Landmark North America
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge crosses a wide river in New York City. It hangs from strong steel cables. Big stone towers hold the cables up.
The Brooklyn Bridge crosses the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1869 to 1883, it was the first bridge to use steel wire for its cables, and its main span was the longest in the world until 1890. Every day, cars, walkers and cyclists still cross it.
Designed by John A. Roebling and completed in 1883 under his son Washington and Emily Warren Roebling, the Brooklyn Bridge pioneered steel cable wire and explosives inside pneumatic caissons. Its 486 m (1,595 ft) main span hangs from four cables between granite and limestone towers.
Photo: Christian David, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is in New York City, a giant city in the United States.
It goes over a wide river. Two tall stone towers hold up thick cables. The cables hold up the road. Cars drive on it, and people walk and bike across it.
The Brooklyn Bridge crosses the East River in New York City, joining Brooklyn and Manhattan. It is a suspension bridge: the road hangs from four huge cables that run over two stone towers.
When it was finished in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. It was also the first bridge to use steel wire for its cables. Today it carries five lanes of cars, a walkway for people and a path for bikes. Britannica calls it an essential landmark of New York City.
Britannica calls the bridge a brilliant feat of 19th-century engineering: the first bridge to use steel for cable wire, and the first project in which explosives were used inside a pneumatic caisson. Its 486 m (1,595 ft) main span was the world's longest until the Firth of Forth cantilever bridge in Scotland was completed in 1890.
New York City's Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) describes a bridge known for its stone arches, carrying five lanes of vehicles (no trucks), a pedestrian promenade and a protected bicycle path. Because the span sits high above the river and the shores are low, the approaches slope down far inland on both sides; with them the bridge is 6,016 ft long. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972.
- Crosses
- The East River, from Brooklyn to Manhattan
- Built
- 1869 to 1883; opened May 24, 1883
- Main span
- 486 m (1,595 ft)
- Length with approaches
- 6,016 ft (about 1,834 m)
A family that built a bridge
An engineer named John Roebling planned the bridge.
Sadly, he died at the very start. His son Washington took over. When Washington became very sick, his wife Emily helped him finish the bridge.
The bridge was planned by John A. Roebling, an engineer famous for suspension bridges. He had invented his own way of weaving wire cables. But he died after an accident at the very start of construction in 1869.
His son, Washington Roebling, became chief engineer. Working in the deep underwater chambers below the towers made him very ill, so he had to stay in his apartment. He watched the work through binoculars, and his wife, Emily Warren Roebling, carried his instructions to the builders. When the bridge opened on May 24, 1883, Emily rode in the first carriage across.
John Augustus Roebling, who had developed his own method of spinning wire cables and built suspension bridges such as the Cincinnati-Covington (now John A. Roebling) Bridge, died at the beginning of construction after an accident on site. His son Washington, the new chief engineer, suffered a crippling attack of decompression sickness (caisson disease). Confined to his apartment in Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, he directed the work by watching through field glasses, with Emily Warren Roebling carrying his messages to the site.
The work met setbacks: a compressed-air blast wrecked a caisson, a fire smoldered for weeks in another, a cable broke from its anchorage and fell into the river, and a steel-wire contractor's fraud forced the replacement of tons of cable. Britannica records that at least 20 workers died and many more suffered decompression sickness. On opening day, May 24, 1883, attended by President Chester A. Arthur, Emily rode the first carriage across from Brooklyn.
Caissons, towers and cables
First, workers dug deep under the river to make a strong base for each tower.
Then they built the towers from stone. Last, they spun thick cables from thousands of steel wires.
To build each tower, workers first sank a caisson onto the riverbed. A caisson is a huge box with a sharp bottom edge and a working room at the bottom. Air was pumped into that room to hold back the water and mud, so workers inside could dig, and the box sank deeper as they dug. For the first time, they even used explosives inside a caisson to break up rock.
On top, builders raised the towers from granite, limestone and cement. Then they spun four main cables from steel wire, using John Roebling's method, and hung the road from them.
Each tower stands on a pneumatic caisson: a chamber sunk to its foundation under compressed air while workers excavated beneath it. Britannica credits the bridge with the first use of explosives inside such a caisson, and with the first use of steel for cable wire. Working under pressure caused decompression sickness, which crippled Washington Roebling and affected many workers.
The towers are built of limestone, granite and cement, and the deck hangs from four main cables. Between 1944 and 1954, NYC DOT reports, a comprehensive reconstruction strengthened the inner and outer trusses, added horizontal stays between the four main cables, removed the railroad and trolley tracks, widened the roadways from two lanes to three and built new approach ramps.
Arches, cables and the promenade
Each tower has two big pointed arches. Cars drive through them.
Lots of thin wires spread out from the towers like a giant web. Above the cars is a wide path just for walking.
Each stone tower has two tall pointed arches that the roadways pass through. From the towers, the four main cables swoop down and up again, and thinner wires spread out like a spider's web to hold the deck.
The bridge's most special feature is its promenade, a wide walkway raised above the traffic. John Roebling predicted that in a crowded city it would be incredibly valuable, and he was right: thousands of people walk across every day.
NYC DOT notes the bridge's famous stone arches; the towers carry the four main cables, from which the deck is suspended, and horizontal stays between the main cables were added in the 1944 to 1954 reconstruction.
The broad promenade above the roadway is its signature: John Roebling predicted that "in a crowded commercial city" it would be "of incalculable value." Its strength and grace inspired poets such as Walt Whitman, Hart Crane and Marianne Moore and artists including Joseph Stella, John Marin, Berenice Abbott and Alfred Eisenstaedt. In September 2021 a two-way protected bike lane opened, taking one vehicle lane.
- Main cables
- 4
- Towers built of
- Limestone, granite and cement
- Traffic
- 5 lanes of vehicles, a promenade and a bike path
- Landmark status
- National Historic Landmark (1964)
The bridge today
Today, the bridge is very busy.
Every day, thousands of cars, walkers and bikes cross it. Workers fix and paint it to keep it strong.
In 2024, on an average day, about 103,000 vehicles, 28,800 people on foot and 5,500 cyclists crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. That is a lot of traffic for a bridge more than 140 years old!
To keep it safe, New York City's transportation department looks after it all the time. Workers have repaired its stone arches, reset granite stones, replaced its deck and painted the whole bridge.
NYC DOT counted, as of 2024, an average of 103,051 vehicles, 28,845 pedestrians and 5,504 cyclists a day. The bridge is maintained through capital projects and routine in-house repairs: emergency re-decking (1998 to 2000, $37 million), rehabilitation of approaches and ramps with painting of the whole bridge (2010 to 2017, $650 million), masonry wall repairs after Hurricane Sandy (2017 to 2019) and a contract begun in 2019 to strengthen the masonry towers and arch blocks and repoint and reset granite stones.
The bridge and its approach lots became New York City Landmarks in 1967, and the National Park Service designated it a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
Amazing facts
-
Emily Roebling rode across first, holding a rooster!
When the bridge was finished, Emily Warren Roebling rode in the first carriage across, carrying a rooster as a sign of victory.
Emily Warren Roebling rode the first carriage across from the Brooklyn side, carrying a rooster as a symbol of victory.
-
It was the first bridge with steel wire cables.
The Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge to use steel for its cable wire.
It was the first bridge to use steel cable wire, and the first project to use explosives inside a pneumatic caisson.
-
Trains and trolleys once crossed the bridge too.
Railroad and trolley tracks once ran across the bridge. They were taken out during a rebuild from 1944 to 1954.
The 1944 to 1954 reconstruction removed the railroad and trolley tracks and widened the roadways from two lanes to three.
-
The chief engineer watched the work from his window.
Washington Roebling was too ill to go to the bridge, so he watched through binoculars from his apartment in Brooklyn.
Confined to his Columbia Heights apartment, Washington Roebling observed with field glasses and sent instructions through Emily Warren Roebling.
Words to know
- suspension bridge
- a bridge whose road hangs from cables running over tall towers
- cable
- a very strong rope made of many wires twisted or bound together
- caisson
- a huge box sunk underwater, inside which workers dig and build a foundation
- span
- the distance between two supports of a bridge
- promenade
- a wide path made for walking
- engineer
- a person who designs and builds machines, bridges and other structures
Discovery challenge
-
What holds up the road on the Brooklyn Bridge?
What kind of bridge is the Brooklyn Bridge, with its road hanging from cables?
Which structural type is the Brooklyn Bridge, whose deck hangs from four main cables?
- A suspension bridge
- A floating bridge
- A drawbridge
Show the answer
A suspension bridge
Strong cables hold it up. It is a suspension bridge!
It is a suspension bridge: the road hangs from four cables that run over two towers.
A suspension bridge; its deck is supported by four main cables.
-
Which river does the bridge cross?
Which river does the Brooklyn Bridge cross?
Which river separates the bridge's Brooklyn and Manhattan ends?
- The Mississippi River
- The East River
- The River Thames
Show the answer
The East River
The East River, in New York City.
It crosses the East River, joining Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The East River, between Brooklyn Heights and Lower Manhattan.
-
Who helped Washington Roebling finish the bridge?
When Washington Roebling became ill, who carried his instructions to the builders?
Who relayed the bedridden chief engineer's instructions to the site?
- His wife, Emily
- The President
- A robot
Show the answer
His wife, Emily
His wife, Emily Warren Roebling!
Emily Warren Roebling carried his messages to the site and helped guide the work.
Emily Warren Roebling, who also rode the first carriage across in 1883.
-
What new material did the bridge's cables use?
The Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge to use cable wire made of what?
For which material in its cable wire was the bridge a first?
- Rope
- Steel
- Gold
Show the answer
Steel
Steel! Steel wire is very strong.
It was the first bridge to use steel for its cable wire.
Steel cable wire, spun by John Roebling's method.
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Experiments to try
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a bridge had no supports? A beam bridge stays up because its supports push up on it. In our model, a steel beam held at both ends barely bends under a 20-tonne truck. Hold it at one end only and it bends about eight times as much. Take away every support and nothing holds it up at all.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a bridge were twice as long? A steel beam bridge 20 meters long sags about 14 millimeters under a 20-tonne truck. Make it twice as long and the sag does not just double: in our model it grows almost 14 times. Find out why long bridges need different designs.
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Tower Bridge
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The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. France gave her to the United States as a sign of friendship. The sculptor Auguste Bartholdi shaped her copper skin, Gustave Eiffel designed the iron frame inside, and she was dedicated in 1886.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a bridge had no supports? A beam bridge stays up because its supports push up on it. In our model, a steel beam held at both ends barely bends under a 20-tonne truck. Hold it at one end only and it bends about eight times as much. Take away every support and nothing holds it up at all.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a bridge were twice as long? A steel beam bridge 20 meters long sags about 14 millimeters under a 20-tonne truck. Make it twice as long and the sag does not just double: in our model it grows almost 14 times. Find out why long bridges need different designs.
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London Bridge
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and explain what a suspension bridge is.
- Describe how caissons, stone towers and steel cables were used to build it.
- Tell the story of John, Washington and Emily Warren Roebling and the workers who built the bridge.
- Discuss how an old bridge is kept safe for today's traffic.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Emily Warren Roebling helped finish the bridge when her husband was ill. What skills do you think she needed?
- Why do you think John Roebling added a walkway above the traffic?
- The bridge is more than 140 years old and still busy every day. What does it take to keep an old bridge working?
Try at home or in class
- Make a suspension bridge: tie string between two stacks of books, hang a strip of card from it with paper clips, and test how many coins it holds.
- Push an upside-down cup straight down into a bowl of water and see how the trapped air keeps the inside dry, like a caisson.
Key vocabulary: suspension bridge, cable, caisson, span, promenade, engineer
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Brooklyn Bridge , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Caisson , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Brooklyn Bridge , New York City Department of Transportation
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.