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Wheeling’s Historic Suspension Bridge
Set on the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Wheeling is a historic place: It’s West Virginia’s first state capital, the place where the state became a state, home to battle sites and burial mounds ... the list is lengthy. Residents take pride in that history, restoring and repurposing buildings and maintaining a sense of tradition even as they look to the future. Once an industrial epicenter, Wheeling is responsible for giving the USA many of its most useful products, from cut nails to overalls. Explore that history at museums, marketplaces, bed-and-breakfast inns and landmark sites.
A Step Back in History
Look to the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, built in 1849, to transport you back to the city’s past. This National Heritage Area includes West Virginia Independence Hall, where you can take a self-guided tour. Visit the Museums of Oglebay Institute to learn about American decorative arts and Wheeling’s past. Tour Victorian Old Town’s Eckhart House, which
offers a traditional tea service. At Grave Creek Mound, see one of the largest Adena burial mounds. While there, step inside the Delf Norona Museum and learn about the historian who created it. The historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge carries the National Road over the Ohio River between Wheeling Island and downtown Wheeling, West Virginia. It was the first bridge to span the Ohio River and the largest suspension bridge in the world from 1849 until 1851.
History
A charter was granted to the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Company to construct a bridge over the main channel of the Ohio River to extend the National Road (also known as the Cumberland Pike because it began in Cumberland, Maryland) across the Ohio River. It would extend the National Road into Ohio, which had reached Wheeling on August 1, 1818. However, ferries then took passengers and freight to the other of the river to continue on the National Road. At the time, both Wheeling and Pittsburgh competed to become commercial hubs, connecting the Eastern Seaboard with the Midwest across the central Appalachian Mountains. In 1820, Congress authorized the National Road’s extension to St. Louis, Missouri. Virginia and Ohio jointly issued the new Wheeling bridge charter. Charles Ellett Jr. and John A. Roebling were invited to submit designs and estimates for a suspension bridge over the main channel of the Ohio River. Both were the foremost authority on bridges of that crossing type. Ellett was awarded a $120,000 contract to build the bridge in 1847, beating out Roebling’s bid for a shorter double-span crossing that was estimated to cost $130,000.
The Wheeling Suspension Bridge was completed in November 1849 at the cost of $250,000. It featured a simple timber deck that rested on transverse timber floor beams, which were supported at their ends by wrought iron suspenders hung from main cables. It was the first major suspension bridge in the United States and allowed for the National Road to be connected by a fixed crossing.
The Wheeling Bridge linked the eastern and western section of the National Road, and became especially strategically important during the American Civil War. Litigation in the United States Supreme Court concerning its obstruction of the new high steamboat smokestacks eventually cleared the way for other bridges, especially needed by expanding railroads. Because this bridge was designed during the horse-and-buggy era, 2ton weight limits and vehicle separation requirements applied in later years until it was closed to automobile traffic in September 2019. The suspension bridge was subjected to torsional and vertical movements that caused the flooring to be tossed to the height of the towers and resulted in the collapse of the crossing on May 17, 1854. A permanent suspension bridge, with the same design as the original, opened in 1859. William Hildenbrand modified the span based upon designs by Washington A. Roebling in 1871-72 by adding auxiliary stay cables and replacing the deck to add strength and resistance against strong winds. Other improvements designed by Hildenbrand were made in 1886, and other repairs were carried out in 1922 and 1930. At the time of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge’s construction, a horse and buggy were the heaviest live load that would be expected. A 4,000-pound weight limit was later placed upon the bridge, which made it unsuitable for trucks, buses, or other heavy vehicles. The main span is 1,010 feet from tower to tower. The east tower rests on the Wheeling shore, while the west tower is on Wheeling Island. The east tower is 153.5 feet above the low-water level of the river, or 82 feet from the base of the masonry. The west tower is 132.75 feet above low water, with 69 feet of masonry. The crossing was honored as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1969 and was listed as a National Historic Landmark, the highest honor that could be bestowed on a non-federal site or structure, in 1975. It was then listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
