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BUSINESS ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

BUILDING
BROOKLYN
BRIDGE
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1 Warm up
In pairs, discuss the following questions.

Picture A Picture B

Picture C Picture D

1. Do you know the names of the bridges in the photographs?

2. Which countries are they in?

3. Which ones have you visited/would you like to visit?

4. Are there any well-known bridges in your country? Which places do they connect?

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2 Focus on vocabulary: engineering vocabulary

Part A: Complete the following vocabulary and definitions with the missing vowels (a,e,i,o,u).

1. b _ dr _ ck (n) - the solid stone found beneath soil and sand

2. st _ b _ l _ ty (n) - the state of providing a solid foundation that will not move

3. h _ mp (n) - a plant used to make strong material that can be used for cloth and rope

4. d _ c _ mpr _ ss _ _ n (n) - a loss of air pressure

Part B: Match the definitions to the words in bold in the sentence.

1. With the rise in popularity of hybrid cars which use both electric and petrol for power, as well
as purely electric cars, we may be witnessing the end of the domination of the petrol and gas
industries.

2. As high winds were approaching, they ensured the tent was firmly anchored to the ground in
several places before going to bed.

3. While the builders were excavating the area to prepare for the foundations, unexpectedly, a body
was discovered.

4. In the roof, thick metal pipes intersected with each other to create added strength.

5. In the event of a problem, the machine was designed to shut the power off as a fail-safe.

a. make sure that something is unable to move from a particular position, usually for safety

b. consisting of two or more elements

c. cross or meet with something when talking about lines, roads or something straight

d. create a hole in the ground by digging up the earth, usually for construction

e. a measure to prevent a situation from getting much worse in the event of a problem.

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3 Focus on vocabulary: general vocabulary

In pairs, discuss the following questions. Use a dictionary if needed.

1. What can happen if you get tetanus?

2. What events could leave you paralysed?

3. If you’re sceptical about something, how do you feel about it?

4. In what situation might you need to evacuate?

5. What happens if you get the bends?

6. Who do you know who is indomitable?

7. What is your biggest flaw?

8. What can be described as gothic?

4 Watching for details

Watch the video about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and write down what the following numbers
mean.

a. 14:

b. 90:

c. 480:

d. 5,600:

e. 14,680:

f. 400 million:

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5 Understanding the video

Decide which is the best answer to the following questions.

1. Why were New York City officials worried about building a new suspension bridge?

a. It was going to be too expensive for the city to afford to build.

b. There weren’t enough skilled workers to make one at the time.

c. Similar bridges in Europe had been falling to pieces in bad weather.

2. What did John Roebling do to deal with the problem?

a. His design mixed different models of bridge that made it much more stable.

b. He made the bridge a lot more flexible and able to cope with different weights.

c. He offered to pay for part of the construction of the bridge himself.

3. Why didn’t Roebling’s design use the traditional hemp rope?

a. There wasn’t enough available due to the size of the bridge.

b. It was going to cost too much to provide.

c. The weight of the bridge meant it wasn’t a practical material to use.

4. Why didn’t Roebling continue with the project?

a. He retired from the job due to his age.

b. He died as a result of wounds from an accident on the site.

c. He was killed by a boat which hit him while he worked.

5. Which new invention allowed them to build the foundations for the bridge?

a. An airtight box which allowed workers to drill underwater.

b. Special pumps which helped them dig.

c. An air lock which helped them see what they were doing underwater.

6. What happened after Washington Roebling’s accident?

a. Work on the bridge was stopped for almost six months.

b. His wife, Emily, continued the work in his place.

c. Workmen continued with their work without a chief engineer.

7. What other problems did the bridge have?

a. Part of it collapsed into the water, so it cost more money to replace it.

b. They couldn’t find the right kind of metal to use to support the bridge.

c. It took longer and cost more than had been planned.

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6 Scanning for details

Quickly read the article on page six and find what happened in the following years.

a. 1872:

b. 1875:

c. 1878:

d. 1883:

e. 1896:

f. 1936:

7 Reading comprehension
Part A: Complete the table by ticking the correct box to answer the questions.

Who... Parker Tweed Roebling

1. had a lot of control

over the building of
the Brooklyn Bridge?

2. died in prison?

3. met royalty?

4. travelled to a
foreign country?

5. pretended to be
someone else?

6. was a positive
example to others?

7. saw the completed

Brooklyn Bridge?

8. had other people

make fun of them?

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The Brooklyn Bridge

People of the time

A. George C Parker

A famous American conman named George C. Parker became famous for tricking recent immigrants to New York
City to buy the Brooklyn Bridge from him. He used fake documents to convince them he was the owner. There
were several incidents of police having to remove his victims from the bridge as they tried to set up a place to start
charging people to cross, thinking they were going to get rich. Parker was an expert at deception. Once, after
he’d been arrested and taken to court, he simply put on the hat and the coat of the sheriff who arrested him and
quietly walked out. His crimes caught up with him however, and spent the last eight years of his life in Sing Sing
Prison until his death in 1936. To this day, if people think they’re talking to someone particularly gullible, they will
still say, ‘If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you...’

B. William ‘Boss’ Tweed

To secure the permission for the Brooklyn Bridge’s construction, Roebling had to arrange for a corrupt politician
by the name of William ‘Boss’ Tweed to be given $60,000 which was then distributed to city officials. Tweed also
had stocks in the company which constructed the bridge and therefore, had a lot of control over the project. His
crimes were eventually exposed after he’d managed to amass, by some estimates, over $200 million for himself
by using public money to increase his personal wealth. He was arrested and sent to prison. In December 1875,
he escaped and got as far as Spain disguised as a sailor. However, due to cartoons of him, he was rearrested and
handed over to the USS Franklin, an American Warship who brought him back to the US. He died three years later
at the age of 55 from pneumonia which he caught as a result of the poor conditions in his cell.

C. Emily Roebling

After her husband - the engineer Washington A. Roebling - was incapacitated in 1872 during the construction of
the Brooklyn Bridge, Emily Roebling took over project management and supervision of the bridge building in his
name. She was so effective that it was thought that she was also involved in the design of the bridge. It was as
a result of her work that her husband was allowed to remain as the chief engineer. When the Brooklyn Bridge
finally opened in May 1883, Emily was officially the first person to cross it. She took a rooster with her for good
luck. Also at the ceremony was the then President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur and the mayors of New
York and Brooklyn. Emily went on to do much work for women’s causes and is regarded as a feminist icon. She
also travelled extensively, meeting Queen Victoria in the UK and was present at the coronation of Tsar Nicolas II
in St Petersburg in Russia in 1896. She went on to study law at the University of New York. She died at the age
of 59 in 1903 and you can still see a sign in memory of her, her husband, and her father-in-law on the Brooklyn
Bridge today.

Sources: The Fact Life, Wikipedia

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Part B: Complete the following sentences with one or two words from the article on page six.

1. George C Parker made people believe he was able to sell them the Brooklyn Bridge by showing
them .

2. Even though he was very powerful, William Tweed was eventually as a criminal
for stealing public money for his personal interests.

3. At the opening ceremony for the Brooklyn Bridge, Emily Roebling crossed the bridge with
.

8 Talking point
In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Have there been any cases in your country where someone who was very powerful has been
found to be corrupt? What happened to them?
2. Is there anyone in your country who is famous for tricking people out of money? What happened
to them?
3. Is there any information in the video or article which surprised you? Why did it surprise you?
4. What buildings are famous for taking a long time to build in your country?
5. When were they built and how long did it take? Was anyone injured or killed while it was being
made?

9 Extended activity/Homework
Part A: Finding vocabulary. Find words in the article on page six which mean the same as the following
definitions.

1. a person who tries to make money illegally, by making people believe things
that are not true (n, Parker)
2. the act of making someone believe something that isn’t true (n, Parker)

3. being easy to trick and quick to believe lies (adj., Parker)

4. using power to illegally make money for personal gain (adj., Tweed)

5. collect a large amount of something (v, Tweed)

6. a serious disease that makes it difficult to breathe by affecting the lungs (n,
Tweed)
7. cause someone to be unable to be active or work (v, Roebling)

8. a person who believes women should have equal rights to men (n, Roebling)

9. an occasion in which a person officially becomes the most powerful person

country (n, Roebling)

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Part B: Write about a building in your country. Think about a building in your country that took some
time to build and is well-known. Write a few paragraphs about it. Consider the following:

• Who was responsible for planning it?

• How long did it take?
• Why was it built?
• Did anyone get injured or killed during the building of it?
• What problems were there while it was being built?
• What successes were there when it was built?

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Transcripts

4. Watching for details

Narrator: In the mid-19th century, suspension bridges were collapsing all across Europe. Their
industrial cables frayed during turbulent weather and snapped under the weight of their
decks. So when a German-American engineer named John Roebling proposed building
the largest and most expensive suspension bridge ever conceived over New York’s East
River, city officials were understandably sceptical. But Manhattan was increasingly
overcrowded, and commuters from Brooklyn clogged the river. In February of 1867,
the government approved Roebling’s proposal. To avoid the failures of European bridges,
Roebling designed a hybrid bridge model. From suspension bridges, he incorporated large
cables supported by central pillars and anchored at each bank. This design was ideal for
supporting long decks, which hung from smaller vertical cables. But Roebling’s model
also drew from cable-stayed bridges. These shorter structures held up their decks with
diagonal cables that ran directly to support towers. By adding these additional cables,
Roebling improved the bridge’s stability, while also reducing the weight on its anchor
cables.

Narrator: Similar designs had been used for some other bridges but the scope of Roebling’s plan here
dwarfed them all. His new bridge’s deck spanned over 480 metres— 1.5 times longer than
any previously built suspension bridge. Since standard hemp rope would tear under the
deck’s 14,680 tons, his proposal called for over 5,600 kilometres of metal wire to create
the bridge’s cables. To support all this weight, the towers would need to stand over 90
metres above sea level— making them the tallest structures in the Western Hemisphere.
Roebling was confident his design would work, but while surveying the site in 1869, an
incoming boat crushed his foot against the dock. Within a month, tetanus had claimed
his life. Fortunately, John Roebling’s son, Washington, was also a trained engineer and
took over his father’s role. The following year, construction on the tower foundations
finally began. This first step in construction was also the most challenging. Building on
the rocky river bed involved the use of a largely untested technology: pneumatic caissons.
Workers lowered these airtight wooden boxes into the river, where a system of pipes
pumped pressurised air in and water out.

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Narrator: Once established, air locks allowed workers to enter the chamber and excavate the river
bottom. They placed layers of stone on top of the caisson as they dug. When it finally hit
the bedrock, they filled it with concrete, becoming the tower’s permanent foundation.
Working conditions in these caissons were dismal and dangerous. Lit only by candles
and gas lamps, the chambers caught fire several times, forcing them to be evacuated
and flooded. Even more dangerous was a mysterious ailment called "the bends." Today,
we understand this as decompression sickness, but at the time, it appeared to be an
unexplainable pain or dizziness that killed several workmen. In 1872, it nearly claimed the
life of the chief engineer. Washington survived, but was left paralysed and bedridden. Yet
once again, the Roeblings proved indomitable. Washington’s wife, Emily, not only carried
communications between her husband and the engineers, but soon took over day-to-day
project management.

Narrator: Unfortunately, the bridge’s troubles were far from over. By 1877, construction was over
budget and behind schedule. Worse still, it turned out the bridge’s cable contractor had
been selling them faulty wires. This would have been a fatal flaw if not for the abundant
failsafes in John Roebling’s design. After reinforcing the cables with additional wires, they
suspended the deck piece by piece. It took 14 years, the modern equivalent of over 400
million dollars, and the life’s work of three different Roeblings, but when the Brooklyn
Bridge finally opened on May 24, 1883, its splendour was undeniable. Today, the Brooklyn
Bridge still stands atop its antique caissons, supporting the gothic towers and intersecting
cables that frame a gateway to New York City.

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Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
This introduces students to the topic. They will have a chance to talk about it in greater detail later, so keep the
discussion general for now.

1. A. Brooklyn Bridge; B. Akashi-Kaiko Bridge/The Pearl Bridge; C. Sydney Harbour Bridge; D. Tower Bridge
2. A. New York, United States B. Kobe, Japan C. Sydney, Australia, D. London, United Kingdom
3. Students’ own answers
4. Students’ own answers

2. Focus on vocabulary: engineering vocabulary

5 mins.
Part A
This focuses on vocabulary that is specific for engineering. In Part A, students can guess, or look up the missing
vowels. In Part B, the students should match the definition to the highlighted word in the sentences.

1. bedrock 2. stability
3. hemp 4. decompression
Part B

1. → b. 2. → a. 3. → d. 4. → c. 5. → e.

3. Focus on vocabulary: general vocabulary

10 mins.
Ask students to discuss the questions which are aimed at understanding the words in bold. They may need a
reference to understand the words, or you may want to elicit the meanings ahead of the discussion.

1. Your muscles get stiff, especially around the jaw which is caused by bacteria entering your body from a cut or
a wound.
2. A severe accident that leaves you unable to move, such as a bad fall or a car crash.
3. You don’t know what to think or you are not sure if it will work well.
4. An emergency like a fire or natural disaster where you have to leave a place or a building very quickly.
5. You can’t breathe very well and are in a lot of pain as a result of rising in water too quickly.
6. Anyone who is brave and determined to do something, even when it is difficult.
7. Any negative characteristic that can make life more difficult for you
8. Buildings built between the 12th and 16th centuries, it’s a style that tends to have pointed windows and arches
as well as tall, thin pillars.

4. Watching for details

5 mins.
Ask the students to watch the video and listen out for the numbers and note down what the meaning of the
numbers is.

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a. The number of years it took to build the Brooklyn Bridge

b. The height of the bridge’s towers above sea level
c. The length in metres of the Brooklyn Bridge
d. The amount of metal wire needed to build the Bridge measured in kilometres
e. The weight of the deck of the Bridge measured in tons
f. The cost of the bridge in today’s money in US dollars

5. Understanding the video

10 mins.
Ask students to complete the questions as best they can after the first viewing and then watch it again to check
their answers.

1. c. 2. a. 3. c. 4. b. 5. a. 6. b. 7. c.

6. Scanning for details

5 mins.
You may want to set a time limit on this task to encourage students to scan for the dates rather than read in detail.
Note that for question 3, the date is not directly stated and will require a little more reading.

a. Washington A Roebling was incapacitated.

b. William Tweed escaped from prison.
c. Willian Tweed died. Note that no date is given, but it refers to the fact that he died ‘three years later’ following
the description of his escape in 1875.
d. The Brooklyn Bridge opened.
e. The coronation of Tsar Nicolas II.
f. George C. Parker died.

7. Reading comprehension

10 mins.
Part A
For Part A, ask the students to complete the table. You may want to point out that each question may have more
than one answer. For Part B, ask them to complete the sentences with one or two consecutive words from the
text.
Answers to the table:
Parker → 2, 5, 7; Tweed → 1, 2, 4, 5, 8; Roebling → 1, 3, 4, 6, 7
Sources:
thefactfile.org/brooklyn-bridge-facts/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Roebling
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Warren_Roebling
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Roebling
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Tweed
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Parker

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Part B

1. fake documents 2. exposed 3. a rooster

8. Talking point

10 mins.
Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Circulate and help as needed.

9. Extended activity/Homework

Part A
5 mins.
Ask students to quickly find the vocabulary in the article which focuses on useful and higher-level vocabulary.

1. conman 2. deception 3. gullible

4. corrupt 5. amass 6. pneumonia
7. incapacitate 8. feminist 9. coronation
Part B
1 hour+.
You may want to ask students to research the essay before writing it in class, or you may want them to do both
the research and the writing for homework. Be sure to give them feedback on their work. Encourage the students
to focus on interesting aspects about the building and try to include facts and figures.

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