THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE
Everybody who has been to New York, USA, would
forever be in awe of the famous Brooklyn Bridge. The
great architectural master piece spans over the East
River, New York City; between the boroughs of
Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Designed by Roebling, John Augustus [1806-1869], an
American civil engineer of great repute and
constructed by his son Washington, the Brooklyn
Bridge was opened for use on 24thof May 1883 as the
longest suspension bridge in the then world [1595 ft
long, 133ft high and 6775ft in overall length].
Today, what thrills me most about the famed
Brooklyn Bridge is not its awesome beauty but the
story behind it. The die-hard spirit of the father and
son and their commendable ability to forge ahead
despite adversity and nay sayers’ searing criticism
will forever be a lesson to humanity.
John Roebling had a dream – to build a spectacular
bridge connecting New York with the Long Island.
Experts of his days thought his bizarre idea
unrealistic. Impossibility thinkers encouraged him to
‘wake up’ and stop dreaming.
But tenacious Roebling would not back off. He held to
his vision. He built the bridge over and over in his
mind coming to a greater and clearer conviction of
its possibility on daily basis. Conversely, no one saw
reasons with him. Everyone still insisted that such a
long bridge would be impossible.
Nevertheless, John Augustus Roebling managed to
convince his son Washington, a budding engineer, on
the bridge’s possibility. Soon, father and son defied
all oppositions, criticisms and discouragement and
began the fulfillment of their dream.
The work began well. Several crew men were hired.
Funds were raised and history was on its way to be
made. Father and son were in high hopes but nay-
sayers held on to their opinion, “it’s impossible”.
Some even went beyond criticism to all out
opposition. Still, the Roeblings held sway.
The Roeblings made a great start to the project. All
the materials needed for the project was quickly
made available. Experts were consulted and all
possible glitches were carefully handled to avoid
mistakes.
Unfortunately, just when the work was only a few
months underway, a terrible accident occurred.
Many on the site were left either dead or badly
injured. John Roebling himself died. Washington, his
son, was so much injured that he was permanently
disabled, having damaged a certain amount of his
brain. Both talking and walking, to Washington,
became impossible.
“We warned them sternly. Didn’t we?”
“Crazy men and their crazy dream!”
“I am sure they’ve now seen the side effect of their
being unnecessarily stubborn”.
Just everyone had a negative comment to make.
There was neither sympathy nor words of
encouragement for the “crazy” engineers. Critics
were ‘happy’ as they considered it the end of the
bizarre project.
However, although dead, John Roebling’s dream did
not die with him. The son was highly determined to
completely finish what they both started. Regrettably,
his speech and locomotive disability served as
deterrent to his goal.
Nonetheless, Washington won’t give up. He knew
exactly how right Joseph Sugarman was when he
opined, “Each problem has hidden in it an
opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the
problem. The greatest success stories were created
by people who recognized a problem and turned it
into an opportunity”.
Determined to finish the project despite the huge
problem at hand, young Washington turned his nose
up at discouragement. He literally shut his ears to
people’s inauspicious remarks. Many advised him
that what happened was a divine sign to make him
know that God snobs at the projects.
Others encouraged him to bury the dream with its
first dreamer, his father. His best
friend advised him thus:
“What killed your great father will not struggle to kill
you. It would do so effortlessly. Quit!”
However, men of success are not of them that quit.
Washington’s mind was not only sharp but sharply
inclined to finishing the project. He looked all the
hindrances and impossibility at the face and yet
affirmed: “it shall be done.”
By now, due to the accident, all that Washington
could do with his body was to move one finger. Every
other part of his body was dead. Yet, undeterred, he
resolved to make the best use of that one finger. He
formed a strong partnership with his dotting wife
with whom he developed a rare mode of
communication. Like Helen Keller’s teacher,
Washington would use the finger to spell words on
the arm of his wife. First he instructed her to
assemble the engineers again. Work re-began in
earnest.
Again, through the same rare mode of
communication, through the wife, he taught the
engineers what to do. For thirteen good years,
Washington daily wrote out his instructions with his
fingers on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally
completed.
Today, the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge leaves the
world in awe as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s
indomitable spirit and his resolve not to be kicked
aside by the vicissitudes of life. Ross Perot, a US
business executive and Politian, once complained,
“Most people give up just when they are about to
achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They
give up at the last minute of the game, one foot away
from a winning touchdown. The true test of character
is the ability to carry on and carry out an assignment
or a decision to its completion long after the
enthusiasm with which you took it has waned”.

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amos407020:
...

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