full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: Epic Engineering Building the Brooklyn Bridge

Unscramble the Blue Letters


This first step in construction was also the most challenging. bldiniug on the rocky rievr bed involved the use of a largely unsteted technology: pneumatic caisnsos. Workers lowered these airtight wooden boxes into the river, where a system of pipes pumped pressurized air in and water out. Once established, air locks allowed workers to enter the chamber and excavate the river bottom. They placed layers of stone on top of the caisson as they dug. When it fnalily hit the bedrock, they filled it with concrete, becoming the tower’s permanent foundation. Working conditions in these caissons were dismal and dangerous. Lit only by cladnes and gas lamps, the chambers caught fire several temis, forcing them to be eeatucvad and fodoled.

Open Cloze


This first step in construction was also the most challenging. ________ on the rocky _____ bed involved the use of a largely ________ technology: pneumatic ________. Workers lowered these airtight wooden boxes into the river, where a system of pipes pumped pressurized air in and water out. Once established, air locks allowed workers to enter the chamber and excavate the river bottom. They placed layers of stone on top of the caisson as they dug. When it _______ hit the bedrock, they filled it with concrete, becoming the tower’s permanent foundation. Working conditions in these caissons were dismal and dangerous. Lit only by _______ and gas lamps, the chambers caught fire several _____, forcing them to be _________ and _______.

Solution


  1. caissons
  2. candles
  3. flooded
  4. times
  5. building
  6. finally
  7. untested
  8. evacuated
  9. river

Original Text


This first step in construction was also the most challenging. Building on the rocky river bed involved the use of a largely untested technology: pneumatic caissons. Workers lowered these airtight wooden boxes into the river, where a system of pipes pumped pressurized air in and water out. Once established, air locks allowed workers to enter the chamber and excavate the river bottom. They placed layers of stone on top of the caisson as they dug. When it finally hit the bedrock, they filled it with concrete, becoming the tower’s permanent foundation. Working conditions in these caissons were dismal and dangerous. Lit only by candles and gas lamps, the chambers caught fire several times, forcing them to be evacuated and flooded.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
suspension bridge 2
brooklyn bridge 2


Important Words


  1. air
  2. airtight
  3. allowed
  4. bed
  5. bedrock
  6. bottom
  7. boxes
  8. building
  9. caisson
  10. caissons
  11. candles
  12. caught
  13. challenging
  14. chamber
  15. chambers
  16. concrete
  17. conditions
  18. construction
  19. dangerous
  20. dismal
  21. dug
  22. enter
  23. established
  24. evacuated
  25. excavate
  26. filled
  27. finally
  28. fire
  29. flooded
  30. forcing
  31. foundation
  32. gas
  33. hit
  34. involved
  35. lamps
  36. largely
  37. layers
  38. lit
  39. locks
  40. lowered
  41. permanent
  42. pipes
  43. pneumatic
  44. pressurized
  45. pumped
  46. river
  47. rocky
  48. step
  49. stone
  50. system
  51. times
  52. top
  53. untested
  54. water
  55. wooden
  56. workers
  57. working