One of the master pieces of industrial design was accomplished amidst tremendous challenges. The Brooklyn Bridge today is a standing example of teamwork, perseverance, courage and determination; awesome in its grandeur, the craftsmanship far out-shining the craftsmen.
John Roebling and his son Washington Roebling dreamed of building the greatest suspension bridge that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn across the East River. Their plan seemed the most impossible thing to do. People thought the Roeblings were mad. Finally, the construction got going but John Roebling met with an accident and died. His son Washington took over the responsibility of constructing the bridge. Special pneumatic ‘caissons’, were used to sink foundations into the riverbed. Washington himself spent long hours in the ‘caissons’ with the workers. This took its toll and Washington was paralysed and suffered partial brain damage.
He was bedridden - almost a vegetable, but his dream of completing the bridge never lost its fi re. Everyone else had given up but not Washington. In his bed-ridden condition there was little that he could do. But he thought hard. What was it that he could do? The only movement he was capable of was tapping his fi nger and he tapped messages to his wife Emily. '
She studied engineering and mathematics and together with the ‘fi nger-tap’ inputs from Washington, the work on the bridge continued. For 13 years, Washington tapped away instructions with his finger, overseeing the construction as it rose from the riverbed, through the window of his house in Brooklyn Heights. The spectacular Brooklyn Bridge was completed. Is anything impossible to a determined mind?
On July 30, there was considerable confusion and speculation as visitor gatecrashed into the Chemplast Sanmar premises. The visitor, an Australian white owl, a rare species in this part of the world, landed at the plant in Karaikal.
What made the bird fly all the way from Australia? Was it perhaps seeking succour at the Bombay Natural History Society study centre at Vedaranyam and got the topography all mixed up? Was the fl ight a Y class trip, the weekend fl y- by-day offers that messed up the mental compass of the night ranger? While speculations were rife, the owl was caught and handed over to the forest personnel of Nagapattinam forest range!