As the Brooklyn Bridge project got underway in 1869, designer John Roebling died, and his son Washington became chief engineer. Then Washington was struck down by caisson disease, what we now call the bends. It damaged his sight and hearing and left him partly paralyzed. His wife Emily stepped in. She wrote his letters, kept his notebooks, reviewed plans, visited the site and met with contractors, who were stunned by her engineering knowledge. Historian David McCullough said she was literally his eyes, his legs, his good right arm. Washington wrote that he had a strong tower to lean upon, his wife. The day before the bridge opened in May 1883, Emily had the honor of driving the first carriage across it. Faithful partners build great things.
