Editing Brooklyn Bridge (section)

=== Planning ===
[[File:BrooklynBridgeSchematic.jpg|thumb|alt=Early plan of one tower for the Brooklyn Bridge, drawn in 1867|Early Brooklyn Bridge tower plan, 1867]]

Proposals for a bridge between the then-separate cities of Brooklyn and New York had been suggested as early as 1800.<ref name="McCullough pp. 24-25">{{harvnb|ps=.|McCullough|1972|pp=24–25}}</ref><ref name="nyt19291229" /> At the time, the only travel between the two cities was by [[List of ferries across the East River|a number of ferry lines]].<ref name="McCullough pp. 24-25" /><ref name="nyt19330521">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/05/21/archives/brooklyn-bridge-fifty-vivid-years-the-historic-span-ushered-in-the.html|title=Brooklyn Bridge:Fifty Vivid Years; The Historic Span Ushered in the Era of Manhattan's Ties With Neighbors|last=Brock|first=H. i|date=May 21, 1933|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 2, 2019|archive-date=July 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702145916/https://www.nytimes.com/1933/05/21/archives/brooklyn-bridge-fifty-vivid-years-the-historic-span-ushered-in-the.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Engineers presented various designs, such as chain or link bridges, though these were never built because of the difficulties of constructing a high enough fixed-span bridge across the extremely busy East River.<ref name="McCullough pp. 24-25" /><ref name="nyt19291229" /> There were also proposals for tunnels under the East River, but these were considered prohibitively expensive.<ref name="nyt18830524">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1883/05/24/archives/the-building-of-the-bridge-its-cost-and-the-difficulties-met-with.html|title=The Building of the Bridge; Its Cost and the Difficulties Met With-- Details of the History of a Great Engineering Triumph|date=May 24, 1883|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=June 26, 2019|archive-date=June 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628104724/https://www.nytimes.com/1883/05/24/archives/the-building-of-the-bridge-its-cost-and-the-difficulties-met-with.html|url-status=live}}</ref> German immigrant engineer John Augustus Roebling proposed building a suspension bridge over the East River in 1857. He had previously designed and constructed shorter suspension bridges, such as [[Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct]] in [[Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania]], and the Niagara Suspension Bridge. In 1867, Roebling erected what became the [[John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge]] over the Ohio River between [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], and [[Covington, Kentucky]].<ref>{{cite web |title=John Augustus Roebling |url=https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/notable-civil-engineers/john-augustus-roebling |access-date=June 17, 2019 |publisher=[[American Society of Civil Engineers]] |archive-date=September 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911163235/https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/notable-civil-engineers/john-augustus-roebling/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In February 1867, the New York State Senate passed a bill that allowed the construction of a suspension bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1867/02/15/archives/newyork-affairs-at-the-state-capital-consitutional.html|title=New-York; Affairs At The State Capital|date=April 18, 2018|website=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 23, 2018|archive-date=November 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108184339/https://www.nytimes.com/1867/02/15/archives/newyork-affairs-at-the-state-capital-consitutional.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Two months later, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Company was incorporated with a board of directors (later converted to a board of trustees).<ref name="McCullough pp. 24-25" /><ref name="nybc-incorporation" /><ref name="nyt18720410" /> There were twenty trustees in total: eight each appointed by the mayors of New York and Brooklyn, as well as the mayors of each city and the auditor and comptroller of Brooklyn.<ref name="sun18910611" /> The company was tasked with constructing what was then known as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge.<ref name="McCullough pp. 24-25" /><ref name="nybc-incorporation">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ldpd_11290456_000 |title=An Act to Incorporate the New York Bridge Company, For the Purpose of Constructing and Maintaining a Bridge over the East River, Between the Cities of New York and Brooklyn |date=April 16, 1867 |publisher=[[Brooklyn Savings Bank]]|access-date=April 23, 2018 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name="nyt18720410">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1872/04/10/archives/the-brooklyn-bridge-report-of-the-subcommittee-of-fifty-important.html|title=The Brooklyn Bridge; Report of the Subcommittee of Fifty Important Facts and Figures The New-York And Brooklyn Bridge.|date=April 10, 1872|website=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 23, 2018|archive-date=January 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125003632/https://www.nytimes.com/1872/04/10/archives/the-brooklyn-bridge-report-of-the-subcommittee-of-fifty-important.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Alternatively, the span was just referred to as the "Brooklyn Bridge", a name originating in a January 25, 1867, [[letter to the editor]] sent to the ''[[Brooklyn Eagle|Brooklyn Daily Eagle]].''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eagle/|title=The East River Bridge|author=E.P.D|date=January 25, 1867|newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=November 26, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019230402/https://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eagle/|archive-date=October 19, 2007|number=22|volume=27|page=2}}</ref> The act of incorporation, which became law on April 16, 1867, authorized the cities of New York (now Manhattan) and Brooklyn to subscribe to $5&nbsp;million in [[capital stock]], which would fund the bridge's construction.<ref name="nyt18830524" />

[[File:The great East River bridge- to connect the cities of New York & Brooklyn LCCN2001704255 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Artists' conception, by [[Currier and Ives]], of the bridge while construction was underway, 1872]]
Roebling was subsequently named the chief engineer of the work and, by September 1867, had presented a master plan.<ref name="McCullough pp. 24-25" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/4203536/|title=The East River Bridge|date=September 10, 1867|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=June 18, 2019|page=2|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-date=January 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125003524/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-roebling-report/4203536/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1867/09/11/archives/local-inteligence-the-east-river-bridge-report-of-the-engineerthe.html|title=Local Intelligence; The East River Bridge|date=September 11, 1867|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=June 21, 2019|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621143225/https://www.nytimes.com/1867/09/11/archives/local-inteligence-the-east-river-bridge-report-of-the-engineerthe.html|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the plan, the bridge would be longer and taller than any suspension bridge previously built.<ref name="McCullough pp. 29-31" /> It would incorporate roadways and [[Elevated railway|elevated rail]] tracks, whose tolls and fares would provide the means to pay for the bridge's construction. It would also include a raised promenade that served as a leisurely pathway.<ref name="McCullough pp. 32-33">{{harvnb|ps=.|McCullough|1972|pp=32–33}}</ref> The proposal received much acclaim in both cities, and residents predicted that the New York and Brooklyn Bridge's opening would have as much of an impact as the [[Suez Canal]], the first [[transatlantic telegraph cable]] or the [[first transcontinental railroad]]. By early 1869, however, some individuals started to criticize the project, saying either that the bridge was too expensive, or that the construction process was too difficult.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|McCullough|1972|pp=26–28}}</ref>

To allay concerns about the design of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, Roebling set up a "Bridge Party" in March 1869, where he invited engineers and members of U.S. Congress to see his other spans.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|McCullough|1972|pp=35–38}}</ref> Following the bridge party in April, Roebling and several engineers conducted final surveys. During the process, it was determined that the main span would have to be raised from {{Convert|130|to|135|ft|abbr=}} above MHW, requiring several changes to the overall design.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|McCullough|1972|pp=85–89}}</ref> In June 1869, while conducting these surveys, Roebling sustained a crush injury to his foot when a [[ferry]] pinned it against a [[piling]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/15711246/|title=The Accident to Mr. Roebling|date=June 30, 1869|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=June 18, 2019|page=3|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-date=January 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125003628/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-john-roebling-f/15711246/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|McCullough|1972|pp=90–91}}</ref> After amputation of his crushed toes, he developed a [[tetanus]] infection that left him incapacitated and resulted in his death the following month. [[Washington Roebling]], John Roebling's 32-year-old son, was then hired to fill his father's role.<ref>{{cite news |access-date=October 27, 2009 |date=May 24, 1883 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1883/05/24/archives/the-building-of-the-bridge-its-cost-and-the-difficulties-met-with.html |title=The Building Of The Bridge; Its Cost And The Difficulties Met With |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628104724/https://www.nytimes.com/1883/05/24/archives/the-building-of-the-bridge-its-cost-and-the-difficulties-met-with.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Wagner|2017|page=15}}</ref> [[Tammany Hall]] leader [[William M. Tweed]] also became involved in the bridge's construction because, as a major landowner in New York City, he had an interest in the project's completion.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|McCullough|1972|pp=128–129}}</ref> The New York and Brooklyn Bridge Company—later known simply as the New York Bridge Company<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brooklyn Bridge|publisher=Historic Bridges|url=https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=newyork/brooklyn/|access-date=October 3, 2020|archive-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025135504/https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=newyork/brooklyn/|url-status=live}}</ref>—was actually overseen by Tammany Hall, and it approved Roebling's plans and designated him as chief engineer of the project.<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 11, 2012|title=The Curse of the Roeblings? The Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge|url=https://blog.mcny.org/2012/09/11/the-curse-of-the-roeblings-the-construction-of-the-brooklyn-bridge/|access-date=October 3, 2020|publisher=[[Museum of the City of New York]]|language=en|archive-date=October 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024061321/https://blog.mcny.org/2012/09/11/the-curse-of-the-roeblings-the-construction-of-the-brooklyn-bridge/|url-status=live}}</ref>