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Mar 22, 2010 · The Brooklyn Bridge, which connects the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan, was constructed between 1869-1883 and spans 1,595 feet.
Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) and a deck 127 ft (38.7 m) above mean high water.
- 1,595.5 ft (486.3 m)
- 6,016 ft (1,833.7 m; 1.1 mi)
- May 24, 1883; 140 years ago
- East River
Apr 19, 2024 · Brooklyn Bridge, 1898. Brooklyn Bridge, with a view of New York City, 1898. The Brooklyn Bridge’s 486-metre (1,595-foot) main span was the longest in the world until the completion of the Firth of Forth cantilever bridge in Scotland in 1890. The towers are built of limestone, granite, and cement.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- 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.”
Upon its completion in 1883 it became the first roadway to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn, which were then separate cities (Brooklyn became part of New York City in 1898). Back then, with a central span of 1,595 feet, the Brooklyn Bridge was also the world’s longest suspension bridge.
The 1597-foot-long center span is flanked by two 930-foot-long side-spans, with the approaches making up the difference in length.
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When the bridge was finished, that traffic moved effectively to wheel and foot, high above the river. Spanning 1,595 feet in its center section, the Brooklyn Bridge rises with Gothic elegance to suspend a fine lattice of steel cables—a new technology at the time of its construction.
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