While the National Transportation Safety Board had started an investigation immediately following the collapse, the Presidential Task Force on Bridge Safety also investigated the disaster. Presidential Task Force Assigned to Investigate the Collapse The Silver Bridge collapse spurned a nation wide survey of the safety of bridges. To grasp the devastating economic impact 49 years later, the economic loss would be the equivalent of more than $6.9 million in the present day to the area. By February 7, 1968, reports estimated the economic loss to be $1 million a month and then President Lyndon Johnson stepped in with an order for federal-state programs to start immediate reconstruction. In addition to the devastating emotional toll and loss the bridge collapse had on the area, the impact economically was nearly as devastating. Vehicles were also detoured 14 miles to Pomeroy for crossing at the bridge there or down river at the bridge in Huntington, West Virginia. Additionally, a shuttle service was set up on the New York Central Railroad upstream. Local ferry landings were quickly set up and vehicles were ferried back and forth across the Ohio River. In the wake of dealing with the tragedy and loss of so many lives, arrangements had to be made to handle the 3,500 to 4,000 vehicles that on average traversed the bridge between Ohio and West Virginia. The twisted wreckage of the Ohio River Silver Bridge after it fell. Many knew at least one person lost in the disaster. For weeks following the collapse, there was one funeral after another as victims were recovered and laid to rest. Two of those victims were never recovered.įor the communities in Gallia, Mason, and Meigs, it was devastating. When the Silver Bridge fell 32 vehicles were destroyed and it claimed 46 lives. The bridge which had opened on Memorial Day in 1928 was just gone. It crumpled and collapsed “folding like a deck of cards.” It took just seconds for the 1,1460-foot suspended portion of the bridge to collapse. According to official reports, in just 20 seconds the Silver Bridge plunged into the December water of the Ohio River. when “a loud gunshot-like noise” as eyewitnesses described it could be heard coming from the Silver Bridge. It was rush hour on December 15, 1967, just at 5 p.m. It connected two states and the communities surrounding them. It was just another day, like any other, but by the end of it, a mark would be left on the hearts and souls of Southeast Ohio.įor those that were not alive at the time, it is hard to imagine where a bridge once stood connecting the outer edge of Gallipolis, Ohio with the heart of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Residents from Gallia and Meigs Counties along with Mason County, West Virginia were preparing like the rest of the nation for the upcoming holidays. The Silver Bridge Disaster was just ten days before Christmas. It was a day that they remembered where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. MID OHIO VALLEY – It was a day that those that lived it from our area will never forget. Remembering the Silver Bridge Disaster 53 Years Ago
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |