The resulting inspections led to the closure of the old suspension bridge carrying US 30 over the Ohio at my hometown of Chester, WV. Inspection discovered severe corrosion in one of the main cables, near the Ohio anchorage, caused the closure in May, 1969. The engineers were quoted as saying "We don't want a recurrence of the Silver Bridge tragedy". If I remember my history correctly, the Chester bridge was among the first to be condemned as a result of the inspection program resulting from the collapse of Silver Bridge.
I'm not from Chester (Born in Cleveland, but both parents born along the Ohio; father in Toronto, mother in East Liverpool), and I remember traveling across the old Chester Bridge when my dad drove to Pittsburgh Airport to pick my grandmother up (she lived in Wellsville). That was a neat bridge!
The one thing they never mention in these silver bridge documentaries is the weak link which was the one inch bolt that held the links together. It could have been up to a 6 inch bolt but they decided on One inch. When the one link broke the one inch nut popped off so that the entire connection came apart. If it had been secured with a 6 inch or even welded it would have stayed together till it could be repaired. So basically that entire bridge was held together with a one inch bolt. If someone came along with a one inch wrench and unscrewed that nut the entire bridge would have collapsed. Why didn't anyone see that?
Even worse, why didn't any of the engineers who designed the bridge, factor that in with their load calculations? Crazy. All it would have taken is to have some static load redundancy. If there were three or four links side-by-side, holding the load, then if one failed at least the others would hold it together, at least until suitable repairs could take place on the failed link. It doesn't take Einstein to work out the dangerous flaw(s).
Too me this video is excellent. It's clear, accurate, and simple... uncomplicated by what ifs and finger pointing and interminal analyses. Thanks for a job well done
All this Mothman Phenomenon business really irritates me being more of an FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) person than a believer of urban and supernatural myth. This tragedy occurred through the obsolescence of a 1928 vintage structure with a design flaw present upon it amidst life in 1967. By December 1967 this overloaded structure couldn't bear 1967 traffic loads no more and was life inflicted (corrosion and a worsening Achilles Heel in the design flaw.) But the bridge had been left as is: At 1928 specifications as 1928 technology certified for typical traffic loads expected in 1928. Not an If but When but at least lessons have been learned and measures taken. Great video. Tells it like it was.
so they west virginia, took the cheap way out and didn't retrofit it with multi-strand spun cables in place of the crack and rust-prone cast iron-chain. they were more concerned with saving money than the safety of all who used that bridge. they thought they would get lucky like great brittain's been with their menai strait railroad bridge, which has been there for nearly two centuries, having survived deck upgrades (double-decking), and numerous ice episodes underneath. the difference is that bridge was designed by Sir Thomas Telford and the Silver Bridge was designed by the J. Greiner Company- a team of idiots. add to that the team of idiots from west virginia who thought they could reliably test the chain for defects and rust, and you know the result.
Flyfactors UK It wasn’t so much of a design flaw as a casting problem with the steel. Yes, they used a poor quality steel. However, there was a 2 mm crack in the steel eyebolt beam. The only way they could have found that crack was to have X-rayed the beam prior to construction. Even after that eye bolt failed and physically broke, it wouldn’t even have been visible if the bridge had been inspected.
My father and his family grew up in Rio Grande and several still live there. He told me it was a very sad day. I have been to Rio Grande too many times to count as a child before my parents moved us to Miami so really never got to go over and see the bridge. Two years ago I was back in Rio Grande visiting family and wanted to go to the Moth Man Museum as I had heard so much about it from my dad, and had to drive over the new bridge. It kinda gave me a creepy feeling. My prayers to the families of those that lost their lives on the Silver Bridge. If anything good could come from this disaster it opened the eyes of the government to start inspecting bridges
I remember this incident quite well, even though I was only 13 at the time. It is clear similar catastrophic failures will continue to occur if we do not continue to mismanage national priorities and repair our crumbling infrastructure.
Makes me think of the Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minnesota which was caught on camera. Ironic that the highway across the Silver Bridge was also a 35, although it was US Highway 35 not Interstate 35.
I was nine years old when this happened and I'll probably never forget the evening that it fell, my wife's uncle and aunt had crossed it earlier in the day also a friend of Dad's who was driving a log truck had stopped on the W Va side for a bottle of pop, that stop saved him from being on there when it fell, I remember reading at the time that the Silver Bridge was a toll bridge from it's opening in 1928 until 1951.
Who the hell thought it was a good idea to have no redundancy built into a suspension bridge? Even its contemporaries had thousands of cables strung across them to ensure that no single break would threaten the bridge.
Well, in modern times we do not always fair any better, like the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collape in 2007, despite multiple inspections showing problems with the bridge structure, and federal government giving the I-35W bridge a rating of "structurally deficient" in 1990 already. There was clearly visable cracking and out-of-plane distortion in the cross girders at the end of the approach spans reported in these inspections, showing that regular inspections are wothless if someone decides for financial reasons not to act upon them. Wiht the Ponte Morandi in Genoa, Italy, studies also gave grave concern before it collapsed. Likewise, this was dismissed by some parties,
It wasn't truly a suspension bridge, rather an I-Bar/suspension bridge. One of the I-bars failed (IIRC, an alpha fault in the steel, like in the DC-10 crash in Iowa). The bridge had a "twin" in Florionópolis, Brazil, that was closed decades ago - but I believe that is being rebuilt.
i was 3mos old when we crossed that bridge, it collapsed three cars behind us, we were in ohio to visit our aunt . our cousin Gary died that day . he worked all night in a rescue team and fell asleep and was killed in a car wreck..just sad i never got to know him.
Wierd how you google street view the area and other than a memorial plaque there isnt one indication there was ever a massive bridge and two massive towers there ever! everything was removed, even the on/off ramps and streets to it are essentially wiped clean off the map like they were never there. The WV side has a parking lot and a tall concrete wall along the river that look like they were always there, the other side has a grass field and looks like nothing had ever been there.
Appears the weakest point was the holes in the links for the pins. First the link material thickness then adding a notch in the pin hole. Similar to a chain with defective link. How were the links manufactured , not forged for sure.
We shouldn't ever have any regulations at all. If a bridge collapses, the company that built it 60 years ago won't be able to sell any more bridges! Problem solved! -Right Wing Anarcho-Capitalist Libertarian logic FTW! Shout out to Dave Rubin!
The bridge was not at point pleasant. It went from Gallipolis, Ohio across the Ohio River over to W. Va. .Then you had to cross the shadle bridge over to Point Pleasant.
Not according to aerial photographs of the collapse. The broken bridge reaches from Gallipolis directly across the river to Point Pleasant. just north of the railway bridge. There is no second bridge between the two towns. It's that way now, with the new Memorial Bridge, but that's about a mile south of the original bridge.
Good thing we got all those gov't regulations from the Silver Bridge disaster. Otherwise we might have had other bridge failures... uh, wait no, We've had lots more failures.
@@kathyfleming4937 Thinking big government is the best solution to everything or anything is downright ignorant. The inspections are mandated, but nothing is required when defects are found. The list of bridges at risk is long and growing. We're too busy throwing money at looney causes to have enough to fix our infrastructure, and the alarmists are screaming to fight climate change with our money, of course.
@@VirginianSpencer "Loony causes" such as having enough "big government" inspectors who can take "big government" action when defects are found. Of course we don't want any "big government" such as fixing and updating infrastructure that will be impacted by climate change. The list of bridge at risk is long and growing (as you say) and will keep growing, but we don't want the "loony" "alarmists" calling on "big government" to fix them .
@@VirginianSpencer So Government isn't the solution to any problem at all? Should we have waited for the Interstate highway system to spring up on its own? Big government made possible trillions of dollars in private economic activity over the years by constructing the Interstates. Sometimes, government is the only solution to the problem, because Government has the size, scope of ability, and span of control necessary to tackle the really big projects.
A lot of ironworkers are Mohawk Indians, who have a natural fearlessness of height. They helped build many of our tallest buildings and - since they'd worked on the World Trade Center towers and knew what went where - many of them were at Ground Zero to help with the recovery efforts.
Where is He anytime since we ALL eventually die and you can't control the fact that you can't stop yourself from dying. Yes, we die because of original sin, but that wasn't the original intention.
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The resulting inspections led to the closure of the old suspension bridge carrying US 30 over the Ohio at my hometown of Chester, WV.
Inspection discovered severe corrosion in one of the main cables, near the Ohio anchorage, caused the closure in May, 1969. The engineers were quoted as saying "We don't want a recurrence of the Silver Bridge tragedy".
If I remember my history correctly, the Chester bridge was among the first to be condemned as a result of the inspection program resulting from the collapse of Silver Bridge.
I'm not from Chester (Born in Cleveland, but both parents born along the Ohio; father in Toronto, mother in East Liverpool), and I remember traveling across the old Chester Bridge when my dad drove to Pittsburgh Airport to pick my grandmother up (she lived in Wellsville). That was a neat bridge!
The one thing they never mention in these silver bridge documentaries is the weak link which was the one inch bolt that held the links together. It could have been up to a 6 inch bolt but they decided on One inch. When the one link broke the one inch nut popped off so that the entire connection came apart. If it had been secured with a 6 inch or even welded it would have stayed together till it could be repaired. So basically that entire bridge was held together with a one inch bolt. If someone came along with a one inch wrench and unscrewed that nut the entire bridge would have collapsed. Why didn't anyone see that?
Even worse, why didn't any of the engineers who designed the bridge, factor that in with their load calculations?
Crazy. All it would have taken is to have some static load redundancy. If there were three or four links side-by-side, holding the load, then if one failed at least the others would hold it together, at least until suitable repairs could take place on the failed link.
It doesn't take Einstein to work out the dangerous flaw(s).
Too me this video is excellent. It's clear, accurate, and simple... uncomplicated by what ifs and finger pointing and interminal analyses. Thanks for a job well done
Excellently presented and thanks for sharing and the best of luck!
All this Mothman Phenomenon business really irritates me being more of an FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) person than a believer of urban and supernatural myth. This tragedy occurred through the obsolescence of a 1928 vintage structure with a design flaw present upon it amidst life in 1967. By December 1967 this overloaded structure couldn't bear 1967 traffic loads no more and was life inflicted (corrosion and a worsening Achilles Heel in the design flaw.) But the bridge had been left as is: At 1928 specifications as 1928 technology certified for typical traffic loads expected in 1928. Not an If but When but at least lessons have been learned and measures taken. Great video. Tells it like it was.
so they west virginia, took the cheap way out and didn't retrofit it with multi-strand spun cables in place of the crack and rust-prone cast iron-chain. they were more concerned with saving money than the safety of all who used that bridge. they thought they would get lucky like great brittain's been with their menai strait railroad bridge, which has been there for nearly two centuries, having survived deck upgrades (double-decking), and numerous ice episodes underneath. the difference is that bridge was designed by Sir Thomas Telford and the Silver Bridge was designed by the J. Greiner Company- a team of idiots. add to that the team of idiots from west virginia who thought they could reliably test the chain for defects and rust, and you know the result.
Flyfactors UK It wasn’t so much of a design flaw as a casting problem with the steel. Yes, they used a poor quality steel. However, there was a 2 mm crack in the steel eyebolt beam. The only way they could have found that crack was to have X-rayed the beam prior to construction. Even after that eye bolt failed and physically broke, it wouldn’t even have been visible if the bridge had been inspected.
tom murphy It was the cables that snapped, rather an I bolt that the cables were strung around.
My father and his family grew up in Rio Grande and several still live there. He told me it was a very sad day. I have been to Rio Grande too many times to count as a child before my parents moved us to Miami so really never got to go over and see the bridge. Two years ago I was back in Rio Grande visiting family and wanted to go to the Moth Man Museum as I had heard so much about it from my dad, and had to drive over the new bridge. It kinda gave me a creepy feeling. My prayers to the families of those that lost their lives on the Silver Bridge. If anything good could come from this disaster it opened the eyes of the government to start inspecting bridges
I live about 2 miles from Rio Grande. Lived in Naples, Fl. 25 yrs. Moved back to Gallipolis. I love this area. I did not like Fl.
I remember this incident quite well, even though I was only 13 at the time. It is clear similar catastrophic failures will continue to occur if we do not continue to mismanage national priorities and repair our crumbling infrastructure.
Makes me think of the Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minnesota which was caught on camera. Ironic that the highway across the Silver Bridge was also a 35, although it was US Highway 35 not Interstate 35.
I was nine years old when this happened and I'll probably never forget the evening that it fell, my wife's uncle and aunt had crossed it earlier in the day also a friend of Dad's who was driving a log truck had stopped on the W Va side for a bottle of pop, that stop saved him from being on there when it fell, I remember reading at the time that the Silver Bridge was a toll bridge from it's opening in 1928 until 1951.
My grandma and her sister were out Christmas shopping and crossed the bridge twice that day.
Who the hell thought it was a good idea to have no redundancy built into a suspension bridge? Even its contemporaries had thousands of cables strung across them to ensure that no single break would threaten the bridge.
Well, in modern times we do not always fair any better, like the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collape in 2007, despite multiple inspections showing problems with the bridge structure, and federal government giving the I-35W bridge a rating of "structurally deficient" in 1990 already. There was clearly visable cracking and out-of-plane distortion in the cross girders at the end of the approach spans reported in these inspections, showing that regular inspections are wothless if someone decides for financial reasons not to act upon them.
Wiht the Ponte Morandi in Genoa, Italy, studies also gave grave concern before it collapsed. Likewise, this was dismissed by some parties,
It wasn't truly a suspension bridge, rather an I-Bar/suspension bridge.
One of the I-bars failed (IIRC, an alpha fault in the steel, like in the DC-10 crash in Iowa).
The bridge had a "twin" in Florionópolis, Brazil, that was closed decades ago - but I believe that is being rebuilt.
Over-reliance on unproven and risky design features, like eye bars made of supposedly high-strength steel
Most interesting. It is very sad that so many people lost their lives. In something that should never have been allowed to happen.
i was 3mos old when we crossed that bridge, it collapsed three cars behind us, we were in ohio to visit our aunt . our cousin Gary died that day . he worked all night in a rescue team and fell asleep and was killed in a car wreck..just sad i never got to know him.
Sounds like Steve Chapman singing. He used to live in Point Pleasant.
At the end of the film, the song is credited to "Steve & Annie Chapman," so you're right.
Brilliant design. Create a critical structure susceptible to a single point of failure, resulting in catastrophic collapse
That damn Mothman
"new and revolutionary" 2 disastrous words.
You could tell by just looking at this ferplunkt bridge that it was poorly designed!!
Wierd how you google street view the area and other than a memorial plaque there isnt one indication there was ever a massive bridge and two massive towers there ever! everything was removed, even the on/off ramps and streets to it are essentially wiped clean off the map like they were never there. The WV side has a parking lot and a tall concrete wall along the river that look like they were always there, the other side has a grass field and looks like nothing had ever been there.
Victorian Sculptures even the concrete piers in the river are not visible
Appears the weakest point was the holes in the links for the pins. First the link material thickness then adding a notch in the pin hole. Similar to a chain with defective link. How were the links manufactured , not forged for sure.
Tempered carbon steel www.corrosion-doctors.org/Bridges/Silver-Bridge.htm
Nothing lasts forever, as the old thinking was. Takes tragedy to motivate govt. to do anything, anywhere.
And even then it’s iffy they’ll do anything. Remember Minneapolis? We’re still waiting for an infrastructure bill.......
We shouldn't ever have any regulations at all. If a bridge collapses, the company that built it 60 years ago won't be able to sell any more bridges! Problem solved! -Right Wing Anarcho-Capitalist Libertarian logic FTW! Shout out to Dave Rubin!
Whay truely anazes me is how much maintenance every structure we create requires.
I'm truly amazed by people's inability to edit their poorly written posts.
The bridge was not at point pleasant. It went from Gallipolis, Ohio across the Ohio River over to W. Va. .Then you had to cross the shadle bridge over to Point Pleasant.
Not according to aerial photographs of the collapse. The broken bridge reaches from Gallipolis directly across the river to Point Pleasant. just north of the railway bridge. There is no second bridge between the two towns. It's that way now, with the new Memorial Bridge, but that's about a mile south of the original bridge.
The bridge ramp came right into downtown Pt.Pleasant
The shadle bridge was built after the collapse
Knew who the Smiths were. A husband and wife killed in that tragic collapse. So sad.
Spelling: The Catastrophe that Led...(not Lead)
Get a life, dumbass....
Mothman 😵😵😵
I know a man whose parents were among the ones who were killed.
🌹 27 🌹
Scary
Good thing we got all those gov't regulations from the Silver Bridge disaster. Otherwise we might have had other bridge failures... uh, wait no, We've had lots more failures.
@@kathyfleming4937 Thinking big government is the best solution to everything or anything is downright ignorant. The inspections are mandated, but nothing is required when defects are found. The list of bridges at risk is long and growing. We're too busy throwing money at looney causes to have enough to fix our infrastructure, and the alarmists are screaming to fight climate change with our money, of course.
@@VirginianSpencer Thank God nothing is required. That would be COMMUNIST. Bring back the adventure in river crossings!
@@kathyfleming4937 Go protest the non existent Russian influence or for women's rights.
@@VirginianSpencer "Loony causes" such as having enough "big government" inspectors who can take "big government" action when defects are found. Of course we don't want any "big government" such as fixing and updating infrastructure that will be impacted by climate change. The list of bridge at risk is long and growing (as you say) and will keep growing, but we don't want the "loony" "alarmists" calling on "big government" to fix them .
@@VirginianSpencer So Government isn't the solution to any problem at all? Should we have waited for the Interstate highway system to spring up on its own? Big government made possible trillions of dollars in private economic activity over the years by constructing the Interstates.
Sometimes, government is the only solution to the problem, because Government has the size, scope of ability, and span of control necessary to tackle the really big projects.
I dont know how these people work on bridges. I cannot stand heights.
A lot of ironworkers are Mohawk Indians, who have a natural fearlessness of height. They helped build many of our tallest buildings and - since they'd worked on the World Trade Center towers and knew what went where - many of them were at Ground Zero to help with the recovery efforts.
oh please, we all know it was Mothman.
the silver bridge fell one day after i was born
Is this the birth of Mothman?
Lisa Moyers no this was the last time Moth man was seen
I am going to put a bounty on Mothman for the deaths of these people
All those poor people.
And this was also when most people probably didn't have or use seat belts.
poodtang2
Seat belts don’t help you breathe under water
@@chrisj197438 Either way they were just as dead from a broken neck or drowning.
prayer didn't do much for the people on the bridge when it fell.
where was god then ? hmm. must have been busy.
I guess you think that prayer is supposed to stop all bad things from ever happening. Nobody else thinks that. A+ for original thought.
First of all, God is spelled with an upper case "G".
Where is He anytime since we ALL eventually die and you can't control the fact that you can't stop yourself from dying.
Yes, we die because of original sin, but that wasn't the original intention.
You must be a democrat. Full of hate and a terrible person to mock God.
silver gets rusted
GDD -DDG It wasn’t made of silver it was made from steel painted silver.
Mothman that's y I'm here
The inbred hillbilly accents of these Ameritards are hilarious.
I don't think you know what hillbillies are...
It is called a dialect, not an accent. Oh and you were saying something about Ameritards?
Hey, I live here, and I am definitely no hillbilly.
Stay away from down south bob, we don't tolerate morons like you down here
You need counseling, Bobby.
oh please, we all know it was Mothman.