The Bridge That Held Through Every Storm

In 1883, when the Brooklyn Bridge finally opened after fourteen years of construction, skeptics lined the shore and shook their heads. They said the cables would snap, the towers would crumble, the East River would swallow the whole impossible dream. Engineer Washington Roeble had gone nearly blind and partially paralyzed overseeing its completion. His father, John, who designed the bridge, had died before a single stone was laid.…