Initial ideas for building a bridge across the East river from Manhattan to Brooklyn had been thought of as early at the late eighteenth century, maybe earlier. As Manhattan was growing continuously overcrowded a bridge seemed logical not only to deal with overcrowding in Manhattan, but also to help develop Brooklyn.

The East river was not only very turbulent at the time but it was also one of the busiest navigable waterways on Earth in the nineteenth century. It was not until John Roebling in 1885 decided to tackle this problem head on that any progress was made. Together with William C. Kinsley, a Brooklyn businessman, they managed to get the permits and state approval in 1867. They also managed to get Brooklyn to invest three million dollars and Manhattan half as much to help build the project.

Two years later while scouting out locations for the bridge Roebling sustained a foot injury and died shortly after. His son Washington immediately took over as chief engineer.

Construction on the foundation was under way shortly after. It took three years to finish the foundations, and dynamite was used for the first time in bridge construction. Workers cleared away silt and other mineral deposits working in air tight caissons. The workers worked in horrendous and dangerous condition with no electricity, poor light, and primitive working tools. E.F Farrington compared these workers struggle in the caisson with Dante’s Inferno.

Caisson disease claimed the lives of twenty men and left Washington Roebling paralyzed. His wife then studied all the necessary subjects in order to help her husband finish the project. Work on the towers was finished in 1877.

The cables were the next thing to be constructed. Roebling decided to use steel instead of copper wire for the cables. This was the first time that steel was to be used for constructing bridge cables and bridges for that matter. Roebling however believed this was the way to go and so steel it was. Four cables each able to hold over 11,000 tons and fifteen inches thick were used to support this massive bridge. The bridge measured 6016 feet from one end to the other and in the middle of the bridge rose above the water 135 feet.

The finishing details put on the bridge were the 70 lamps that would illuminate it and the two buildings at either end. It ended up costing $15.1 million dollars which was more than double the original estimate. The bridge opened on May 23rd, 1883 before 14,000 people.

-On opening day a woman’s scream was misinterpreted and a great panic let loose as everyone on the bridge thought it was collapsing. The ensuing chaos claimed the lives of 12 people and 35 more were seriously injured.