By

John Sheppard & Erin StonePhoto courtesy of www.wvculture.org

Occurred on December 15, 1967.

37 Vehicles were crossing the bridge when it collapsed.

31 of those vehicles fell into the river.

46 people died with the buckling of the bridge.

9 people were seriously injured.

Photo courtesy of www.livingspiritmag.com

The Mothman was said to be cited around the time of the bridge’s collapse. Many people believe the Mothman caused the bridge to collapse.

The Curse of Chief Cornstalk was another suspicion about the bridge’s collapse. He was a friend of white settlers in the 1700s but was taken prisoner and killed by radicals. With his last breath he uttered a curse that promised to bring tragedy to Point Pleasant.

Photo courtesy of www.findgrave.com

A sonic boom is the sound something makes when it breaks the sound barrier. Some people believe they heard a sonic boom causing the bridge’s structure to collapse. Local officials checked with the military bases and no aircraft was said to have flown over the area.

A unique eye-bar design made from heat-treated carbon steel, broke and put the bridge under major stress.

This is a replica of an eye bar like the one that broke on the Silver Bridge.

Photo courtesy of http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod

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. In order to check the eye bars properly, the bridge would have had to be disassembled.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Although it was a tragic event for West Virginia and Ohio’s citizens, the collapse of the Silver Bridge had a positive impact on the world’s transportation system. Due to the collapse, bridge inspections are more thorough and occur more frequently.