when opened, with a main span of 1595.5 ft and a deck 127 ft above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.

Proposals for a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn were first made in the early 19th century; these plans evolved into what is now the Brooklyn Bridge, designed by John A. Roebling. The project's chief engineer,