In the mid-19th century, suspension bridges were collapsing all across Europe.
Their industrial cables frayed during turbulent weather and snapped under the weight of their decks.
So when a German-American engineer named John Roebling proposed building the largest and most expensive suspension bridge
ever conceived over New York’s East River, city officials were understandably skeptical.
But Manhattan was increasingly overcrowded, and commuters from Brooklyn clogged the river.
In February of 1867, the government approved Roebling’s proposal. To avoid the failures of European bridges,
Roebling designed a hybrid bridge model. From suspension bridges,
he incorporated large cables supported by central pillars and anchored at each bank. This design was ideal for supporting long decks,
which hung from smaller vertical cables. But Roebling’s model also drew from cable-stayed bridges.
These shorter structures held up their decks with diagonal cables that ran directly to support towers.
