The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough

  ★★★¾
GENRE: History
SUBJECT: Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge
SETTING: New York, NY
CHARACTERS: Washington Roebling, Emily Roebling,
DATE READ: November 21 - November 25
NO. OF PAGES: 608
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:   no, public library
CATEGORY: History Class

PLOT:...............................................4
CHARACTERIZATION:........................3.5
TOPICS:...........................................4
STYLE:..............................................4
ORIGINALITY:...................................4
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................3.5
OWNERSHIP:....................................3
THRESHOLD QUALITY:.......................4
Average......................................................................3.75

The Brooklyn Bridge - just the words conjure up the image of a stately icon with twinkling lights and a spider-like web of cables.  But it is so much more.  The Brooklyn Bridge completed in 1883 replaced nearly all the dozens of ferries that had been used to transport goods and people from Brooklyn into New York City.  At the time of its construction Brooklyn was not part of the city, but due to the connection and constant traffic eventually Brooklyn became one of the 5 boroughs of the city.

The construction was the greatest of its day but not without its difficulties.  The caissons built for the massive spans resulted in 12 deaths due to "caissons disease" or what we now call the bends.  Men worked deep below the river in areas using compressed air and without knowledge of the effects, no decompression was used for the workers.  In fact, the General Engineer, Washington Roebling, suffered from the debilitating effects of the bends for over 30 years and because of it, he was unable to be present at the open ceremonies or be the first to cross the bridge (his wife had that honor).

This book is an engaging chronicle of the efforts of Washington Roebling and the men who struggled to create and build this masterpiece of engineering.  The author makes it seem like a love story as well as a documentation of a building of a Landmark.