Sheet music for Suspension Bridge Grand March by Henry Mayer, which celebrates the opening of the John A. Roebling Bridge. On December 1, 1866, pedestrians walked upon the bridge, known locally only as "The Suspension Bridge," for the first time. Final touches were put on the bridge over the next few months, and construction would officially end in July 1867. John Augustus Roebling (June 12, 1806 - July 22, 1869) was a German-born American civil engineer. He designed and constructed suspension bridges, such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, the Waco Suspension Bridge and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. His first engineering work in America was devoted to improving river navigation and canal building. He spent three years surveying for railway lines across the Allegheny Mountains, from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, for the state of Pennsylvania. While conducting surveys for the Brooklyn bridge project, Roebling sustained a crush injury to his foot when a ferry pinned it against a piling. After amputation of his crushed toes he developed a tetanus infection which left him incapacitated and soon resulted in his death on July 22, 1869, at the age of 63.