The inspirational story of a bridge built with one finger

Between Manhattan and Brooklyn in the United States, there is a suspension bridge across the East River called the Brooklyn Bridge. You may not expect that this magnificent building with a total length of 1,834 meters and known as the "eighth wonder" of the world was built by a great disabled architect with one finger.

As early as the mid-19th century, New York was already the fastest-growing city in the world. In order to solve the problem of transportation inconvenience, the city government planned to build a highway between Manhattan and Brooklyn. bridge. The plan was quickly implemented, and John Augustus Roebling, a German engineer who immigrated to the United States, became the chief engineer of the bridge. According to his design, the Brooklyn Bridge is more than 1,800 meters long and took 14 years to build.

However, just before all the preliminary preparations were completed and the bridge was about to start construction, Roebling suffered from tetanus. In order to get the bridge started as soon as possible, Roebling devoted himself to his work and refused to receive medical treatment. Just three months after construction of the bridge began, Roebling passed away. Before his death, Roebling called his 32-year-old son Washington Roebling to his bedside and told him to fulfill his unfulfilled ambition. Washington Roebling shed tears and agreed to his father's request. As a result, young Washington Roebling took over the position of chief engineer from his father.

After taking on this important task, Washington visited the site in person every day and worked with the workers on construction. As a result of his prolonged underwater immersion, Washington developed severe "diver's disease," a chronic disease that incapacitates a person's mobility. Although he was seriously ill, Washington Roebling, like his father, did not go to the hospital, but insisted on directing construction at the construction site. When the two bridge piles of the Brooklyn Bridge were completed, Washington's condition deteriorated seriously, and he was eventually paralyzed and unable to direct the construction on site.

At this time, almost everyone thought that this great building must not continue. However, with the support of his strong will, Washington was determined to fulfill his father's wish. Lying on the hospital bed, he tapped his wife Emily's arm with the only movable index finger. In this special way, his wife conveyed the design drawings to the engineers who were still building the bridge. Every day, he insisted on sitting in front of the window sill at home and monitoring the progress of the bridge construction through telescopes. Although he was sweating profusely in pain every time, this special remote control command never stopped.

Thirteen years later, in 1983, Washington Roebling finally directed the completion of a gorgeous and elegant Brooklyn Bridge with one finger. The completion of the bridge is not only a "miracle of architectural engineering in the era of the Industrial Revolution", but also a miracle of architect Washington Roebling. Because in the past 13 years, Washington Roebling used his only moving index finger to tap his wife's arm as many as 100 million times. To this end, Hart Crane, a famous modern American poet, wrote a long poem specifically for this great building and this great architect. The poem is called "The Bridge".

God will not give up on anyone who is brave enough to save himself. In this world, no difficulty can defeat you unless you give up. When you are still moving forward from a difficult situation, even if you only have one movable finger, as long as you keep using it to knock on the door of success, one day you will knock on the door that was originally hidden. door.