Discover the 9 Worst Bridge Collapses In the United States

If you think about how many times a day, week, or month you trust a bridge and drive your vehicle across it, then discovering the worst bridge collapses in the United States will be frightening. Every day, we drive across bridges, take trains across bridges, and walk across catwalks that connect buildings, and each time we do, the structure we are on may collapse.

It is comforting to know that bridges do not collapse often in the United States. To find the list of the worst bridge collapses in the United States, we had to start in 1873, when the Truesdell Bridge in Dixon collapsed. Another comfort to the people of the United States is that most of the bridge collapses in this country are caused by natural disasters like earthquakes or being struck by a ship rather than by equipment failure or error in design.

1. Truesdell Bridge in Elgin, Illinois, in 1873

The Truesdell Bridge in the Dixon tragedy was the worst bridge collapse in the United States. When this bridge collapsed, it did not just send people plummeting to the ground below; it twisted and fell on top of the people, entrapping them so they could not get out of the water. The heavy bridge pieces slowly sank, and the trapped people went down.

The bridge collapsed under the weight of the 200 people crowded onto it. The Truesdell Bridge crossed the Rock River. On that spring day in May of 1873, the people attended a meeting at the Baptist Church, and they were walking to the river to witness or take part in the baptisms that the Rev. J.H. Pratt was performing.

The Truesdell Bridge was four years old, so the people had no reason to doubt the sturdiness of the timbers. When the crowd was on the bridge, the structure twisted from the weight, splintered into sections and rolled over atop many pedestrians crossing it. 56 people were killed during the tragic bridge collapse.

2. Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed during a windstorm on November 7, 1940. The bridge crossed Puget Sound. It had been completed four months before the tragic collapse. This bridge was nicknamed “Galloping Gertie” and was the third-longest suspension bridge of the time.

This bridge was not built with the traditional trusses that allow winds to pass through them. Instead, the new design separated the force of the wind, moving the wind power over and under the bridge simultaneously. The bridge could not withstand the force of the wind and gave way.

The lucky part of this bridge collapse was that it only took one person’s life. A lot of hard work and materials were lost and now lie beneath Puget Sound’s water, but the fatalities cost was minimal.

3. Silver Bridge in 1967

One of the worst vehicular bridge collapses in the United States occurred on the Ohio side of the Silver Bridge, which crossed the Ohio River between West Virginia and Ohio. The tragedy occurred in December when the water temperatures beneath the bridge were nearly freezing.

When the bridge collapsed, it catapulted several vehicles and people into the Ohio River. 46 people lost their lives, and eight more were injured. A supporting eyebar had a brittle fracture of the lower portion and a ductile fracture of the upper portion, creating a weakness that increased with the bridge’s weight and traffic.

4. Sunshine Skyway Bridge in1980

One of the worst bridge collapses in the United States happened in May of 1980 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The tragedy was caused by a freighter striking two of the support beams. The fog was dense, and the MV Summit Venture struggled to navigate the channel. The area was experiencing torrential rains and high winds, along with fog.

The collapse sent six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus plummeting 150 feet into the water below. 35 people died due to the tragic collision and subsequent bridge failure.

5. Hyatt Regency Walkways in1981

The walkway collapsing at the Hyatt Regency was one of the worst bridge collapses in the United States. Some people do not consider a walkway between structures a bridge, but it is. In the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse on July 17, 1981, at the Hyatt Kansas City location, the second and fourth floors gave under the weight of the people on them.

114 people died due to their injuries, and many more were hospitalized. The falling walkway and people fell onto a crowd of people who were dancing on the ground floor. This bridge collapse is the deadliest of all of these tragedies.

6. Oakland’s Cyprus Street Viaduct in 1989

In October of 1989, an earthquake shook the double-decker Cypress Street Bridge in San Francisco so hard that the upper bridge section collapsed onto the lower section. The catastrophe resulted in the deaths of 42 people.

The collapse was a surprise because the bridge had been used since 1957, and people trusted it to be sound and secure. No one anticipated an earthquake so powerful that it broke the supports of the upper portion of the bridge and collapsed them onto the lower section.

7. Big Bayou Canot in 1993

One of the worst bridge collapses in the United States happened in Mobile, Alabama, on September 22, 1993. The collapse occurred in the early morning hours when most of the passengers on the train were sleeping. The horrific train accident claimed the lives of 47 people.

The train started crossing the Big Bayou Canot Bridge, located on the outskirts of Mobile, unaware that a tugboat had shoved a barge into the bridge supports just minutes before. The tugboat incident caused a kink to form in the tracks. The kink was significant enough to derail the train. Three locomotive cars and four train cars were tossed off the bridge. One of the locomotives struck a portion of the bridge span, causing the bridge to collapse.

8. Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge in 2001

The Isabella Causeway Bridge connects South Padre Island and the rest of Texas. The bridge is 85 feet above the water and the only way to get on and off the island. On September 15, 2001, a barge struck the bridge and subsequently collapsed.

The tragic event sent cars and passengers plummeting into the water below, leaving eight people deceased and three others severely injured. One of the worst things about this collapse was that it cut off the people on the island from the main section of Texas. This resulted in problems obtaining supplies for the residents of the island.

9. I-35 W Mississippi River Bridge in 2007

The I-35 W Mississippi River Bridge was one of the worst bridge collapses in the United States because it happened at the worst time of day. On August 1, 2007, the bridge collapsed during rush hour when commuters were headed home from work. This eight-lane bridge allowed traffic on I-35W in Minnesota to cross the Mississippi River.

The collapse was a result of poor design and material failure. The metal gusset plates were not made of material strong enough to support the bridge. The thin gusset plates were stressed with the bridge’s weight, the additional weight of construction equipment, and the volume of vehicles crossing. The gussets gave way, creating a domino effect where other bridge sections collapsed.

111 vehicles plummeted 115 feet into the river and onto the banks of the river below. 18 construction workers fell into the river below. The collapse claimed the lives of 13 people and left 145 more injured.

Summary of the 10 Worst Bridge Collapses In the United States