The miracle bridge

The  Brooklyn  Bridge  that  spans  the  river between Manhattan and Brooklyn is simply an engineering miracle. In 1883, a creative engineer, John Roebling, was inspired by an idea for this spectacular bridge project.However,  bridge-building  experts  told  him to   forget   it,   it   just   was   not   possible. Roebling  convinced  his  son,  Washington, an up-and-coming engineer, that the bridge could be built. The two  of them conceived the     concept     of     how     it     could     be accomplished,  and  how  to  overcome  the obstacles.     Somehow     they     convinced bankers  to  finance  the  project.  Now  with unharnessed  excitement  and  energy,  they hired  their  crew  and  began  to  build  their dream bridge.The  project  was  only  a few  months  under way  when  a  tragic  on-site  accident  killed John Roebling and severely injured his son. Washington  was  severely  brain-damaged, unable  to  talk  or  walk.  Everyone  thought that  the  project  would  have  been  scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who understood how the bridge could be built.Though  Washington  Roebling  was  unable to  move  or  talk,  his  mind  was  as  sharp  as ever. One day, as he lay in his hospital bed, an  idea  flashed  in  his  mind  as  to  how  to develop   a   communication   code.   All   he could  move  was  one  finger,  so  he  touched the  arm  of  his  wife  with  that  finger.  He tapped out the code to communicate to her what  she  was  to  tell  the  engineers  who continued building the bridge. For 13 years, Washington tapped out his instructions with one  finger  until  the  spectacular  Brooklyn Bridge was finally completed.-From  Brian  Cavanaugh's  A  Fresh  Packet of Sower's seeds