About Brooklyn Bridge
The pedestrian walkway sits about 16 feet (5 meters) above the car lanes, so you walk among steel cables with traffic rushing below. When it opened in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 1,595 feet (486 meters). Stop every so often and look back: Manhattan keeps filling the frame.
The construction is a family story. John Roebling drew up the design and died in 1869; his son, Washington, took over as chief engineer, and Washington's wife, Emily Warren Roebling, helped supervise the work. The limestone and granite towers, with their pointed arches, make the best photo backdrop on the crossing.
