Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge reaches 5,989 ft over the East River in New York City. It is now an iconic part of the NYC skyline. The bridge was designed and built by the father-and-son team of John and Washington Roebling and took 13 years to complete.

One week after the bridge opened a rumor circulated that it was going to collapse, causing a stampede that killed 12 people. The rumor was proven false when P.T. Barnum led a parade of 21 elephants across the bridge.

At the time it opened, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Roebling designed the bridge to be 6 times as strong as he thought it needed to be, which is the reason the bridge is still standing today, while many other bridges built during that time have collapsed. The diagonal cables on the bridge turned out to be unneccessary, but add to its structural beauty.