http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bridge
The Silver Bridge was an eyebar chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and was named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Kanauga, Ohio (near Gallipolis, Ohio) over the Ohio River.
On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed while it was choked with rush hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. Investigation of the wreckage pointed to the cause of the collapse being the failure, due to a small defect, of a single eye-bar in a suspension chain. It was also noted that the bridge was carrying much heavier loads than it was originally designed for and was poorly maintained.
http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/educweb/2004seminar/bridge_inspection_pt1.pdf is a powerpoint presentation about the history of bridge collapses and bridge inspections. I remember when the Hatchie River bridge collapsed on US 51 in West Tennessee (see page 59 of the presentation). It’s hard to believe it happened almost 20 years ago. After the State of TN was officially blamed for the failure, they basically shored up or replaced every bridge in the state.
The Cumberland and Stones Rivers come together in Nashville, and the Cumberland snakes through the city with a series of “bends”. You can’t go 10 miles without crossing a bridge. We we have many bridges on main arteries built way before 1967. The US 70 westbound bridge over the Stones River is almost 100 years old. TDOT is working to widen the eastbound bridge to handle traffic both ways. They will turn the old bridge into pedesterian walk that is a part of the wonderful Greenway System that our city feels compelled to build with our tax dollars.