Wheeling Suspension Bridge - Wheeling, West Va
Posted by: 
bisbee5
N 40° 04.210 W 080° 43.641
17T E 523249 N 4435581
The Wheeling Suspension Bridge spans the East Channel of the Ohio River at Wheeling and remains the world's oldest existing suspension bridge.
Waymark Code: WM3Z57
Location: West Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 06/09/2008
Views: 82
The bridge was designed by Charles Ellet Jr., and built by the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company, beginning in 1847. The bridge gained national prominence in 1969, when the American Society of Civil Engineers dedicated it as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. In 1975, the National Park Service designated it as a National Historic Landmark.
The structure was first opened to traffic on November 11, 1849. The bridge cost between $200,000.00 and $250,000.00, which was financed by the sale of Bridge Company stock. At that time, the city's population was less than 13,000. A toll house stood in front of the north end of the tower. Examples of the 1849 tolls were: man and a horse - 10 cents, six-horse carriage - 15 cents, four-horse mail coach - $1.25 per month, hogs and sheep 2 cents per head, and a Western stagecoach paid $2,000.00 per year.
On the afternoon of May 17, 1854, violent winds caused tremendous vertical oscillations of the bridge. The hangers finally broke loose and the deck dropped into the river, forcing the cables on the south side off their saddles, and pulling some cables from their end anchorages. A newspaperman who happened to be strolling on the bridge that evening gave a full description of the now-classic resonant vibations of the bridge, which underwent torsional movements and vertical undulations that tossed the flooring almost to the height of the towers. Except for some of the cables, the entire structure collapsed into the river. The bridge company, as indicated by minutes and newspaper accounts, again summoned Mr. Ellet Jr. into service to restore the structure. With the help of Captain William K. McComas, superintendent, he had a 14 foot version of the bridge functioning again, on a one-way traffic basis, within less than three months. On the morning of July 25, Charles Ellet Jr. and Captain McComas reinaugurated traffic by crossing the bridge in a carriage.
The suspension bridge, as we know it today, crosses the main channel of the Ohio River and connects Wheeling Island with the main town of Wheeling. It consists of a single span 1,008.5 feet long, measured between the centers of the towers. The main cables are anchored below the roadway surface of the two highway approaches to the towers. The masonry towers, which support the cables, are made of massive size sandstone, some of which measure 4 feet by 8 feet by 2 feet. The towers are founded on sand and gravel. They also serve as abutments to the highway approaches. The summits of the towers on the eastern, or Wheeling shore, are 153 feet above low water level of the Ohio River. Their actual height from the base of the stone work is 82 feet; the abutment 22 feet, the towers 60 feet. The Western towers, on Zane's Island (as it was known at that time), are 132 feet; the abutment is 63 feet, and the columns of the towers 69 feet. The summits of the eastern towers are 21 3/4 feet above the western towers. The bridge roadway is 20 feet wide, to accommodate two lanes of traffic. There is a four foot wide sidewalk on each side of the bridge.
The Wheeling Suspension Bridge is the most significent Antebellum engineering structure in North America. It is internationally recognized as a landmark of unique significance. In addition to its significance in the history of engineering, it was a vital link in the great National Road and played an important role in the development of Wheeling as a transportation and industrial center.
Attribute: Compiled by Larry Haines, Bridge Dept., West Virginia Division of Highways District 6
Date Completed: 11/11/1849
Usage: Automobile
Length: The bridge's span is 1,008.5 feet.
WWW: [Web Link]
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