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20 lives
- The project took at least 20 lives. Among the dead was John A. Roebling, the bridge’s designer, who contracted tetanus after his foot was hit by a boat at the Fulton Ferry landing in 1869. Unlike Roebling, most of the casualties were not celebrated men.
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Jul 15, 2019 · At least 20 people died during the bridge's construction. A view of the bridge during construction with the suspended sides not yet connected, circa 1882. Workmen cutting and tying tension...
Jul 17, 2019 · At least two dozen workers, mostly immigrants, died in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. The project also took the life of the Brooklyn Bridge’s designer and left his son crippled. To learn more, click here to read this new piece I wrote for History.com.
Mar 22, 2010 · At least two dozen people died in the process, including its original designer. Now more than 125 years old, this iconic feature of the New York City skyline still carries roughly 150,000...
- The Brooklyn Bridge is an engineering marvel. When construction was completed on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, it was officially deemed the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world.
- It wasn’t called the Brooklyn Bridge (at first) During construction, the bridge was known as the Great East River Bridge, but when completed, it was renamed to the New York and Brooklyn Bridge.
- At least 25 people died building the bridge. The first death on the job occurred before construction of the Brooklyn Bridge even began, and it was arguably the most catastrophic death of all because it took the life of the head engineer, John Roebling.
- The family that built the bridge was cursed. As I mentioned earlier, John Roebling died before construction began so his son, Washington, took over as chief engineer.
- Jesse Greenspan
- Boss Tweed helped get the project started. William M. “Boss” Tweed, the infamously corrupt head of New York City’s Tammany Hall political machine, latched on to the Brooklyn Bridge project from the very beginning.
- At least 20 people died during the bridge’s construction. The first fatality came in 1869 before construction had even begun. German-born John A. Roebling, who designed the bridge, was taking compass readings one afternoon when his foot was crushed between some pilings and a boat.
- It was the longest suspension bridge in the world—by far. A few high-profile collapses in the first half of the 19th century prevented suspension bridges from immediately catching on.
- The bridge opened with a massive celebration. Huge crowds gathered on May 24, 1883, to watch the bridge’s opening ceremony, which The New York Times described, in reference to Brooklyn, as “the greatest gala day in the history of that moral suburb.”
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed / suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River.
Sep 16, 2019 · While no official figures were kept on how many men died building the bridge, it has been reasonably estimated that about 20 to 30 men perished in various accidents. The Grand Opening The grand opening for the bridge was held on May 24, 1883.
