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 A3. Hardness Test Results Eye C3, Segment O

Specimen A-Plane 0.11 in. from south face
Distance
from hole
 Vickers hardness numbers
1.0mm	0.04in.	258	260
3	.12	256	256
5	.20	260	256
7	.28	262	270
9	.35	266	266
11	.43	266	268
13	.51	268	268

Specimen B-Plane 0.6 in. from south face
Distance
from hole
Vickers hardness numbers
1.0mm	0.04in.	230
2	.08	232	247	245	24
3	.12	227	238
4	.16	230	236
5	.20	227	232
6	.24	228	230
7	.28	232	235
8	.31	235	232
9	.35	232
10	.39	228
11	.43	232
12	.47	233