bridge wire

— The three most important differences between the Brooklyn Bridge and other suspension bridges built previously are: 1st—Great increase in cable length. Including both side spans this bridge has a total length of 3455.5 feet suspended from the cables. The total length of each of the cables between center lines of anchorage pins is 3578.5 feet, making them the longest parallel wire cables ever fabricated for a suspension bridge, even to the present day. 2nd—The Brooklyn Bridge marked the first use of steel as a material for bridge wire. All previous suspension bridge cables were fabricated from wire drawn from charcoal iron. 3rd—Prior to this time, cables were fabricated from bright wire and depended upon oil, grease, and paint for protection against the elements. In the Brooklyn Bridge, however, the cables were fabricated from galvanized wire, thus bringing into use for the first time, zinc as a protective coating for suspension bridge cable wire.