Wheeling Suspension Bridge

Photo 5/2007

Not really Ohio (but close) this was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,010 ft when built in 1849 and is the oldest such bridge in service in the country. It spans the east channel of the Ohio River from Wheeling Island to Wheeling WV. Its deck was blown away in 1854 in much the manner the Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge was in 1940. It was quickly rebuilt with a truss reinforced deck to prevent future wind damage. This lesson apparently was lost on the designers of the Tacoma bridge!