The Brooklyn Bridge: The Golden Gate Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most famous and iconic bridges in the United States along with The Golden Gate Bridge. The initial planning of this bridge took place in 1867 when New York State Senate approved a legislation about a New York Bridge Company and the largest suspension bridge project. The construction of the bridge started in 1869 by the designer and chief engineer John Roebling and officially opened for public on May 24, 1883. At that time, Brooklyn Bridge was considered the longest suspension bridge in the world and among the most celebrated architectures of the 19th century (Freeman, 2004).
John Augustus Roebling was a german wire manufacturer who was very famous for designing bridges all over Europe …show more content…
Most suspension bridge roadways were lighter because light structure would put less stress on the cables. However, this light structure would not be a good support for the bridge since it can sway in the wind. Therefore, Roebling decided to use steel wires to support roadways which is why the bridge was considered not only a suspension bridge, but also a hybrid cable-stayed bridge. Just like any suspension bridge, Brookyn Bridge has anchor, approaches, towers, deck, cable, hanger and foundations. The marvel stone towers of the bridge are made of mostly granite with a mixture of limestone and Rosendale cement. These towers are considered gothic towers due to its similar visual to Gothic architecture from medieval period. Additionally, these two towers have arches that can be compared to a Roman architecture “ The Arch of Constantine” (History, …show more content…
As a suspension bridge, the towers needed to hold the cables that hold the roadway. Thus, these towers had to be extremely strong and stable and had to be sunk down. In order to accomplish that, Washington Roebling started a new concept. He ordered a construction of caissons. These caissons were sealed, watertight, airtight chambers. They were made of wood and it would dumped into the water. In this way they would sunk down to the very deep end and all the water that is filled inside of caisson would be pumped out (History, 2010).
During the construction of these caissons, out of the nowhere there was a disease that spread around. It was called “Caisson Disease” and nowadays it is referred as “Decompression Sickness” or “The Bends.” This disease is caused by the differing air-pressures inside and outside of the caissons and the differing air-pressures that arose due to the great distance down that men had to travel to reach the lowest point of the caissons. Washington Roebling was one of these victims who was affected by caisson disease and had to spent the remainder of his time in a wheelchair (History,
John Augustus Roebling was a german wire manufacturer who was very famous for designing bridges all over Europe …show more content…
Most suspension bridge roadways were lighter because light structure would put less stress on the cables. However, this light structure would not be a good support for the bridge since it can sway in the wind. Therefore, Roebling decided to use steel wires to support roadways which is why the bridge was considered not only a suspension bridge, but also a hybrid cable-stayed bridge. Just like any suspension bridge, Brookyn Bridge has anchor, approaches, towers, deck, cable, hanger and foundations. The marvel stone towers of the bridge are made of mostly granite with a mixture of limestone and Rosendale cement. These towers are considered gothic towers due to its similar visual to Gothic architecture from medieval period. Additionally, these two towers have arches that can be compared to a Roman architecture “ The Arch of Constantine” (History, …show more content…
As a suspension bridge, the towers needed to hold the cables that hold the roadway. Thus, these towers had to be extremely strong and stable and had to be sunk down. In order to accomplish that, Washington Roebling started a new concept. He ordered a construction of caissons. These caissons were sealed, watertight, airtight chambers. They were made of wood and it would dumped into the water. In this way they would sunk down to the very deep end and all the water that is filled inside of caisson would be pumped out (History, 2010).
During the construction of these caissons, out of the nowhere there was a disease that spread around. It was called “Caisson Disease” and nowadays it is referred as “Decompression Sickness” or “The Bends.” This disease is caused by the differing air-pressures inside and outside of the caissons and the differing air-pressures that arose due to the great distance down that men had to travel to reach the lowest point of the caissons. Washington Roebling was one of these victims who was affected by caisson disease and had to spent the remainder of his time in a wheelchair (History,