Students visit the historical landmark as a part of the SYEP Salvadori Center program and learn more about the bridge’s origin
On Thursday 7, 2022, rising Sophomore’s and Junior’s visited the Brooklyn Bridge as a part of the SYEP Salvadori Center Program. This trip provided the students with a more in-depth view on the origins of the bridge. Along with the students, mentors, teachers, Mr. Andrew and his colleague Mr. Emiliano, who was the head of the tour, explained how parts of the bridge work together.
While Mr. Emiliano was explaining the different parts of the bridge, students had to complete a packet with questions on the historical site. The students were able to interact with the historic site, while learning about the site. Such as how Emily Roebling (pages 34-35), the daughter in law of the original architect of the bridge, John A. Roebling, saved the bridge.
The trip came to a conclusion when we stopped at the William Jay Gaynor Memorial and proceeded to go over the packet that the students were supposed to complete. The trip gave the students a perspective on how the Brooklyn bridge was formed.
WHSAD students thoughts on the Brooklyn Bridge trip
Edwin Villanueva
When we first stepped out of the 4 train and walked onto the platform station, I thought to myself, “This is going to be so cool,” but nothing could have ever prepared me for the real deal. As we made our way up the stairs and out of the station, there, I saw it. The bridge spanned over 6,000 feet and stood 135 feet tall. To get to school I’ve always taken the train. More specifically, I take the Q train, meaning that the train runs over the Manhattan bridge. Whenever I passed by and watched the Brooklyn bridge I was always surprised by the sheer size of the bridge. But when I stepped foot outside of the station, it was much, much more gigantic in person. As I wandered across the bridge I was both amazed by these engineers’ ingenuity and the size of just everything. The skyscrapers were deemed as if they continued forever, soaring high above the skies. The water was so beautiful as I watched it splash across the rocks. The shadows casted on the bridge as several birds flew by. Everything was just simply amazing and I will never forget this trip.
Amina Clyde
Today we went on a trip to the Brooklyn Bridge, which for me was kind of nostalgic because I’ve been on the bridge but I was too small to remember.
I found the trip very informative, I got to learn about the “I” bolts used to do maintenance on the bridge. I also didn’t know that the man who started the bridge was finished by his wife because both he and his son had fallen ill.
I also knew about the elephant fact! But I couldn’t recall what Bridge it was. I was in the middle of telling a friend when he said it shortly after.
Overall I enjoyed walking around and thankfully it wasn’t super hot that day so I was able to enjoy the full walk on the bridge without sweating.
Dalton Brown
Today we traveled to and across the Brooklyn bridge and had a guide had guide educate us on the historical structure . We learned things from the composition of the bridge as well as the strategy used to make the bridge. We learned that the bridge is mainly made of steel for the cables and limestone for the foundation and the towers. We also learned that the bridge had been updated and used the tactics of a truss bridge to be able to support cars and pedestrians.
Diana Juarez
We all took a trip to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was an interesting experience knowing the structure and design of the bridge. We walked through the whole bridge seeing the city. You were able to hear the water and feel the breeze when cars passed by. Although it was tiring but the bridge had a wonderful view. It’s a tourist attraction which is why many new people come by to visit. The Brooklyn Bridge is a very ionic building overall.
Estefany Zainos
Something I learned on today’s trip to the Brooklyn bridge is that it opened in 1883 and they tested the stability by making 21 elephants cross the bridge. I also learned that there are these oval shaped wires around the cables of the bridge that prevent people from climbing the bridge.
Ingrid Salas
The Brooklyn Bridge is a bridge design that started to be constructed in 1869 and ended in 1883, this design was made by John A. Roebling And the last person to see through it was Emily Roebling. Not only was she the last person to see through the project but she was also the first person to walk across the bridge. The materials used to construct the bridge are steel, wood, and granite. The bridge is a total of 6,016 feet long.
Jordan Busey
My experience on the Brooklyn bridge was very calm. I like walking on it because it’s very peaceful to me. All the tall buildings at both sides of the bridge feels like I’m in between it all. The style of the bridge is very unique and interesting to me. The arches look great on the towers, and the locks on the bridges from pedestrians add to the feel.
Gorge Fahmi
In the Brooklyn Bridge Trip I had learned about the necessities of a bridge and how it helps the people move from a place or from a city to another. I also enjoyed how Mr. Emiliano was describing the structure and its importance in the city and the state. The interesting thing about the bridge is how much weight it can hold. Fun fact, when they were trying to test the bridge strength they put 21 elephants over the whole bridge. The Brooklyn bridge itself was one of the main places that tourists would want to visit, just like the Statue of Liberty, or like how people used to come to the World Trade Center, and it still is a very popular place to visit by many people.
Xochitl Munguia
Our first trip on the program was to the Brooklyn Bridge. I’ve been there once but my second time I was able to learn more about the bridge like the construction, history and what it took to make it. On our way there we met Emiliano who was the one who taught us throughout out the trip. He was very nice and gave us great facts. One fact was that in between the concrete we saw a black almost like rubber that holds it together and the first person to walk on it was a woman with a rooster/chicken to represent victory which was surprising for me. The weather was great and as we were in the middle of the bridge we were able to see the Williamsburg bridge. Overall trip 10/10 because I was able to enjoy my time learning rather than staying at home.
Orfeu Lukban
During the trip we took to the Brooklyn Bridge last Thursday, Emiliano helped me scale in my mind the greatness of a landmark such as the Brooklyn Bridge. As we were walking across the bridge, Emiliano would periodically stop at points to refer us back to our activity papers, and help us understand the structural decisions and design aspects of the bridge. Things like the materials and the use of I-beams as well as accounting for the bridge not breaking while swaying never came to mind while thinking about not only the Brooklyn Bridge, but bridges in general. We even learned about the history of lead responsibility of the bridge, with it being passed down to 3 different people before being completed. After learning about all of this, at the end of the day, we got to walk over one of the oldest and iconic bridges in New York City, and got an amazing view of 2 amazing boroughs.
Jayden Belle
Going to the Brooklyn Bridge was a unique experience, an experience that I thought I would never get to experience. That’s too many “experience’s” in one sentence, but this journey is nice. Coming from someone that has a background with nature I never thought I would get to feel fresh air after moving to New York. While on this trip I learnt many interesting things like how the bridge is so strong and how it’s divided every 20 feet so that if one part is damaged the entire bridge wouldn’t be affected. We also learned wild facts where 21 elephants walked the bridge to test its stability. This experience was inspiring, it taught me the motivation of humanity.
Jadon Wilson
On our trip on the Brooklyn Bridge we learned about how it was the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the 19th-century engineering and project being started by architect John A. Roebling, construction on the Brooklyn bridge began in 1869 and opened in 1883 making traveling from Brooklyn to Manhattan, but before the opening people doubted its strength of the bridge so in order to prove its stability and safety, 21 elephants along with 17 camels were used to cross the bridge, and at that time it was the longest suspension bridge. This bridge length is 6,015 and stands 1,595 in the air.
This concludes the SYEP students thoughts on the Brooklyn Bridge project.
Special thanks to those who took the time to share photos and those featured on this article!