Brooklyn Bridge visit

 

Brooklyn Bridge visit

We four then went ahead to see the most famous, gigantic, engineering marvel of the New York city – the world famous Brooklyn Bridge. It is a very big bridge structure spread over 1660 feet length, with a very old sturdy ropes of metal around. 

The structure appears very superb. But one needs to have a lot of energy to visit and see this engineering marvel of new york. As i was very tired i had great problem walking all that distance. Other family members were quite happy and enjoying their walk on the bridge. Son, daughter in law, wife all were very much energetic, enthusiastic and taking perhaps a biggest walk after coming to USA. I was the one who was much skeptical about the visit as i was very much tired and cannot walk a long distance with sufficient speed .  But somehow we managed it, My family members responded well to my physical condition and my son had been always with me, while my wife and daughter in law were quite ahead enjoying their fast walk on a world famous Brooklyn Bridge. 

The Brooklyn Bridge in New York city is an iconic 19th century engineering marvel that took 14 years to build and opened on May 24,1883.P.T. Barnum's Elephants Walked Across It: In 1884, famous circus owner P.T. Barnum led 21 elephants and 17 camels across the Brooklyn Bridge as a bold publicity stunt. He wanted to prove to the public that the new steel structure was safe and strong. 

Anyhow we had not walked the full length of the bridge and gone just upto half one, and that too was very long.  The atmosphere around was quite beautiful, scenic, seen thousands of vehicles running on the side roads of the bridge at a time in full speed.  The distance is about 1.8 km one way  and requires 45 to 60 minutes to walk one side, if you spend some time in shooting and photography.  The water under the bridge is called the East River.

It carried lakhs of vehicles and thousands of visitors every month. Vehicles now are required to be parked at a designated parking slot near the starting of the Brooklyn Bridge. It takes a lot of time to have such a long walk. When completed in 1883 it was the the largest suspension bridge in the world and 20% bigger than any one build previously. It was seven times taller than any structure in New York that time. It was the first  suspension bridge to use Steel for its cables. It was designed,engineered and built by immigrants between 18969 to1883.

We are astonished to see this engineering marvel standing to sturdy and high after so many decades, as we read the news of bridge collapse quite often in India , especially in 12- 14 years, in spite of tall claims of its buildings.  

In 1884, P.T. Barnum’s circus paraded 21 elephants and 17 camels across the Brooklyn Bridge, cleverly marketing the circus while dispelling the public’s fears about the bridge’s stability and demonstrating its enduring strength.

History of its construction - 

A woman named Emily Warren Roebling directed and finished the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband fell ill.

Emily's Role

Emily took charge of daily construction supervision for over 10 years.
She learned high-level math, stress analysis, and cable design.
She managed workers, met with contractors, and handled the project's business.
She was the first person to cross the finished bridge in a carriage in 1883.
A plaque on the bridge honors her vital work.

It’s been a popular protest route for decades.

The Brooklyn Bridge has witnessed numerous historic protests, from the suffragette marches for women’s rights in the early 20th century to the fights for civil rights in the 1960s, and more recently, the Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter movements.

Considering its long length and difficulty of climbing and walking for a very long time, there are number of benches on one side of the bride, whereupon i had also rested for few minutes along with many other visitors to the spot.

Further we can see some street vendors selling fruit dishes. Somebody selling hats and goggles. While some selling other items of interest to the visitors coming to the bridge. I see they doing lot of business on the both sides of the bridge.