Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is the suspension bridge over the East River, and it connects the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City. The bridge, with a span of 1,595 feet, was the largest suspension bridge in the world when it was built in 1883 at a cost of about $15 million.

The Brooklyn Bridge hangs from steel cables, nearly sixteen inches thick, suspended from 275-foot towers. The cables are anchored to enormous blocks of masonry at their ends. There are six lanes for traffic on the bridge. The bridge was designated as a national historic landmark in 1964 by the National Park Service.

Another interesting fact that I learned this week is that the Brooklyn Bridge is in the general area where General George Washington and his army crossed from Brooklyn to Manhattan in order to escape from the British Army in the Battle of New York.

Facts for this post came from an article by Fred F. Videon in World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p 650.