Somewhere between 1963 and 1970, the bridge over the Ohio River to
East Liverpool collapsed.  I would like to know when this occured and
where/how I can get newspaper reports of it.

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Request for Question Clarification by thx1138-ga on 14 Nov 2002 05:43 PST

Hello bblarue,

Please could you confirm the location of the bridge as definitely
being in East Liverpool, as I have been unable to locate any
information regarding a bridge collapsing there.  I have however
collected precise information for a bridge that collapsed in the
late/mid 60īs killing about 40 people that is on the Ohio River but
not in East Liverpool.

Regards
THX1138

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 14 Nov 2002 09:07 PST

I believe that thx1138-ga is correct.  The information I've seen is
that the bridge collapse happened somewhere else, while the bridge to
East Liverpool was closed in 1969 and then dismantled.

Hi bblarue,

The only bridge I could find that "collapsed" on the Ohio River was
the Point Pleasant bridge, the "Silver Bridge" which collapsed in
1967, killing  46 people. "[The] Silver Bridge...collapse[d] on
December 15, 1967 during [the] Christmas shopping rush hour. The
collapse occured around 5:04 pm."
There is an excellent article on this collapse here:
http://www.geocities.com/silver_bridge1967/Silver_Bridge.html

I was also able to find a bridge which was closed in 1969 and
dismantled in the 1970s. This bridge crossed the Ohio River between
Chester and East Liverpool. The "Chester Bridge". The Chester Bridge
was closed because of concern for safety.
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/wv/hancock/history/smith.txt
http://www.business-journal.com/0104/newellbridge.html
http://www.callwva.com/hauntings/locations.cfm

I would imagine what happened was that you merged these two events
into your memories over the last 30 or so years. The first link on the
Silver Bridge is an excellent discriptive site with photos--devoted to
the tragedy. As for finding newspaper articles from the time of the
collapse, I am not aware of any such articles being available online.
Most newspapers barely keep one-week old copies of the newspaper on
their website. I would suggest that you will have to go to the library
and obtain a microfiche of the event. However, now that you have the
date, it should be very easy to do this.

Should you require any more information, please ask for clarification
prior to rating this answer.

Thanks!


Search terms used:

"ohio river" bridge collapse
"east liverpool" "ohio river" "bridge collapse"
"east liverpool" "ohio river" "chester bridge"
"ohio river" bridge collapse -"silver bridge"

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Clarification of Answer by legolas-ga on 22 Nov 2002 17:44 PST

Thanks very much for the tip! I'm happy to be of assistance to you. If
you need any other questions answered, please don't hesitate to ask
another question on Google Answers!

Thanks for the clarification!  Great work!

Actually it seems there was a bridge in East Liverpool that was
destroyed in October of 1970, but details are hard to come by, and as
the Silver bridge is over 200 miles from East Liverpool I suspect that
is not the one you are looking for.

"k8442 - 4N-1273- 3 -Bridges - East Liverpool bridge destruction
10/15/70 "
http://www.maag.ysu.edu/wkbn/bri-bro.html

If the bridge was the Silver bridge, It was reported in the following
newspapers, and the newspapers are available to view at the West
Virginia History Center, or for a small fee (25 cents each)they will
copy them and post them to you (+$10 if you are out-of-state )


"VERTICAL NEWSPAPER CLIPPING FILE
"1928 Clip About Silver Bridge Ominous," Beckley Post-Herald,
7-25-1968.
"25 Years Later, Bridge Collapse Still Haunts WV Town," Charleston
Gazette-Mail, 12-13- 1992.
"8 More Bodies Found; Bridge Toll Reaches 13," Charleston Gazette,
12-18-1967.
"Before Disaster Struck," Charleston Gazette, 12-16-1967.
"Bridge Plates," Point Pleasant Register, 10-5-1970.
"Bridge Disaster Toll May Reach 46; Shocked Pt. Pleasant Seeking
Dead," Charleston Daily Mail, 12-16-1967.
"Bridge Toll: 16 Dead, 44 Missing," Point Pleasant Register,
12-18-1967.
"Bridge Had Developed Crack Prior to '67," Keyser News-Tribune,
7-16-1974.
"Bridge Damage Trail Recessed to October 21," Martinsburg Journal,
7-17-1974.
"Bridge Fell Like Card Deck; Fantastic, Witnesses Relate," Charleston
Daily Mail, 12-16- 1967.
"Bridge Tragedy Brings Memories," Charleston Gazette-Mail, 1-7-1968.
"Claims in Silver Bridge Disaster May be Increased," Fairmont
Times-West Virginian, 11-18- 1973.
"I Looked Up...The Bridge Disappeared, Teacher Says," Charleston
Gazette, 12-16- 1967.
"Like A Deck of Cards, Fall of Silver Bridge Happened 20 Years Ago,"
Charleston Daily Mail, 11-26-1987.
"Masked, The Waters of Ohio Conceal Extent of Tragedy," Charleston
Gazette-Mail, 12-17- 1967.
"Now I Know What It's Like to Drown," Charleston Gazette, 12-16-1967.
"Ohio Tragedy Second Bridge Disaster This Year," Charleston
Gazette-Mail, 12-17- 1967.
"Pictured-Coast Guardmen Survey Dangling Superstructure," Charleston
Gazette-Mail, 12- 17-1967.
"Pictured-Dedication of Silver Bridge on May 28, 1928," Tyler Star
News, 1-4-1968.
"Pt. Pleasant Span Collapses, 70 Vehicles Plunge Into River,"
Charleston Gazette, 12-16- 1967.
"Recovery Mason Bridge Task Starts Today; 8 Dead, 46 Missing,"
Charleston Gazette-Mail, 12-17-1967.
"Rookie Reporter Remembers Tragedy," Charleston Gazette, 12-13-1987.
"Silver Bridge, Some Recall Collapse Vividly, Others Can't Imagine It
Happened," Charleston Gazette, 12-13-1987.
"Silver Bridge Fall Unique in History of Transportation," Charleston
Daily Mail, 2-29- 1968.
"Silver Bridge Two Survivors of Tragedy That Killed 46 Can't Erase
Memories of 10 Years Ago," Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 12-15-1977.
"Silver Bridge Tragedy: Salvage Work Ended, But Dragging to
Continue...," Charleston Daily Mail, 1-4-1968.
"Silver Bridge Awards Made," Charleston Gazette, 8-14-1973.
"Silver Bridge Disaster Claims Draw $950,000," Herald-Dispatch,
8-14-1973.
"Silver Bridge Liability Disclaimed by WV," Herald-Dispatch,
10-18-1973.
"Silver Bridge Case Nearing End in Kanawha," Logan Banner, 3-25-1975.
"Silver Bridge Safety Factors Were Too Low Engineer Says,"
Fairmont-Times West Virginian, 12-10-1974.
"Silver Memorial Bridge, Dedication Edition," Point Pleasant Register,
12-15-1969.
"State Checks Responsibility for Point Pleasant Calamity," Charleston
Gazette-Mail, 12-17- 1967.
"The Days Before the Silver Bridge," Jackson Herald, 1-16-1969.
"Trial Opens in Silver Bridge Claim," Huntington Advertiser,
7-15-1974.
"Twisted Wreckage Marks Bridge Tragedy," Charleston Daily Mail,
12-16-1967"
http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/silverbridge.html

"All research requests must be submitted in writing to the Archives
and History Library;
The Cultural Center; 
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, 
E.; Charleston, 
WV 25305-0300. 
Requests from outside West Virginia must be accompanied by a $10
research fee (checks made payable to Division of Culture and History).
"
Look under 'FEES'  here (near the bottom of the page):
http://www.wvculture.org/history/services.html#research


Best regards

THX1138

The collapse of the Silver Bridge was the real-life basis for the
fiction novel (recently made into a movie) entitled "The Mothman
Prophecies". For more interesting information about the collapse of
the Silver Bridge, you may want to check pinkfreud's excellent Answer
to my Question at:

https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=96799

aceresearcher