The Brooklyn Bridge was a feat of modern technology. Its construction spanned from 1869 to 1883, or fifteen years over the lives of its three creators. The first, who was also the designer, was John Augustus Roebling. Many thought it impossible for his plan to succeed, as most other suspension bridges had failed under certain circumstances, but he was determined to prove them wrong. In 1867 his plan was approved by New York legislators and just two years later construction began. Throughout the years of construction, many died, including Roebling himself. After his passing, Roebling’s son, Washington A. Roebling, took his place as chief engineer. For most of the time afterwards, he worked well in this place, but after getting what was called…
There was a plethora of complications involving the bridge. On May 30, 1883, the bridge was on the verge of collapsing which caused a stampede that resulted in about 27 deaths. In the early 1900s, many cars fell into the East River due to the lack of strong, permanent railing. This was corrected as soon as possible. Also, the bridge’s aerodynamics had not been worked out. The bridge wasn’t tested for wind tunnels until the 1950s, but thankfully the structure saved many people from getting hit by 100mph+ winds. Did you know that waves play an important role in the making…
Actually, I can’t say with confidence that it’s the radio at all. I’ve swapped it out three times, finally settling on an ancient cassette deck excavated from a musty box in my garage. But it’s not the station, or who’s speaking, or even how modern (or ancient) the radio is. There’s something in the air and it has a home: The Silver Memorial Bridge.…
As you all vividly remember, the Jersey Shore took a pounding during Hurricane Sandy. The winds, flooding, and whipping sand plummet the shoreline and communities forever changing the landscape.…
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most famous and iconic bridges in the United States along with The Golden Gate Bridge. The initial planning of this bridge took place in 1867 when New York State Senate approved a legislation about a New York Bridge Company and the largest suspension bridge project. The construction of the bridge started in 1869 by the designer and chief engineer John Roebling and officially opened for public on May 24, 1883. At that time, Brooklyn Bridge was considered the longest suspension bridge in the world and among the most celebrated architectures of the 19th century (Freeman, 2004).…
Remember when we heard of the promises of this New World in Boston? Remember when you laughed right at seeing the poster? Do you remember when you called it “simply a big bunch of hogwash “? You may want to change your mind, as this is a truly wonderful place.…
I used to love reading. In kinder and first, my nose was stuck in a Magic Tree House book. Third, fourth, and fifth grade I basically lived at Hogwarts (in my rightfully sorted house, of course, I am a proud Hufflepuff). And in middle school, I discovered THE tween series of my generation, Maximum Ride. Reading was exciting, and even though I had done it for years every time I picked up a book it felt so novel. I was your ordinary bookworm until seventh grade when the joint power of Ms. Green’s teaching and James Patterson’s writing broke my will to read.…
Around five, I drive to meet Mark at a restaurant in San Francisco. I chose to go across the Golden Gate Bridge despite a third phobia of mine – a fear of heights. This fear I discovered the hard way when I walked with Mark and some friends across this same bridge for a charity event. I had walked barely a third of the way when I looked down at the water. A dizzying fear took hold. I grabbed the railing and didn’t budge for fear of falling, or as crazy as it sounds, jumping to my death.…
There’s no other place in the world where I feel the most at home than being at Long Beach Island. There you can smell the fresh, salty air of the ocean as the warm breeze brushes across your face. It is a place where the sand, sometimes chilled by the water or boiling hot up in the sand dunes, fiddles its way through your toes one by one sending chills down your spine with every step. Off in the distance you can hear the chiming of bells as the ice cream men call children of all ages to cool themselves off with a frozen treat. This is the place that all summer long, I am lucky to call home.…
It all started when we left from the hotel around five o’clock, hoping to get to the CN Tower on time. We were on vacation in Toronto in mid July, we had just arrived here a day ago from Niagara Falls. When we left we would have never imagined that this would be one of the longest walks some of us have taken. Pleasantly, we left for the CN Tower, which we thought couldn’t be a great amount of distance from our hotel. We were wrong!…
The past few days at placement have been an emotional rollercoaster for me. In past few days I experienced tears of joy, and tears of sadness, one moment I was happy with a survivor’s growth and the next moment I was heartbroken to hear the struggles they faced to be where they are at now. At one point I felt like I had no control over my emotions and it was my emotions that had control over me. I felt so weak when I had no control, but I also felt good and free to let all my emotions out. The past few days at placement made me reevaluate certain things in my personal life, and changed my perception for a lot of things.…
Nearing the end of the tube I can almost see the shore, It feels as if I've been riding this wave for days. This wave is my hurdle in the ocean that is life, choppy at the beginning but slowly passing by. The ocean has many waves, one for each surfer to ride, my specialty wave happened to be dyslexia. It was in the second grade that my teacher first realized I was different from the other students, because I had yet to read my first book. My parents had found this odd as well, and took me to see a neurologist, who diagnosed me as having dyslexia. I did not quite know what this meant at the time, I only knew that it was the reason I could not comprehend the topics as easily as my classmates.…
Today was the day. The big day. My election for Lieutenant Governor of Division 2B for Key Club, an international service club, was today. Fear and anxiety pricked my skin in rapid movements emanating from every pore. I rehearsed my speech for the fifth time that day. Upon arrival at the Fairfax Library, I urged myself to remain calm. I quickly scouted out the other girls who were present; one girl was dressed professionally with a folder in her hand. I knew that was my competition. The girl spoke eloquently and genially, she radiated enthusiasm and a certain warmth that I did not have. With every question that was asked, she answered with a smooth smile and high-pitched tone that was dripping with sincerity. I bristled inside; I had just been slapped. I was shrouded in a cloud of anxiety and anxiousness. Suddenly, I was dragged from my reverie.…
time for me to begin my 10 minute warming up. I move my head side to side, stretch my legs, and I begin to walk briskly. I drank my water because I need to stay hydrated. When I was ready I sprinted out like a rocket. My brother began to time me. It took me 12 minutes to finish my one mile. Once I felt that my heart was pounding, my stomach started to develop painful cramps, and my My throat was as dry as a bone. I stopped and took deep breaths in and out. I took a five minute break and finished my 3 miles by walking. Once I finished my three miles I felt proud of myself and motivated for the next days to…
I always keep this poem and picture in my wallet. I take it everywhere with me because it means quite a lot to me in two very different ways. One of those ways is because it holds sentimental value. When I was younger I learned to read very late in life and I was always so embarrassed of that. My father knew that I was struggling and bought me the book, Where the Sidewalk Ends. It is a book full of poems and little pictures written by Shel Silverstein. I remember opening the book to ta random page, and it was the page with this poem. I then remember my dad asking me to read it to him. I was so uncomfortable, even thought I was just going to be reading to my dad. He gave me some words of encouragement, and even thought I was not able to read…