Message #150674

[Christian Kielbasa]

The Silver Bridge & Mothman
Point Pleasant's Doomed Silver Bridge



The Silver Bridge was an eyebar chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and was named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallia County, Ohio over the Ohio River.

On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed while it was choked with rush hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. Investigation of the wreckage pointed to the cause of the collapse being the failure of a single eye-bar in a suspension chain, due to a small defect only 0.1 inch (2.5 mm) deep. It was also noted that the bridge was carrying much heavier loads than it was originally designed for and was poorly maintained