While the fire that shut part of Daniel Carter Beard has created huge headaches for drivers, a repair bill of at least $10 million and felony charges against alleged arsonists, it did not kill anyone.
The same cannot be said about some of the most remembered bridge catastrophes in Ohio and elsewhere in the U.S. Bridges collapse because of weather events, design flaws and barge accidents, among other reasons.
Baltimore bridge collapse
The most notable 2024 bridge accident was in Baltimore in March. That’s when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, after a container ship struck one of its support columns. Six people died in the collapse.
Deadliest Ohio bridge accident
Ohio recorded one of its most deadly bridge accidents in 1967 on the Ohio-West Virginia border. The Silver Bridge –connecting Gallipolis, Ohio, and Point Pleasant, West Virginia – collapsed into the Ohio River in heavy rush-hour traffic, killing 46 people.
Officially named the Point Pleasant Bridge, the structure failed because of a faulty eyebar – that is the end loop on a metal bar – in a suspension chain. The bridge was replaced by the Silver Memorial Bridge in 1969.
The Silver Bridge accident triggered increased interest in bridge safety and inspections, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s manual on bridge inspections.
The next year, the Federal Highway Act included a section requiring the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to establish national bridge inspection standards and a training program for bridge inspectors.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bridge collapses can be deadly