Bridge Collapse Dredges Up Memories of Silver Bridge Disaster

By Scott Finn 

Since Wednesday’s collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis, we’ve seen horrific images on T.V. of twisted metal and cars crushed like soda cans by giant slabs of concrete. We’ve heard stories of miraculous near-misses, with inches making the difference between who lives and who dies. And we’re hearing from the families of the missing and the dead, whose lives will never be the same. 

The disaster has dredged up painful memories for some people in our region. They witnessed the worst bridge disaster in modern American history – the collapse of the Silver Bridge, which connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Kanauga, Ohio. 

Forty-six people died, and although it happened 40 years ago, the memories are fresh for the people who survived.

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