proiect brooklyn bridge 1

8/13/2019 Proiect Brooklyn Bridge 1

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ARCHITECTUREOFPOWERIN

AMERICA

Cultural Icons

Student: Radu Iulia

II nd year, Anglo-American Studies


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BROOKLYN BRIDGE, New York city

What do you associate Brooklyn

Bridge with?Why it has an iconic status?


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BROOKLYNBRIDGE, NEWYORKCITY

The Brooklyn Bridge is located in New York City and itconnects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn with amain span of 486.3 m. It was completed in 1883.

Since its opening, it has become an icon of New York City,

and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.The bridge has been a common element of popular cultureon magazines and postcards and in comic books,advertisements, films, television programs, and cartoons. Itsimage has embellished all kinds of tourist souvenirs.

The Brooklyn Bridge was initially designed by Germanimmigrant John Augustus Roebling, who patented in 1841 thelow carbon iron wire rope.


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BROOKLYNBRIDGE, NEWYORKCITY

BUILDINGPHASES:

In 1859 Roebling proposed two 800-foot suspension spanslinked over the island by a 500-foot cantilever, near the site ofthe present-day Queensboro Bridge. The estimated cost was$1,200,000. Before any further progress could be made, the

project was shelved because of economic depression. Thencame the Civil War.

For 16 years the press would alternatively refer to the projectas the East River Bridge, the Great Bridge and the BrooklynBridge. The motto of the bridge from the great opening was

TwoCities As One. The City of New York was allowed to make a $1.5 million

capital investment, and the City of Brooklyn $3 million.


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THESTRUCTURE

The four main suspension cables, continuous fromanchorage to anchorage, pass over the towers andhang in the curve that cables naturally assume whensuspended from two points between them. That freesthe towers from horizontal forces; acting in compression,they transmit the self-weight of the structure and any liveloads to the foundations. The colossal anchorages resistthe forces in the main cables. The steel-framed bridgedeck hangs from those cables on vertical suspenders,and diagonal stays stabilize it against wind loads.

Roebling called those towers the most conspicuousfeatures) that rise close to either shore of the river.Above the waterline the towers are built of granite. Theyhave been called gothic (by others but never by JohnRoebling).


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A BRIDGEMADEBYTHEROEBLINGS

The story of the bridge begins in tragedy. On July 6, 1869,while John Roebling was locating the Brooklyn tower, aferryboat collided with the slip on which he stood, crushing hisright foot against the piling. The injured toes were immediatelyamputated he refused anaestheticbut (perhaps becausehe insisted upon hydrotherapy over conventional medical

treatment) tetanus followed. He died on July 22. Washington Augustus Roebling was just 32 years old when he

succeeded his father as chief engineer of the mostprestigious [engineering project] of the continent and of theage.Certainly it was the most ambitious bridge that Americahad ever seen. Washington had worked off and on in the

family business since graduating from Rensselaer PolytechnicInstitute in 1857. In the summer of 1872 he was carried out ofthe Manhattan caisson. By the years end, he was partiallyparalyzed, hardly able to speak, deaf, and beginning to goblind.


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Roebling conducted the entire construction from his apartmentwith a view of the work, designing and redesigning caissonsand other equipment. He was aided by his wife Emily Warren

Roebling who provided the critical written link between herhusband and the engineers on site. Under her husband'sguidance, Emily studied higher mathematics, the calculationsof catenary curves, the strengths of materials and bridgespecifications.

On that first day, a total of 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 peoplecrossed what was then the only land passage betweenManhattan and Brooklyn. Emily Warren Roebling was the firstto cross the bridge with a rooster as a symbol of victory.

At the time it opened, and for several years, it was the longest

suspension bridge in the world50% longer than anypreviously builtand it has become a treasured landmark.Since the 1980s, it has been floodlit at night to highlight itsarchitectural features.


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THEBRIDGEASASYMBOL

The Brooklyn Bridge is symbolic of a pathway of opportunityto Manhattan and also the linkage between American andEuropean cultures (immigrants). The bridge, which is veryclose to the Red Hook community, is a constant reminder of

American opportunity and industry. From the bridge, one cansee the community below and seek greater abstract meaningfrom his viewpoint. The bridge allows people to cross intoManhattan and into modern, intellectual American culture.

In recent decades, the landmark structure has beenrefurbished to handle the traffic demands during its secondcentury. The bridge, which now accommodates six lanes ofautomobile traffic, carries approximately 145,000 vehicles perday. After nearly 120 years, the bridge still has the 44thlongest main span among the world's suspension bridges.


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REFERENCES:

Langmead Donald. Icons of American architecture.From the Alamo to the World Trade Center. London:Greenwood Press, 1993.

Shapiro, Mary J.A Picture History of the BrooklynBridge: With 167 Prints and Photographs. NewYork: Dover, 1983.

INTERNET SOURCES

Brooklyn Bridge website.www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridge.html
http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridge.htmlhttp://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridge.html


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proiect brooklyn bridge 1

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