The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

This book profiles the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the engineers and their personalities, the corruption and bribery of the times and the overall culture of the late 1800's. As always, David McCullough writes with a literary style that is enjoyable but also educational. This book is a history lesson combined with the pleasure of understanding the mindset and life of those who lived before us and is a great testimony to human ingenuity. Pros: - David McCullough's writing style: His sentences are lucidly crafted so that such a distinct image in your mind is created as a result.He has to gift to blend technical information of the bridge with poetic grace that is both a pleasure to the reader as well as an education. - Understanding of the prevailing culture of corruption and bribery of politicians and executives during this era: The building of the Brooklyn Bridge wasn't built without its trace of bribery and corruption amongst the board overseeing its creation, and, as a result, causes the reader to view the bridge from a different perspective other than that of a sheer feat of human ingenuity. - True insight into the personalities of all the characters involved in the building of the bridge: Colonel Roebling wasn't only known for being the Chief Engineer of The Great Bridge; he was also a courageous and decorated Civil War Veteran participating in multiple key battles. - Provides inspiration for those of a mechanical aptitude, or for anyone who realizes modern industry wasn't magically created, but was created by the hard work and intelligence and bravery of mankind: Understanding what is required to erect a bridge of this magnitude will shock and awe the average reader who has no prior knowledge of engineering. Cons: - Technical details of bridge engineering require extra attention and focus for understanding: For those with a background not related to engineering, the technical details of how the bridge was built is difficult to understand and requires constant referencing the dictionary to comprehend what the author is trying to convey to the reader. - At times, the non-technical descriptions of the magnificence of the bridge is verbose and repetitive

The Great Bridger by David McCullough For me this is a rare read. It is over 800 pages. Fortunately, the last 20% are appendices which I did not studiously read nor look over. This story begins with the early years of suspension bridges in the United States as they prepared the way for the building of the Great Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge. This is about building of the bridge, the people who built the bridge and convincing the communities to undertake this endeavor. At the time of its completion in 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world, (1595ft). Its center span rose 127 feet above mean high tide to facilitate the passing of sailing ships. In 1883 its towers were the tallest structures in New York. (272 feet above the water. McCoullough gives us backgrounds on all the key participants in building the bridge and in opposing the bridge. Yes, the building of the bridge was a roaring controversy from its conception throughout its construction. (There was a significant cost overrun.) McCoullough also gives us insight into the politics of New York City, Albany and even the U. S. These were the years of the Tammany Hall Gang, and nothing got done in New York without some level of participation of the leadership at Tammany Hall. In spite of accusations of corruption surrounding the financing of the bridge a post construction review of the bridge reported that there were no misspent funds. The third focus of the book is on the actual construction of the bridge. To give you some idea of the challenges faced by the engineers and the workers. The first step in the construction is creating firm foundations 70 feet below the water. This was done by creating a large watertight box (called a caisson) the size of several basketball courts that is then forced down by clearing away boulders and other debris until it sits on ground firm enough to support the bridge. As the box descends below 30 feet the interior air pressure increases to dangerous levels causing what was called ‘caisson disease’, or as we now know it, the bends. This had debilitating effects on the work men and on Washington Roebling the Supervising Engineer, who joined the laborers working in the caisson. The Brooklyn Bridge was a marvel upon completion and remains an iconic marvel to the day. McCoullough book breathe life into the stones and steel of this iconic structure. This book has moved walking to the center of the bridge is to the top of my bucket list.

Early on, David McCullough tells us when he went to where the archives of the Brooklyn Bridge's Chief Engineer, Washington Roebling, were being held, he was stunned at their total disarray. It appears his book is (partly) proof of time spent reorganizing and categorizing the archive, a noble deed, indeed. McCullough has written an exhaustive, and exhausting, history. It is an epic story, and is treated as such by the author. Their is enough in here about the life and times of the period to satisfy a social history buff. There is enough biography of key, and not so key, players to satisfy a memoir buff. There are enough technical details, to satisfy (I suspect) an engineer. Trouble is, taken together, there is too much of too many angles to keep me absorbed. I found myself skimming through many pages of tedious detail. I already knew that a number of workers died of what we now call the bends, and was interested in knowing more about that. But it could've been condensed without sacrifice. I'm not sure I had to learn so much about doctors who were investigating the problem or the life histories of other engineers whose projects experienced similar deaths. I was fascinated by the political machinations of key players, including Boss Tweed. But the biographical sketches of so many players left my head spinning; I wanted to get back to bridge building, so to speak. I was awed by the granular engineering details, but was the author just showing off? Showing us how much he gleaned from the archives? Did I have to know the length, width, height and weight of the bolts -- and so many different kinds, too? Perhaps Mr. McCullough goal was to write a book that would be deemed the definitive history of the Brooklyn Bridge. Or maybe his editor lacked the contractual power to force consolidation and cuts. But as the late, great Elmore Leonard advised, cut out the parts that people tend to skip.

A good story, well told. David McCullough produced readable non-fiction.

I had many questions regarding the 19th Century technology used to construct the much admired, iconic Brooklyn Bridge. David McCullough most ably answers them all, along with a detailed portrayal of the genius father and son team, John and Washington Roebling. Along the way, unfolds an insightful treatment of rival engineers, crooks, and politicians. Self-educated James Eads built a triple steel arch bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis. William Marcy Tweed, the archetypal corrupt politician, along with confederates and challengers, were the movers and shakers of all public projects that took place in New York and Brooklyn. John Roebling, a university educated engineer from Germany, developed a successful wire rope manufacturing business which he applied to the design and construction of numerous suspension bridges, among which were impressive bridges at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Niagara Falls. These successes led to the acceptance of his bid for the Brooklyn Bridge contract. Washington, who led construction projects and built bridges for the Union Army, was his father's second in command. In the early stages of mapping out the construction, John was injured in a freak accident which resulted in tetanus and his subsequent terrible death. At age thirty-two, Washington, with some misgivings by the bridge committee because of his youth, took over the project and quickly proved his capabilities by designing the two most massive caissons ever constructed. These were used for the foundations of the bridge's East River towers. Ironically, Washington was afflicted with caisson disease (now known as the bends) while fighting a fire in the Brooklyn caisson. This left him an invalid. Washington's most remarkable wife, Emily, quickly made herself knowledgeable in what needed to be done and became Washington's link to the on-site engineers as Washington watched the bridge's progress from a window in their home. At the time, there was speculation that the reclusive Washington was no longer rational and that Emily was the actual chief engineer. The project took 14-years as it overcame innumerable problems, both technical and political. The Great Bridge opened in 1883 with heretofore unprecedented celebration. Washington later recovered from the bends, living until 1926 as he acquired considerable wealth from the manufacture of wire rope.

I bought this book for a gift and am unhappy with the condition of the product. The book jacket and spine of the book are wrinkled, even though the package it arrived in was perfectly fine. The book itself is a fabulous read.

I mostly enjoyed this book, especially the first quarter and the last quarter. It is meticulously researched and as always, McCullough does a great job putting you in to the time period he is documenting. In this case McCullough takes us back to 19th century New York City, comparing and contrasting Manhattan and Brooklyn. He explains the initial impetus for a bridge over the East River to connect the 2 cities, how it would affect the lifestyles and economies of both cities. The book is covering an exciting time in America when large engineering projects were being accomplished which would lay an infrastructure which made the 20th century economy possible. He covers other bridge builders and their projects notably the Eads bridge over the Mississippi. As a lot of people know the Roebling family sacrifices made the Brooklyn bridge possible. Mccullough covers the life of German born Joeseph Roebling an educated engineer who emigrated to Pennsylvania and founded a community of Germans. After about a decade however Roebling went back into engineering and began a series of high profile suspension bridges, notably Roebling bridge in Cincinnati and a railroad bridge over the Niagara river. When Roebling began work on the Brooklyn bridge his son was his main assistant – Washington Roebling. Unfortunately after his foot was injured in an on the job accident, Joeseph Roebling contracted gangrene and died. His son had to take over as the main engineer for the bridge and he accomplished it by using caissons to sink the foundation of the towers. At that time the medical issues associated with working in pressures greater than one atmosphere were not well understood. Washington Roebling basically sacrificed his life due to his becoming chronically ill from having worked in the caissons and suffering the bends repeatedly. He was bedridden for years, but still managed to manage the project from his home in Brooklyn. There were some drawbacks to this book, mostly in the middle parts of it. I don't think that the book did a great job of describing the “how to” part of building the bridge. I had seen a special on the history channel on building the bridge. Without that I don't think the book would have made clear what was involved in the caissons and “spinning the wire” . Also the book gets a little bogged down in the politics behind building the bridge, the graft and corruption involved. Overall though this was a good book to help you understand what went into building a great American landmark.

The book was much longer than it needed to be. There were several sections that I skimmed over which I don't usually do. All in all, a very interesting story. I had the good fortune to see the bridge in person a few years ago.