“All things are possible with God." ~ Luke
1:37
German-American Engineer John
Roebling dreamed of building a spectacular bridge to connect New York with Brooklyn. He’d already earned a reputation for
designing suspension bridges, which at the time were widely used, but known to
fail under strong winds or heavy loads.
Troubled by their reliance on dangerously breakable hemp
rope, he invented a strong but flexible wire rope as an alternative. He presented the idea for a steel cable suspension
bridge to several ‘experts’. They panned
the idea as impractical; nothing like that had ever been done before.
But Roebling couldn’t let go of his vision. He believed it could be done and convinced
his son Washington (an upcoming engineer), to help further develop the concept.
After successfully bridging the Niagara Falls and the Ohio
River, NYC legislators approved Roeblings’ plan for a suspension bridge over
the East River in 1867. It would be the
very first steel suspension bridge, boasting the longest span in the world (1,600
feet from tower to tower), and the tallest structure in the Western hemisphere.
But just before construction began, John was injured while
taking a few final compass readings. Three
weeks later he died of tetanus. Despite
demands to kill the project, young Washington became the chief engineer.
He designed two large pressurized caissons that became the
foundations for the two towers. Working
in the caissons often brought on "the bends" - a serious medical
condition caused by exiting high-pressure atmospheres too quickly. Washington himself was among the many workers
permanently impaired.
Though he survived, he became partially paralyzed, deaf, and
eventually blind.
With Washington confined to his sickroom, his wife Emily
began taking down copious notes on what work he said remained to be done. She took a crash course in engineering,
learning everything she could about stress analysis, cable construction, and
calculation of catenary curves. Over the
next 11 years, Emily played pupil, secretary, and messenger throughout the
remainder of the project.
Due to her persistence and dedication, Emily was the first
to cross the Brooklyn Bridge when it opened in 1883. She’d never planned on becoming an engineer. But
God must’ve had a different, yet better plan.
She accomplished what could only be described as an incredible
engineering feat for that time.
She’d later compare the bridge to her own Christian
faith. “It’s held up and stabilized by
three separate systems,” she said, “a cable suspension system, a secondary
system of diagonal cables, and an underlying web truss. Deep faith comes from e support systems: personal reflection and prayer, scripture
study, and regular church attendance.”
Let me add that the entire bridge is anchored in deep
bedrock below the East River, which is as constant and unshakable as God's love
for us.
Lord, thank You that You are the God of not only
the possible – but of the impossible as well.
With You, nothing is hopeless!
Help strengthen my faith to believe You for all my needs, even those
things that seem impossible. Amen!
