POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Point Pleasant Mayor Brian Billings was 10 years old when the Silver Bridge collapsed on Dec. 15, 1967. He will be on hand Friday at a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the tragedy.
Billings tells MetroNews his message will be clear.
“We can’t let this ever go by without remembering, whether it’s 10, 25, 50 years from today, what took place in our city and what was enacted to work towards preventing things like this from happening across our country,” he said.
Forty-six people died when the bridge between Point Pleasant and Gallipolis, Ohio fell into the Ohio River. An investigation found the cause was the failure of an eyebar in the suspension chain. Investigators also said the bridge had been poorly maintained and carrying heavier loads than it should have.
“When that bridge fell, it changed the path for Point Pleasant,” Billings said. “Not only did we lose people from our own community who were special and dear to all, but we lost an economic way because the bridge was then moved south from where it fell to the adjacent community of Henderson.”
Billings said if there was something good to come out of the collapse, it was the increased federal oversight over infrastructure.
“Had the federal government not get involved and say, ‘Look, we’ve got to change our course on how we’re handling and looking at these structures,’ there could have been more tragedies,” he said.
Federal and state officials will speak about the impact of the bridge collapse during the ceremony. Acting Federal Highway Administration administrator Brandye Hendrickson will speak about how the tragedy resulted in a new era of infrastructure safety. The ceremony will be held at 200 6th St. starting at 11 a.m.