POINT

PLEASANT
SILVER BRIGDE
COLLAPSE 1

Group Q
 POINT PLEASANT SILVER
BRIDGE
Built in 1928.
Eye-bar chain suspension
bridge
Named for the colour of its
aluminum paint.
Carried U.S. Route 35 over
the Ohio River, connecting
Point Pleasant, West
Virginia and Gallipolis, 2
Ohio.
 DESCRIPTIO
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Material : Steel
Total length : 681.2 m
Longest span : 213.5 m
Contractor : American Bridge Company
Opened : 1928
Collapsed : December 15th 1967
Followed by : Silver Memorial Bridge

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 LOAD PATH OF A
SUSPENSION
The upper BRIDGE
supporting chains are in tension and make a
downward force on the towers
Deck is supported by a series of vertical hangers which are
also in tension
At present the cables spun from individual wires are used

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 ANALYSIS OF THE SILVER
BRIDGE
Had long lengths of steel bars with holes in either end
(Eye-bars)
Bolts were used to join the eye bars together
Resulting joint and the suspension chain could move
according to the acting forces

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 SILVER BRIDGE
DIFFERENCES
1. Low redundancy, high strength

The eye-bars in the Silver Bridge were not very redundant,

as links were composed of only two bars each, of high
strength steel

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 SILVER BRIDGE
DIFFERENCES (CONTD.)
2. Rocker tower
Allowed the bridge to respond to various live loads
by a slight tipping of the supporting towers which were
parted at the deck level

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COLLAPSE
Collapsed on 15th December 1967 while it was full of
rush-hour traffic
Collapsed claiming 46 lives and 9 injured
The extra load caused a cleavage fracture in one of
the eye bars
This was followed by a brittle fracture near the pin
Unable to support the weight the entire bridge
collapsed in less than 1 minute
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CONTRIBUTING CAUSES
When the bridge was designed, the phenomena of stress
corrosion and corrosion fatigue were not known
The location of the flaw was inaccessible to visual
inspection
The flaw could not have been detected by any inspection
method without disassembly of the eye-bar joint
Low redundancy in the chain
Strength of steel reducing due to the cold temperature

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RECOMMENDATIONS AND
LESSONS LEARNT
Identify materials susceptible to slow flaw
Determine critical flaw sizes for various stress levels
Develop required inspection equipment
Devise means to identify critical locations in bridges
which require detailed inspection
Develop standards which incorporate appropriate
safeguards to ensure protection against failures

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RECOMMENDATIONS
(CONTD.)
Develop standards for the qualification of materials
for future bridge structures, using the information
disclosed in this investigation

Devise techniques for repair, protection of bridges

damaged by internal flaws

Expand the knowledge of loading history and life

expectancy of bridges.
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