Rivers & Bridges

John Roebling, the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge
Got his foot crushed between the dock pilings and a ferry boat
Just days after finishing the plans
He died from gangrene in less than three weeks
He didn't have to die, but the only treatment he would accept was hydrotherapy
And that proved useless
And it was striking that a man who'd spend his life
Building bridges over bodies of water so that people wouldn't get wet
Should believe that the only true medicine
Consisted in immersing oneself in water

After John Roebling's death, his son Washington took over as chief engineer
And that was another curious story
Washington Roebling was just 31 at the time, with no buidling experience
Except for the wooden bridges he designed during the Civil War
But he proved to be even more brilliant than his father

Not long after construction began on the Brooklyn Bridge, however
He was trapped for several hours during a fire
In one of the underwater caissons
And came out of it with a severe case of the bends
An excruciating disease in which nitrogen bubbles gather in the bloodstream
Nearly killed by the attack, he was thereafter an invalid
Unable to leave the top-floor room
Where he and his wife set up house in Brooklyn Heights
There, Washington Roebling sat every day for many years

Watching the progress of the bridge through a telescope
Sending his wife down every morning with his instructions
Drawing elaborate colour pictures for the foreign workers who spoke no English
So they would understand what to do next
And the remarkable thing was that the whole bridge was literally in his head
Every piece had been memorised
Down to the tiniest bit of steel and stone
And though Washington Roebling never set foot on the bridge
It was totally present inside him
As though by the end of all those years, it had somehow grown into his body