Spanning the Ohio River in front of you is the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, formerly the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, linking Cincinnati, Ohio, with Covington, Kentucky. Opened to traffic on January 1, 1867, this crossing was, at the time, the longest suspension bridge in the world with a 1,057-foot (322 m) main span. Its designer, one of several American engineers taking up the wire-cable suspension idea developed by French engineers, was John A. Roebling of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania.
The bridge answered a mid-19th-century need: commerce between Ohio and Kentucky had grown so much that congested steamboat traffic was constricting the economy, and people sought a passage that would not further block the river. Decades later, Roebling’s own 1883 Brooklyn Bridge, with a 1,595.5-foot (486.3 m) span, would surpass this span in fame and length. Today you can join pedestrians who cross here to reach hotels, bars, restaurants, and other amenities in Northern Kentucky, and the lively bar and restaurant district at the foot of the bridge on the Kentucky side is known as Roebling Point.
Roebling's design later inspired his own Brooklyn Bridge, though this river crossing still carries you toward Roebling Point today.