This eye-bar suspension bridge is infamous because it collapsed on Dec 15, 1967, killing 46 people. Unlike the eye-bar suspension bridges in Pittsburgh, this bridge did not have redundant eye bars because the designer thought his choice of a new high-strength steel did not require redundancy. The bridge also pioneered aluminum paint, thus its namesake color. One issue with this bridge was that there were stop lights at either end that caused a big load of traffic to regularly set on the bridge.
Given that the bridge was the pride of the community until it collapsed, it was remarkably hard finding photos of the bridge when it was still standing.
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| Photo via TheMonthman |
Is this photo AI generated?
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| 90 S History posted The Day Everything Changed The temperature hovered at 28°F that Friday. The river was stiff with floating sheets of ice, and faint snowflakes drifted like ash. Christmas wreaths hung from lampposts, their bulbs glowing through the fog. At 5:04 p.m., the bridge was packed—over 70 vehicles, bumper-to-bumper, crawling through rush-hour traffic. Families returning from shopping, workers heading home, teenagers ferrying decorations for school events. Among them was Charlie Boggs, the coal truck driver who had crossed the Silver Bridge nearly every day for years. From his high seat, he could see the taillights stretching ahead in a glowing ribbon. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, humming along with Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” playing on the radio. Then it happened. Witnesses described hearing a single, sharp metallic snap—like a gunshot cutting through winter air. Eyebar 330 fractured and tore apart. The load shifted instantly, sending a violent ripple through the entire suspension chain. In less than 75 seconds, the Silver Bridge gave way. The deck buckled. Cars slid. The entire structure folded like a collapsing toy, crashing into the dark freezing river. 31 vehicles plunged. 46 souls were lost. Charlie’s truck dropped with the bridge, vanishing into the churning water. Fighting against the pressure and the icy blackness, he kicked the door open as the cab filled. He surfaced among twisted steel and floating debris—packages, ornaments, children’s toys, even a Christmas tree still glowing with battery-powered lights. The river was silent except for faint cries and the groan of collapsing steel. Charlie spotted a teenage girl clinging to a piece of bumper. He recognized her—it was his niece visiting for the weekend. Holding her tight, he swam through slush and broken beams until a barge crew pulled them aboard. George Reichert: It was officially known as the Point Pleasant Bridge. It crossed the Ohio River and connected Point Pleasant, WV and Gallipolis, Ohio. It was called the Silver Bridge because it of the color of its aluminum paint. It collapsed on December 15, 1967 and was replaced in 1969. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bridge |
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| wvpublic, E-Wv, The West Virginia Encyclopedia Online Also TheMothman |
A crack in one of the eye-bars started as a result of the joint action of stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue. The crack propagated quickly on that December day because the cold steel had become brittle. (I'm learning that some steels do not require tundra cold to become brittle. Plain old Illinois cold can make some steels transition from ductile to brittle.) A silver lining of this tragedy was the passage of a federal law requiring periodic bridge inspections.
It was replaced in less than two years by the Silver Memorial Bridge.
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| Pamele Moskie posted The Silver Bridge collapsed during rush hour traffic on December 17th, 1967. [There are quite a few comments by people remembering this accident.] |
I've looked at a few videos. I like this one because it focuses on the engineering aspects of the collapse. I don't need to watch talking heads tell me that the deaths of 46 people was a tragedy.
This video is about the eyebar suspension bridge at Dresden, OH, which still stands but has been bypassed. This video discusses this bridge because the engineer of the Dresden Bridge was the consulting engineer for this bridge.
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| Screenshot |
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| PBS Nova 3:15 video |
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