Wheeling_suspension_bridge

The Wheeling Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the East channel of the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia. It was the largest suspension bridge in the world from 1849 until the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge was opened in 1851. It was designed by Charles Ellet Jr.,

In 1854, a strong windstorm collapsed the deck of the bridge, forcing Ellet to rebuild it. Although it has been rebuilt numerous times since then (once by Ellett\'s partner William McComas, and later by William Hildenbrand), the bridge remains in active service.

The bridge spans a distance of 1,010 feet (308 m) across the Ohio River so as to allow boats to pass underneath it. It remains the oldest vehicular suspension bridge in the USA that is still in use. The bridge is listed as a National Historic Landmark and a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

References

See also

• List of crossings of the Ohio River
• List of historic sites in Ohio County, West Virginia
• List of Registered Historic Places in West Virginia

External links

• Wheeling Suspension Bridge including pictures
• Wheeling Suspension Bridge at Bridges & Tunnels.
• Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record: Wheeling Suspension Bridge Page

Gallery

Bridges of the Ohio River
Upstream Fort Henry Bridge	Wheeling Suspension Bridge	Downstream Interstate 470 Bridge

v • d • e U.S. National Register of Historic Places
History of the National Register of Historic Places · Property types · Historic district · Contributing property
List of entries National Park Service · National Historic Landmarks · National Battlefields · National Historic Sites · National Historical Parks · National Memorials · National Monuments

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