The Brooklyn Bridge (New York City, New York)

 NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, road bridge, suspension bridge, tourist attraction, U.S. National Historic Landmark

Arguably the most influential bridge in American history, and (with the possible exception of San Francisco's Golden Gate) its most famous, the Brooklyn Bridge remains one of New York City’s most celebrated architectural wonders.

Designed by the brilliant engineer John Augustus Roebling (1806-1869) and completed by his equally ingenious son Washington Roebling (1837-1926), this elegant structure was, at the time of its completion in 1883, the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903, and the first steel-wire suspension bridge.

Anchored across the lower East River by two neoGothic towers and a delicate lacework of steel-wire cables, the soaring lines of the Brooklyn Bridge have inspired countless architects, engineers, painters and poets to pursue their own expressions of creative excellence, among them Frank Lloyd Wright, Hart Crane, Walt Whitman, Georgia O'Keefe, Joseph Stella, John Marin and Lewis Mumford.

Brooklyn Bridge Bytes:

Construction Commenced - January 3, 1870
Opened to traffic - May 24, 1883
Total length - 5989 feet
Length of Main Span - 1595.5 feet
Length of each of the four cables - 3578.5 feet

The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 1977 and on March 24, 1983 the bridge was designated a National Historic Engineering Landmark.

Taken from NYCDOT: www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/bridges.html#brookly...