but washington roebling himself got sick. so, for many people, the heroine of the whole story is emily roebling, the wife of washington roebling, who supervised the construction. the original concept came about 1865. and by 1883, this rather amazing endeavour would be completed. >> the brooklyn bridge was built at a time when scores of new immigrants were coming to america. con artists often tried to take advantage of them by spinning talltales and selling merchandise they didn't even own, including the brooklyn bridge. there's an old saying that goes, "if you believe that, then i have a bridge i want to sell you." well, here's the bridge. roebling was a brilliant designer. he created the bridge to last long into the future. in fact, it's as functional today as it was when he designed it more than a hundred years ago. >> because he overbuilt the bridge, the bridge is perfectly safe, perfectly strong. think about it. it's held automobiles, it's held horses and carriages, it's held trolley cars, and it's held pedestrians since

so the engineer of the brooklyn bridge, washington roebling, went to paris to find out how to do it. was able to do it. most americans don't realize that, how much we owed to france. >> i have to go on a tangent here for a second because you wrote a book about the brooklyn bridge. >> i did. >> and here you are talking about the engineer of the brooklyn bridge and what he borrowed from france. how does it stay that fresh in your mind? >> to me the writing of a book is like an experience in life, particularly if it's a powerful experience. you never forget it. some subjects, once i've finished with them, that's it. i have gotten it out of my system. with the brooklyn bridge, there's something about it, i'm still involved. my wife and i take a walk over the bridge every year. we go back and walk through the old neighborhood in brooklyn where we lived when we were first married. i think it's one of the great accomplishments of our civilization. it's both a work of technology and a work of art, and it stands -- it stands the test of time, both visually and technically. it's a magnificent