This is a real life story of engineer John Roebling building
the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, USA back in 1870. The bridge was completed in
1883, after 13 years.
In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was
inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the
Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that
this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could
not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.
Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of
this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart
that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After
much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up
and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.
Working together for the first time, the father and son
developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could
be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild
challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream
bridge.
The project started well, but when it was only a few months
underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling.
Washington was also injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage,
which resulted in him not being able to talk or walk.
“We told them so.”
“Crazy men and their crazy dreams.” “It’s foolish to chase wild visions.”
Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the
project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how
the bridge could be built.
In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged
and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as
sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his
friends, but they were too daunted by the task.
As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight
streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains
apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just
a moment.
It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up.
Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to
make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of
communication with his wife.
He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to
her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same
method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish
but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his
finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the
spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph
of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by
circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and
to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too
as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long
years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what
to do.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die
attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible
goal.
Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our
hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The
Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with
determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.
No comments:
Post a Comment