pitch unfairly

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Emily Warren Roebling, 1883. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

Amber since 1872. Fix in hand: Emily. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Project status update

  • 5,282 wires a cable
  • 10 to 7 vote
  • 1 rooster
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
1883 Project status update

Emily Warren Roebling

Amber since 1872. Fix in hand: Emily.

Legend
Original craft
Unfair

The story→10 slides

It's a live deck. Press start, then scroll or use the arrow keys, or play it full screen.

Play the 2026 deck

Emily Warren Roebling's project status update, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 1: The bridge opens May 24. 01The bridge opens May 24.
  2. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 2: The date is holding. If anything, it moved earlier. 02The date is holding. If anything, it moved earlier.
  3. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 3: An estimated 27 men died building this bridge. They come first in this report. 03An estimated 27 men died building this bridge. They come first in this report.
  4. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 4: Amber means we have a fix. The chief engineer has been amber since 1872. 04Amber means we have a fix. The chief engineer has been amber since 1872.
  5. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 5: Nothing is still uphill. What’s left is just work. 05Nothing is still uphill. What’s left is just work.
  6. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 6: All four cables are spun: 5,282 wires each. 06All four cables are spun: 5,282 wires each.
  7. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 7: Since the plan: more wire, later steel, and a bigger bill. 07Since the plan: more wire, later steel, and a bigger bill.
  8. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 8: Every risk has an owner. The worst one was a motion, not a cable. 08Every risk has an owner. The worst one was a motion, not a cable.
  9. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 9: The chief engineer stays. Now we need a date, not a motion. 09The chief engineer stays. Now we need a date, not a motion.
  10. Emily Warren Roebling deck, slide 10: Next: May 24. First across, one carriage and one rooster. 10Next: May 24. First across, one carriage and one rooster.

Then · 1883

How it really went

Read the real storythe story, via Wikipedia (with ASCE and the Brooklyn Bridge article)
  1. June 1869: John A. Roebling's foot is crushed at the Fulton Ferry slip; he dies of tetanus July 22
  2. His son Washington, 32, becomes chief engineer; ground is broken in January 1870
  3. The caissons go down: fire in Brooklyn's in 1870, Manhattan's stopped at 78 ft 6 in in 1872
  4. 1872: caisson disease kills three men and leaves Washington paralyzed, directing from his house
  5. Emily learns the engineering and carries his orders and reports to the engineers and trustees
  6. Towers finished 1875 and 1876; the first wire crosses the river in August 1876
  7. 1878: fraudulent wire found in the cables; 150 extra wires per cable; last wire October 5
  8. 1879 to 1882: the deck waits on late steel
  9. 1882: Seth Low leads a move to remove Washington; Emily lobbies, and the trustees keep him
  10. May 24, 1883: the bridge opens; Emily is the first across, by carriage, with a rooster

Now · 2026 · 10 slides

What we changed

  • The board plays the yearsA red, amber and green board for six workstreams from 1869 to 1883. Click any year. The chief engineer goes amber in 1872 and stays there for ten years, fix in hand.
  • A hill chart you can scrubDrag from 1870 to 1883 and watch foundations, towers, cables and deck climb the hill and roll down it, with last year's position as a ghost. The deck barely moves in 1880, which is the point.
  • Every wire countedA to-scale cross-section of one main cable winds up strand by strand to 5,282 wires. Press Spin and it does it again.
  • The vote, seat by seatThe motion to remove the chief engineer fills in on a seat chart: 10 against, 7 for. Then the ask: a date, not a motion.

Steal the structure

Build your project status update like Emily Warren Roebling did.

  1. 01 Status in one line One status (on track, at risk, off track) and the date, on the cover.
  2. 02 Summary and date confidence Done, finishing, needed, in three lines, and whether the due date is holding.
  3. 03 Safety Incidents first, stated plainly, before any good news.
  4. 04 Status by workstream Green, amber, red per workstream, with the color meanings printed on the slide and history across updates.
  5. 05 Progress since last update A hill chart or milestones moved, with prior positions, so stuck work shows.
  6. 06 Wins One quantified result that finished this period.
  7. 07 What changed Scope, schedule and budget: plan, now, and why.
  8. 08 Risks Each risk with an owner, a date, and the fix already in hand.
  9. 09 Decisions and asks What was decided, then the one decision you need, and who must make it.
  10. 10 Next milestones The next dated milestones and when the next update lands.

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