Collapse of U.S. 35 Highway Bridge, Point Pleasant, West Virginia, December 15, 1967 (HAR-71/01)

This is the final highway accident report (NTSB-HAR-71-1) from the National Transportation Safety Board, adopted in December 1970. It covers the collapse of the U.S. 35 bridge between Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Kanauga, Ohio, on December 15, 1967, which killed 46 people. The Board found that the cause was a cleavage fracture in eyebar 330 at joint C13N. That fracture grew from a flaw produced over 40 years by stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue, in a spot that could not be seen or found by inspection.

TABLE 7

Eyebar Position	Area	Live Load Tension	Live Load Compression	Range of Load	Maximum Range of Unit Stress psi
Nominal	Edge of Hole Concentration
U0U1	43.5	541 541	12,450	34,500
U1U3	48.0	753	-312	1065	22,200	61,500
U3U5	51.0	857	-346	1203	23,600	65,500
U5U7	51.0	848	-423	1271	25,000	69,200
U7U9	45.0	562 562	12,500	34,800
C9C11	46.5	571 571	12,300	34,000
C11C13	46.5	582 582	12,500	34,800
C13C15	48.0	592 594	12,400	34,400