Emily Roebling
Over the next 11 years, Emily Roebling was the public face of the Brooklyn Bridge, whilst Washington observed proceedings from the windows of their house in Brooklyn Heights. He watched as the towers rose, the cables were strung, the anchorages built, and the final stays and framework slowly came into position.
'... in the eyes of many she herself finally became the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge.'
If Washington had not married such a strong-minded and intelligent woman, he might have fallen prey to politicking and betrayal. Others might have tended him when he fell sick with 'the bends', but Emily Roebling not only ministered to him - she also took on the burden of responsibility for finishing the job of building the Brooklyn Bridge.
When the trustees tried to replace Washington as chief engineer, Emily organised his defence. She addressed meetings of engineers, and lobbied skilfully behind the scenes, as she fought for her husband's title and reputation. In the eyes of many, she became the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is not surprising that she was roundly praised at the opening ceremony.
The Roebling marriage, however, did not survive these events in very good shape. Emily had assumed her husband would retire from public life once the bridge was finished, and that he would spend time recovering quietly in the company of his wife and their son, John. But he did no such thing, for he and the company worked to supply wire cable for numerous other bridges - including the Manhattan bridge in 1909.
While Washington remained in Brooklyn, Emily moved to Troy, in upstate New York. She focused her attentions on John, whilst he went through his studies at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - which was where Washington had studied. Emily Roebling also took a law degree, paying particular interest to the movement for the advancement of the rights of women. She died just after the turn of the century.
Despite his ill-health, Washington Roebling outlived his wife, and remarried. By the time he died, in 1926, the cause of Caisson disease had been properly established. It was caused by nitrogen bubbles forming in the blood, as the result of a too-rapid decompression on the journey up out of the caisson.
If the workers had spent a few hours per shift in the airlocks, instead of just 20 minutes, adjusting to normal air pressure in slower and more gradual steps, then none of the deaths or illnessess would have happened.
Published: 2003-09-02