Point Pleasant's Silver Bridge, the first eyebar suspension bridge in the United States, was an engineering marvel when it was constructed in 1927 and 1928. Located on US Highway 35, the bridge spanned the Ohio River and linked Point Pleasant, West Virginia, with the towns of Kanauga and Gallipolis, Ohio. For almost 40 years, the structure provided dependable service for travelers in the region. On December 15, 1967, this service came to a dramatic and disastrous end. At 4:58 p.m., during the height of rush hour, the bridge suddenly collapsed. Rescue and recovery operations started immediately but were hampered by poor weather conditions and freezing rain. The cause of the collapse was linked to the bridge's innovative design. Undetected corrosion stress cracks caused an eyebar on the Ohio side to fracture; because the eyebars were linked together in a chain, the failure of one led to the catastrophic collapse of the entire bridge. In total, 46 lives were lost in the disaster.

Point Pleasant’s Silver Bridge, the first eyebar suspension bridge in the United States, was an engineering marvel when it was constructed in 1927 and 1928. Located on US Highway 35, the bridge spanned the Ohio River and linked Point Pleasant, West Virginia, with the towns of Kanauga and Gallipolis, Ohio. For almost 40 years, the structure provided dependable service for travelers in the region. On December 15, 1967, this service came to a dramatic and disastrous end. At 4:58 p.m., during the height of rush hour, the bridge suddenly collapsed. Rescue and recovery operations started immediately but were hampered by poor weather conditions and freezing rain. The cause of the collapse was linked to the bridge’s innovative design. Undetected corrosion stress cracks caused an eyebar on the Ohio side to fracture; because the eyebars were linked together in a chain, the failure of one led to the catastrophic collapse of the entire bridge. In total, 46 lives were lost in the disaster.

The Silver Bridge Tragedy occurred one fateful evening on December 15, 1967 when local citizens on both sides of the river at Point Pleasant, West Virginia were rushing home from their normal routine of work or shopping. Local and out-of-state truckers were trying to make their scheduled deliveries. High up on the superstructure of the 39 year old Silver Bridge, a critical flaw had developed in one of the eyebars. Unbeknownst to those in the heavy rush hour traffic below, a serious structural failure was about to happen and the resulting domino effect was about to plunge the small community into a shocking tragedy which, to this day, has not been forgotten. At 5:00 PM, the entire bridge over the Ohio River collapsed, resulting in 46 fatalities and 9 injured victims. The lives of family, friends and co-workers were forever impacted.

Translated into over thirteen languages, John Keel's The Mothman Prophecy is an unsettling true story of the paranormal that has long been regarded as a classic in the literature of the unexplained. West Virginia, 1966. For thirteen months the town of Point Pleasant is gripped by a real-life nightmare culminating in a tragedy that makes headlines around the world. Strange occurrences and sightings, including a bizarre winged apparition that becomes known as the Mothman, trouble this ordinary American community. Mysterious lights are seen moving across the sky. Domestic animals are found slaughtered and mutilated. And journalist John Keel, arriving to investigate the freakish events, soon finds himself an integral part of an eerie and unfathomable mystery. The Mothman Prophecy is the basis of the 2002 film starring Richard Gere. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Norbert Delatte presents the circumstances of important failures that have had far-reaching impacts on civil engineering practice, organized around topics in the engineering curriculum.

Argues that failures in structural engineering are not necessarily due to the physical design of the structures, but instead a misunderstanding of how cultural and socioeconomic constraints would affect the structures.