Never. Horizontal stays were added, but the steel main cables are oiled and painted and have been in continuous service with a safety factor of 6 (the breaking strength being over 6 times the working load) and as vehicles have become more weighty the rail tracks and commercial traffic have been removed and prohibited respectively. It has had its concrete replaced just before the turn of the 21st century but the cable was laid from 5,434 individual wire strands to make a cable 15 inches in diameter and has not needed replacement which is a testament to the Roebling design! Also, the Brooklyn Bridge, which due to an injury claimed the life of the elder Roebling and the pressurized caissons that were used to allow underwater work crippled Washington Roebling and killed or crippled several others, is the oldest steel cable suspension bridge in service.
A BRIDGE UNVEILED On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River opened, connecting the great cities of New York and Brooklyn for the first time in history. Thousands of residents of Brooklyn and Manhattan Island turned out to witness the dedication ceremony, which was presided over by President Chester A. Arthurand New York Governor Grover Cleveland. Emily Roebling was given the first ride over the completed bridge, with a rooster, a symbol of victory, in her lap. Within 24 hours, an estimated 250,000 people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, using a broad promenade above the roadway that John Roebling designed solely for the enjoyment of pedestrians. With its unprecedented length and two stately towers, the Brooklyn Bridge was dubbed the “eighth wonder of the world.” For several years after its construction, it remained the tallest structure in the Western hemisphere. The connection it provided between the massive population centers of Brooklyn and Manhattan changed the co
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