bridge was used by people in Manhattan to leave the city after subway service was suspended. The massive numbers of people on the bridge could not have been anticipated by the original designer, yet John Roebling designed it with three separate systems managing even unanticipated structural stresses. The bridge has a suspension system, a diagonal stay system, and a stiffening truss. "Roebling himself famously said if anything happens to one of [his] systems, ’The bridge may sag, but it will not fall.’"[29] The movement of large numbers of people on a bridge creates pedestrian oscillations or "sway" as the crowd lifts one foot after another, some falling inevitably in synchronized cadences. The natural sway motion of people walking causes small sideways oscillations in a bridge, which in turn cause people on the bridge to sway in step, increasing the amplitude of the bridge oscillations and continually reinforcing the effect. This high-density traffic causes a bridge to appear to move erratically or "to wobble" as happened at Brooklyn Bridge opening of the London Millennium Footbridge in 2000.[30] Cultural significance Contemporaries marveled at what technology was capable of and the bridge became a symbol of the optimism of the time. John Perry Barlow wrote in the late 20th century of the "literal and genuinely religious leap of faith" embodied in the Brooklyn Bridge … the Brooklyn Bridge required of its builders faith in their ability to control technology."[31] References to "selling the Brooklyn Bridge" abound in American culture, sometimes as examples of rural gullibility but more often in connection with an idea that strains credulity. For example, "If you believe that, I have a wonderful bargain for you…" References are often nowadays more oblique, such as "I could sell you some lovely riverside property in Brooklyn ... ". George C. Parker and William McCloundy are two early 20thcentury con-men who had (allegedly) successfully perpetrated this scam on unwitting tourists. [32] In his second book The Bridge, Hart Crane begins with a poem entitled "Proem: To Brooklyn Bridge." The bridge was a source of inspiration for Crane and he owned different apartments specifically to have different views of the bridge. In the 1972 film The Hot Rock, the Brooklyn Bridge was shown as a visual icon of New York City. The partially-finished World Trade Center was also shown. Panoramas 1896 Panorama 5 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in background. (picture taken 1981). Brooklyn Bridge A panorama of the bridge A panorama standing on the bridge, 2006 Gallery Brooklyn Bridge as seen from Old Fulton Street References [1] A World Trade Center On the Newsboys view of promenade, selling on Brooklyn the Man- [2] Brooklyn Bridge, also Brooklyn hattan Bridge, Bridge known as Bridge, New York c.1908 the East Brooklyn c.1899 River Bridge, Bridge, and the [3] seen from East river. Manhattan, as drawn (and woodcut) in a [4] Swedish monthly magazine in August 1874. Mural of Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, with the actual bridge Brooklyn Bridge and Ferrybank Restaurant Brooklyn Bridge in 1982. "NYCDOT Bridges Information". New York City Department of Transportation. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/ bridges/bridges.shtml#brooklyn. Retrieved on 2008-08-23. E.P.D. (January 25, 1867), "Bridging the East River -- Another Project", The Brooklyn Daily Eagle: 2, http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/ eagle/, retrieved on 2007-11-26 ^ "Brooklyn Bridge". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-11. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/ detail.cfm?ResourceId=376&ResourceType=Structu ["The Brooklyn Bridge", February 24, 1975, by James B. Armstrong and S. Sydney Bradford "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination"]. National Park Service. 1975-02-24. "The Brooklyn Bridge", February 24, 1975, by James B. Armstrong and S. Sydney Bradford. [5] [The Brooklyn Bridge--Accompanying 3 photos, from 1975. "National Register of Brooklyn Historic Places Inventory-Nomination"]. Bridge at National Park Service. 1975-02-24. The Dusk Brooklyn Bridge--Accompanying 3 photos, from 1975.. [6] Women engineers today and yesterday; spotlight on Emily Warren Roebling, engineer, who got the Brooklyn Bridge built. From 51 percent. Retrieved 30 March 2009. 6 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Brooklyn Bridge [7] Smith, Andrew Heermance (1886). The http://www.baynewsbrooklyn.com/site/ Physiological, Pathological and news.cfm?newsid=18685076&BRD=2384&PAG=461 Therapeutical Effects of Compressed Air. Retrieved on 2007-08-12. George S. Davis. [20] Amazon.com: The Great Bridge: The Epic http://books.google.com/ Story of the Building of the Brooklyn books?id=hLq981_A5bMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Diving&lr=&source=gbs_similarbooks_r&cad= Bridge: David McCullough: Books Retrieved on 2009-04-17. [21] Brooklyn Bridge . About the Film | PBS [8] Acott, Chris (1999). "A brief history of [22] Burns, Ken diving and decompression illness.". [23] "Odlum’s Leap to Death". The New York South Pacific Underwater Medicine Times. May 20, 1885. p. 1. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/ Society journal 29 (2). ISSN 0813-1988. abstract.html?res=990DE4D91739E533A25753C2A9 OCLC 16986801. http://archive.rubiconRetrieved on 2008-04-15. foundation.org/6004. Retrieved on [24] "National Register Information System". 2009-04-17. National Register of Historic Places. [9] Reeves, Thomas C. (1975). Gentleman National Park Service. 2007-01-23. Boss. NY, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. http://www.nr.nps.gov/. pp. 359–360. ISBN 0-394-46095-2. [25] Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp [10] "Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1841-1902 [26] Iyman Faris Online". [27] Cold War "Time Capsule" Found in http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/ Brooklyn Bridge Archive/skins/BE/NavigationSites/ [28] NY Times archived reports in issue dated what.htm. Retrieved on 2007-11-23. 2008-5-23 [11] Reported in NY Times, issue 1883-5-30 [29] village voice > news > Point of Collapse [12] Bildner, Phil. Twenty-One Elephants. by Robert Julavits ISBN 0689870116; ISBN [30] Strogatz, Steven. (2003). Sync: The 978-0689870118 Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order, [13] Prince, April Jones. Twenty-One pp. 174-175, 312, 320. Elephants and Still Standing. ISBN [31] Cultural Significance 061844887X; ISBN 978-0618448876 [32] For You, Half Price [14] P.T. Barnum - MSN Encarta [15] Strausbaugh, John (November 9, 2007), When Barnum Took Manhattan, The New York Times, p. 2, • Cadbury, Deborah .(2004), Dreams of Iron http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/ and Steel. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN arts/09expl.html?pagewanted=2, 0-00-716307-X retrieved on 2008-09-21 • McCullough, David. (1972). The Great [16] Butler WP (2004). "Caisson disease Bridge. New York: Simon & Schuster. during the construction of the Eads and ISBN 0-671-21213-3 Brooklyn Bridges: A review". Undersea • Haw, Richard. (2005). The Brooklyn Hyperb Med 31 (4): 445–59. PMID Bridge: A Cultural History. New 15686275. http://archive.rubiconBrunswick: Rutgers University Press. foundation.org/4028. Retrieved on ISBN 0-8135-3587-5 2008-06-19. • Haw, Richard. (2008). Art of the Brooklyn [17] "GlassSteelandStone: Brooklyn BridgeBridge: A Visual History. New York: tower rests on sand". Routledge. ISBN 0-415-95386-3 http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/ • Strogatz, Steven. (2003). Sync: The BuildingDetail/435.php. Retrieved on Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order. 2007-02-20. New York: Hyperion books. 10-ISBN [18] "Brooklyn Bridge Is One of 4 With Poor 0-7868-6844-9; 13-ISBN Rating". New York Times. 978-0-7868-6844-5 (cloth) [2nd ed., http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/ Hyperion, 2004. 10-ISBN 0-7868-8721-4; 08/02/brooklyn-bridge-is-one-of-3-with13-ISBN 978-0-7868-8721-7 (paper)] poor-rating/. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. • Strogartz, Steven, Daniel M. Abrams, [19] "Brooklyn Bridge called ‘safe’ - DOT says Allan McRobie, Bruno Eckhardt, and span is okay despite getting a ‘poor’ Edward Ott. et al. (2005). "Theoretical rating". Courier-Life Publications. Further reading 7 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia mechanics: Crowd synchrony on the Millennium Bridge," Nature, Vol. 438, pp, 43–44....link to Nature article...Millennium Bridge opening day video illustrating "crowd synchrony" oscillations Brooklyn Bridge • Panorama of Brooklyn Bridge 1899 Extreme Photo Constructions • Structurae: Brooklyn Bridge • Great Buildings entry for the Brooklyn Bridge • American Society of Civil Engineers • Railroad Extra - Brooklyn Bridge and its Railway • The bridge’s coordinates are: 40°42′23″N 73°59′51″W / 40.706344°N 73.997439°W / 40.706344; -73.997439 • Images of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Museum’s art, archives, and library collections, and the text from our 1983 catalog, The Great East River Bridge • Brooklyn Bridge Photo Gallery with a Flash VR 360 of the Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walkway • Opening Ceremonies of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883 at Project Gutenberg . External links • Brooklyn Bridge interactive 360 degree Panorama from 360 Cities • 360° Interactive Panorama from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge • Interactive Map of Brooklyn Bridge and South Street Seaport: MondoMap • NYCroads.com - Brooklyn Bridge • Transportation Alternatives Fiboro Bridges - Brooklyn Bridge • Brooklyn Bridge in the Structurae database • The story of Brooklyn Bridge - by CBS Forum Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge" Categories: Road bridges in the United States, Suspension bridges in the United States, Bridges completed in 1883, Bridges in New York City, Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places, National Historic Landmarks in New York City, Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation, Visitor attractions in New York City, East River, Transportation in Brooklyn, Bike paths in New York, Landmarks in New York City This page was last modified on 24 May 2009, at 11:18 (UTC). 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