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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.
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## A. SUMMARY OF WORK PRIOR TO OCTOBER 1968 AND QUESTIONS WHICH REMAINED UNRESOLVED AT THAT TIME ## 1. Field Operations Completed as of October 1968 As of October 1968, the following major field operations had been completed and are summarized in Report SS-H-2, National Transportation Safety Board, dated October 4, 1968: a. The wreckage which fell on the Ohio shore had been thoroughly documented by both photography and physical measurements. b. All visible fractures in the wreckage on the Ohio shore had been carefully examined and extensive notes prepared with respect to evidence found upon the Ohio north chain bent post, gusset plate U7N, markings and deformations associated with the contact of the chain bent frame with the Ohio approach span girders, and the nature of the fractures in floor beam connections (See Figure 1 and Figure 2 for identification of these elements). c. A precision survey had been completed to determine the positions of the anchorage vaults, piers and pedestals with respect to those indicated on the plans. d. Approximately 60 percent of the main members in the stiffening trusses and the eyebar chains had been reassembled at the reassembly site. e. A preliminary investigation of the members of the towers at the reassembly site had been completed, and it indicated that there had been no stability failure in the north leg of the Ohio tower. f. Detailed measurements were made of eyebar No. 33 (South bar of north chain, link C11-C13), which contained the burr on the bearing edge of the pinhole, and eyebar No. 330 (North bar of north chain, link C11-C13), which contained the brittle fracture in the lower limb of the C13 eye, with a view to explaining the separation of the chain at joint C13N. g. Parts of the hanger connection system at joint U13N (the joint directly below chain joint C13N) had been located and it was established that this connection had been pulled from the truss, apparently by forces applied through the hanger. h. Detailed sketches were prepared from the divers' reports indicating the locations in which the principal elements of the wreckage and the vehicles had been found during the salvage operations.
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