1-157-647 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Construction of the Brooklyn Suspension Bridge, New York, USA, 1880. Top: laying cable - view of saddle and yoke at the top of one of the towers. Bottom: the bridge during construction. On the left is a drum from which wire is being drawn. After delivery from the factory, the wire was dipped in oil, dried in the air, then dipped again, until a coat of hardened grease had been built up. Designed by John Augustus Roebling (1806-1869) this suspension bridge over the East River was heralded as one of the most important construction projects of the 19th century. When completed in 1883 it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Roebling died of tetanus in 1869 after his foot was crushed in an accident during construction. His son, Washington (1837-1926), took over as chief engineer, and saw the project to its successful conclusion with the assistance of his wife Emily after Washington himself was incapacitated by an attack of the bends suffered while working below the river bed. From Appleton's Cyclopaedia of Applied Mechanics (New York, 1880).