ARCHITECTURE OF POWER IN AMERICA

Cultural Icons Student: Radu Iulia II nd year, Anglo-American Studies

BROOKLYN BRIDGE, New York city What do you associate Brooklyn Bridge with? Why it has an iconic status?

BROOKLYN BRIDGE, NEW YORK CITY

The Brooklyn Bridge is located in New York City and it connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn with a main span of 486.3 m. It was completed in 1883. Since its opening, it has become an icon of New York City, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. The bridge has been a common element of popular culture on magazines and postcards and in comic books, advertisements, films, television programs, and cartoons. Its image has embellished all kinds of tourist souvenirs. The Brooklyn Bridge was initially designed by German immigrant John Augustus Roebling, who patented in 1841 the low carbon iron wire rope.

BROOKLYN BRIDGE, NEW YORK CITY

BUILDING PHASES:

In 1859 Roebling proposed two 800-foot suspension spans linked over the island by a 500-foot cantilever, near the site of the present-day Queensboro Bridge. The estimated cost was $1,200,000. Before any further progress could be made, the project was shelved because of economic depression. Then came the Civil War. For 16 years the press would alternatively refer to the project as the East River Bridge, the Great Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge. The motto of the bridge from the great opening was Two Cities As One. The City of New York was allowed to make a $1.5 million capital investment, and the City of Brooklyn $3 million.

THE STRUCTURE

The four main suspension cables, continuous from anchorage to anchorage, pass over the towers and hang in the curve that cables naturally assume when suspended from two points between them. That frees the towers from horizontal forces; acting in compression, they transmit the self-weight of the structure and any live loads to the foundations. The colossal anchorages resist the forces in the main cables. The steel-framed bridge deck hangs from those cables on vertical suspenders, and diagonal stays stabilize it against wind loads. Roebling called those towers the most conspicuous features) that rise close to either shore of the river. Above the waterline the towers are built of granite. They have been called gothic (by others but never by John Roebling).

A BRIDGE MADE BY THE ROEBLINGS

The story of the bridge begins in tragedy. On July 6, 1869, while John Roebling was locating the Brooklyn tower, a ferryboat collided with the slip on which he stood, crushing his right foot against the piling. The injured toes were immediately amputated he refused anaestheticbut (perhaps because he insisted upon hydrotherapy over conventional medical treatment) tetanus followed. He died on July 22. Washington Augustus Roebling was just 32 years old when he succeeded his father as chief engineer of the most prestigious [engineering project] of the continent and of the age. Certainly it was the most ambitious bridge that America had ever seen. Washington had worked off and on in the family business since graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1857. In the summer of 1872 he was carried out of the Manhattan caisson. By the years end, he was partially paralyzed, hardly able to speak, deaf, and beginning to go blind.

Roebling conducted the entire construction from his apartment with a view of the work, designing and redesigning caissons and other equipment. He was aided by his wife Emily Warren Roebling who provided the critical written link between her husband and the engineers on site. Under her husband's guidance, Emily studied higher mathematics, the calculations of catenary curves, the strengths of materials and bridge specifications. 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 Brooklyn. Emily Warren Roebling was the first to cross the bridge with a rooster as a symbol of victory. At the time it opened, and for several years, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world50% longer than any previously builtand it has become a treasured landmark. Since the 1980s, it has been floodlit at night to highlight its architectural features.

THE BRIDGE AS A SYMBOL

The Brooklyn Bridge is symbolic of a pathway of opportunity to Manhattan and also the linkage between American and European cultures (immigrants). The bridge, which is very close to the Red Hook community, is a constant reminder of American opportunity and industry. From the bridge, one can see the community below and seek greater abstract meaning from his viewpoint. The bridge allows people to cross into Manhattan and into modern, intellectual American culture. In recent decades, the landmark structure has been refurbished to handle the traffic demands during its second century. The bridge, which now accommodates six lanes of automobile traffic, carries approximately 145,000 vehicles per day. After nearly 120 years, the bridge still has the 44th longest main span among the world's suspension bridges.

REFERENCES:
Langmead Donald. Icons of American architecture. From the Alamo to the World Trade Center. London: Greenwood Press, 1993. Shapiro, Mary J. A Picture History of the Brooklyn Bridge: With 167 Prints and Photographs. New York: Dover, 1983.

INTERNET SOURCES Brooklyn Bridge website. www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridge.html