Tragedy on the Ohio River

This is a copy of a newspaper the day after the collapse. The final death toll would be recorded at 46. 

On December 15^th, 1967, at approximately 5 p.m. the Silver Bridge connecting Point Pleasant, WV and Kanauga, Ohio collapses into the Ohio river. Full of rush hour traffic combined with the bustle of the approaching holiday season, the bridge is packed to the brim when thirty seven vehicles go under, killing forty six people in total, two of which the bodies are never found. In the aftermath the cause of the collapse is attributed to several factors including a flaw in unique eye-bar design causing it to break and placing undue stress on the other parts of the bridge.

  “The fracture was caused from a minute crack formed during the casting of the steel eye-bar. Over the years, stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue allowed the crack to grow, causing the failure of the entire structure. At the time of construction, the steel used was not known for subduing to corrosion fatigue and stress corrosion. Inspection prior to construction would not have been able to notice the miniature crack. Over the life span of the bridge, the only way to detect the fracture would have been to disassemble the eye-bar. The technology used for inspection at the time was not capable of detecting such cracks. Stress corrosion cracking is the formation of brittle cracks in a normally sound material through the simultaneous action of a tensile stress and a corrosive environment. Combined with corrosion fatigue, which occurs as a result of the combined action of a cyclic stress and a corrosive environment, disaster was inevitable for the Silver Bridge. The two contributing factors, over the years continued to weaken the eye-bar and unfortunately the entire structure.” (WV Quarterly Volume XV, NO. 4 Oct, 2001)   

           The collapse focused much needed attention on the condition of older bridges, leading to intensified inspection protocols and numerous eventual replacements. There were only three other bridges built to a similar design, one upstream at St Mary's and a longer bridge at Florianopolis,  Brazil. They were both closed immediately, and the St Mary's bridge demolished. The Brazlian bridge remains, but is closed to traffic. It was built to a higher safety factor. Modern non-destructive testing  methods allow some of the older bridges to remain in service where they are located on lightly traveled roads, while most heavily used bridges of this type have been replaced with modern bridges of various types, and as an extra benefit containing additional lanes. The accident prompted Congress to draft new legislation making sure all bridges nationwide were properly inspected and maintained.

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bridge

The bridge was renamed The Silver Memorial Bridge when it was reconstructed.

The Silver Memorial Bridge design has proven more stable than the previous design.