In 1849, the longest bridge span in the world opened over the Ohio River at Wheeling, Virginia. Engineer Charles Ellet Jr. had stretched cables 1,010 feet across the river without intermediate supports - a distance no one had bridged before. The bridge swayed in the wind; horses spooked; some pedestrians crawled across on hands and knees. Then, on May 17, 1854, the wind grabbed the roadway and twisted it to pieces. The cables held, but the deck was destroyed. Within a year, the rebuilt bridge reopened with stiffening trusses - and it's still standing, still carrying traffic, now the oldest vehicular suspension bridge in the United States. The bridge that collapsed and was rebuilt has outlasted thousands of bridges that never failed at all.
Suspension bridges were still experimental in the 1840s - the longest spans were a few hundred feet. Charles Ellet Jr. proposed to triple the world record, bridging 1,010 feet in a single span. The cables were wrought iron, over four inches thick, anchored to enormous stone towers on each bank. The roadway hung from the cables on iron chains, swinging 95 feet above the river. The bridge opened in 1849 to astonishment; no one had seen anything like it. But the roadway had no stiffening system - it flexed and swayed in wind, a problem that would prove fatal. Ellet feuded with the bridge company and left; the bridge was completed by others who inherited his design's fatal flaw.
On May 17, 1854, a strong wind caught the Wheeling bridge. The roadway began to sway, then oscillate, then twist. Witnesses watched the deck spiral like a ribbon, the motion building until the road surface tore itself apart and fell into the river. The cables held; only the deck failed. The disaster was caused by aerodynamic flutter - the same phenomenon that would destroy the Tacoma Narrows Bridge 86 years later. The bridge's flexible deck caught the wind like a sail, oscillating at increasing amplitude until it shattered. One witness described it as watching a snake writhing in its death agony.
The bridge company hired Washington Roebling's father, John Roebling, to assess the damage. Roebling concluded the cables were sound; only the deck needed replacement. He added stiffening trusses and stay cables to prevent future oscillation - the same principles he would later use on the Brooklyn Bridge. The rebuilt span reopened in 1855 and has carried traffic ever since. It was the longest span in the world until Roebling's own Cincinnati bridge exceeded it in 1866. The Wheeling bridge has survived floods, ice, and the automobile age. Its cables are original - wrought iron still holding after 175 years.
Most 19th-century bridges are gone - replaced, demolished, collapsed under loads they were never designed to carry. The Wheeling Suspension Bridge survives because it was overbuilt, because it carries only local traffic (heavy trucks use newer bridges), and because Wheeling cherishes it. The bridge is a National Historic Landmark, maintained by the city, carrying about 5,000 vehicles daily on its original deck. You can drive across cables strung in 1849, above the river that Confederate and Union forces contested, through towers that watched the National Road carry America westward. The bridge that once set records now holds memories.
The Wheeling Suspension Bridge connects downtown Wheeling, West Virginia to Wheeling Island. It's an active road bridge - you can drive or walk across daily. The best view is from the Wheeling Heritage Trail along the riverfront, where the full span is visible. The bridge is a National Historic Landmark but has no formal visitor facilities; it's simply a bridge, still working. Wheeling's downtown has Victorian architecture from the city's prosperous years. The Ohio County Courthouse and Capitol Theatre are nearby. Pittsburgh is 55 miles northeast; Columbus is 120 miles west. The bridge is free to cross - just another road until you remember it's the oldest of its kind in America, a survivor against all odds.
Located at 40.07°N, 80.72°W spanning the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia. From altitude, the suspension bridge is visible as a graceful curve connecting downtown Wheeling to Wheeling Island in the river. The stone towers anchor the cables; the span crosses without intermediate supports. Newer bridges cross nearby, carrying heavier traffic. The Ohio River flows southwest toward Pittsburgh. Wheeling's downtown clusters around the bridge approach. The city is visible as a narrow strip of development between river and hills - classic Ohio Valley topography. Interstate 70 crosses the river on modern bridges nearby. The suspension bridge looks delicate from altitude, impossibly thin cables spanning impossibly wide water.