Why building the Brooklyn Bridge was so deadly | How it Became Manhattan

Okay, so now that we've talked about the Statue of Liberty and the Financial District

let's talk about the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and I'm getting one of my favorite views of New York City

The Brooklyn Bridge is a prominent feature in many photos of New York City

it's almost come to visually represent the city. Which is ironic because many people really didn't like it at first

In fact, they were scared of it. I'm going to tell you the story behind the bridge that involves a strange sickness

a series of deaths, a stampede, and a bunch of elephants. Today, there are a lot of bridges around Manhattan, but the Brooklyn Bridge was the first to connect

the island to any other borough. For most of the 1800s, there wasn't a bridge that connected

the city of Brooklyn at the time to Manhattan. Most of the transportation was done by ferries

across the East River here, and a bridge of this scale just seemed impossible

The East River is nearly 2,000 feet wide, and no other suspension bridge in the world

had ever spanned this distance before. But the city needed a better way to cross the water

especially in the winter months. There had been several years where the East River had frozen over

and made it very difficult for the residents of Brooklyn to get over to Manhattan

and so a bridge like this was the solution. But how would they construct such an impossibly long bridge

The city consulted with numerous engineers that came up with a bunch of different ideas

But the key to building the Brooklyn Bridge was this. This is one of the two towers that would support the bridge deck

These towers were considered the most massive thing built in North America at that time

They would make the dream of a bridge that would connect Manhattan to Brooklyn possible

The person who planned to take on this monumental task was John Roebling

John Roebling was an engineer who gained his reputation by building suspension bridges

Like this one he made in Niagara Falls that was the first suspension bridge in the world to support a train

Suspension bridges are bridges that use wire or cable to suspend the deck of the bridge

Hence the name His designs were groundbreaking because instead of using traditional chains he used woven wire cables These extended from the towers to support the deck of the bridge

So under John Roebling's direction, plans were underway to make the longest suspension bridge on Earth

But the first tragedy of the Brooklyn Bridge struck. The head engineer himself died before the construction of the bridge even began

While surveying the project, John Roebling's foot was crushed by a boat, resulting in a

tetanus infection that quickly killed him. His son, Washington Roebling, was also an engineer and had been helping his father on

the bridge's design. So he stepped in to replace his father in overseeing the construction

When Washington took over, he made two unconventional decisions. The first was that he sunk these giant wooden boxes called caesins into the river

That resulted in all kinds of problems, which we'll get to in a moment

The second bizarre thing he did was put a wine cellar in the foundation of the bridge

These wine cellars were built under the ramps at each end of the bridge on both shores

They were rented to local alcohol retailers who could store their wine there. This would help offset the massive cost the project was accumulating

which was becoming monumental. This actually worked, and they operated all the way until Prohibition shut them down

But Washington's other idea, the Kaosins, created a bigger issue. These giant waterproof tanks were filled with pressurized air and then sunk underwater with men inside them

The men would travel up and down to and from these underwater boxes in air-locked iron containers

From the caosin, the workers would excavate the riverbed using dynamite. After digging up the ground and sinking deeper into the water, the caosins were eventually filled up with concrete and they became the foundation for the towers

Many people working in the caosins were mysteriously falling ill. Workers emerged with bloody noses and headaches and slowed heart rates

Around 20 men died, but there were still others that didn't feel anything

Today, we know this is something called the bends, or decompression sickness

It's sometimes even referred to as chaosin sickness, because the workers building this bridge were some of the first people in the world to experience this

The sickness is caused by extreme changes in atmospheric pressure, which can cause the nitrogen in your blood to bubble

And unfortunately, one of the individuals who was severely injured with the bends was the lead of our story, Washington Roebling

The guy in charge of building the bridge and the son of the original engineer

Washington became permanently paralyzed and bed bound for life. Therefore he was unable to continue work on the project So once again the lead engineer of the project needed to be replaced And this time the person that stepped in to take charge was Washington wife Emily Warren

Roebling. Emily was well-educated, but she wasn't a trained engineer, though she did seem to deeply

understand the concepts as she had been helping her husband with designs and work on the bridge

up to this point. But when he became bedbound, she took on more responsibility than she ever had

before. It began with her conveying messages back and forth from her husband to eventually making the

decisions herself. Under her direction, the workers eventually got the two massive towers anchored to

the riverbed. From these, they suspended four enormous cables and then attached more cables

to connect the towers to the deck of the bridge. After years of construction and more lives lost

in work accidents, the bridge was finally complete. The opening of the bridge was on May 24, 1883, and was celebrated as the uniting of two great

cities. When the Brooklyn Bridge was completed, it was by far the longest suspension bridge

in the world. There were massive fireworks and huge crowds to celebrate. One man, P.T. Barnum

who was the founder of the circus, even suggested marching elephants across the bridge as part of

celebration. However, the city turned this idea down, but keep an eye out because P.T. Barnum and

his elephants re-enter the story in a moment. The first person to officially cross the bridge was

Emily Roebling, as an acknowledgement of her enormous success. Her achievement was counted

as a huge win for the feminist movement. One of the speakers called the bridge an everlasting

monument to the self-sacrificing devotion of a woman and of her capacity for that higher education

from which she has been too long disbarred. However, despite this impressive construction achievement

the public was still afraid of the bridge. A few days after the bridge officially opened, another fatal event occurred

You can imagine how at that time the traffic was made up of horses and carriages and pedestrians

As one woman was walking up the steps to the bridge, she tripped and fell

Another person in the crowd saw this and was startled and screamed

Not knowing what was going on, the surrounding crowd panicked and surged forward, causing a stampede

People were trampled, choked, and injured, and 12 people died from this event

The city, who knew how safe the bridge truly was, needed to do some damage control and convey to the public

that it was a safe place for them to commute So they decided to bring back the guy with the elephants To prove that the bridge really was safe the next year P Barnum got a parade of elephants that crossed the bridge to show the city that they had nothing to fear

Finally, people started to trust and use the bridge more. It helped connect the two cities until they eventually united into the same city, and caused

usage of the bridge to go up even more. Even trolleys and trains crossed the bridge

But since 1950, it's only been vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles. Today, we know there's nothing to fear

The bridge has since been described as the best-built bridge in New York, and over the

years has given the engineers in charge less trouble than any other bridge in the city

Indeed, it remains today one of the best-built bridges in the world

It was actually years before it was officially known as the Brooklyn Bridge

For the first 30 years it was in use, it was actually called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge

Other bridges followed and the city continued to grow. If you get the chance, I highly recommend

that you cross the bridge over to the Brooklyn side and you take in the views from this promenade

A walk across this bridge is over a mile long, so brace yourself for a nice, beautiful walk

But you can still walk it just to the middle and back and still get a really great view

To access the bridge, enter either on the Manhattan side via Center Street or the Brooklyn side

via the Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard, way back here on Tillery Street. There is also a set of stairs here

The design of the Brooklyn Bridge is unique because this pedestrian walkway is risen up in the middle

between all the traffic. Many people like to start in Brooklyn, so as to take in the view of the Manhattan skyline

during the walk, including the Freedom Tower from many different vantages. If you do want to walk or bike across the bridge

be mindful of which lane is for bikers and which is for pedestrians

And know that the traffic can get very crowded, but it doesn't take away from the beautiful views

As you're walking, in addition to taking in the awesome views of the city, don't forget to look up

Look at these massive Gothic arches that at the time represented a major feat of engineering

Look at all the cables that cleverly hold this bridge together. Think of the wine cellars under your feet

or the pressurized chaosans below and the persistence that went into creating

this awe-inspiring structure. This bridge is absolutely worth a visit And if you find yourself here, it's even more interesting

if you consider the unique story that brought this place to life. So now that we've talked about the Brooklyn Bridge

let's head north just a couple blocks to Chinatown