List of bridge failures

This is a list of bridge failures.

Before 1800

Bridge	Location	Country	Date	Construction type, use of bridge	Reason	Casualties	Damage	Comments
Milvian Bridge	Rome	Rome		Wooden pontoon bridge replacing permanent stone bridge	Use by retreating Maxentian troops during the Battle of the Milvian Bridge	Unknown	Bridge unusable
London Bridge	London	England	17 October 1091	Wooden bridge	London tornado of 1091	Unknown	Bridge unusable
Sint Servaasbrug	Maastricht	Holy Roman Empire		Wooden bridge	The weight of a large procession	400	Bridge unusable
Judith bridge	Prague	Kingdom of Bohemia	2 February 1342	Stone bridge	Severe flood	Unknown	Two-thirds of the 170 years old bridge collapsed or heavily damaged. One arch survived to this day. Charles Bridge was built next to its remains. Construction started in 1357 and ended in 1402.	Surviving arch of Judith bridge
Rialto Bridge	Venice	Venetian Republic		Wooden structure with central drawbridge.	Overload by spectators during a wedding	Unknown	Bridge total damage

1800–1899

Bridge	Location	Country	Date	Construction type, use of bridge	Reason	Casualties	Damage	Comments
Eitai Bridge	Tokyo	Japan	20 9 1807	Wooden beam bridge over River Sumida	Overloaded by festival	500–2000 killed	1 pier and 2 spans destroyed
Ponte das Barcas	Porto	Portugal	29 3 1809	Wooden pontoon bridge over River Douro	Overloaded by thousands of people fleeing a bayonet charge of French Imperial Army led by Marshal Soult during the First Battle of Porto	4000 killed	Several spans destroyed. Bridge reconstructed, dismantled in 1843
Saalebrücke bei Mönchen-Nienburg	Nienburg, Saxony-Anhalt	Germany	6 12 1825	Chain-stayed bridge with small bascule section	Poor materials, unbalanced load and vibrations by subjects singing to honour the duke	55 drowned or frozen to death	Bridge half damaged, other side demolished
Broughton Suspension Bridge	Broughton, Greater Manchester	England	12 April 1831	Suspension bridge over River Irwell	Bolt snapped due to mechanical resonance caused by marching soldiers	0 dead, 20 injured	Collapsed at one end, bridge quickly rebuilt and strengthened	The rebuilt Broughton Suspension Bridge in 1883. This disaster caused the "break step" rule issued to UK soldiers.
Yarmouth suspension bridge	Great Yarmouth	England	2 May 1845	Suspension bridge	Spectators crowded the bridge over the River Bure to view a clown travel the river in a barrel. Their position shifted as the barrel passed; the suspension chains snapped and the bridge deck tipped over.	79 people drowned, mainly children.	Suspension chains snapped due to overload.	Contemporary illustration of the aftermath of the collapse
Dee Bridge	Chester	England	24 May 1847	Cast iron beam bridge over the River Dee	Overload by passenger train on faulty structure	5 killed	Bridge rendered unusable	The Dee bridge after its collapse. The failure was due to faulty design.
Ness Bridge	Inverness	Scotland	1849	Stone Bridge over River Ness	Flooding overwhelmed the 164-year-old bridge	Unknown	Either completely destroyed or damaged beyond repair	Rebuilt as a suspension bridge, which itself was replaced in 1961 due to inability to handle increased traffic.
Angers Bridge	Angers	France	16 April 1850	Suspension bridge over Maine River	Wind and possibly resonance of soldiers led to collapse	226 killed, unknown injured	Bridge total damage	The Angers Bridge after its collapse
Wheeling Suspension Bridge	Wheeling, West Virginia	United States	17 May 1854	Suspension bridge carrying the National Road over the Ohio River	Torsional movement and vertical undulations caused by wind	No casualties	Deck destroyed; towers left intact and remain in use today
Gasconade Bridge	Gasconade, Missouri	United States	1 November 1855	Wooden rail bridge	Inaugural train run conducted before temporary trestle work was replaced by permanent structure	31 killed, hundreds injured	Span from anchorage to first pier destroyed
Desjardins Canal Bridge	Dundas, Ontario	Canada	12 March 1857	Rail bridge	Mechanical force due to broken locomotive front axle. Desjardins Canal disaster ensued.	59 killed
Sauquoit Creek Bridge	Whitesboro, New York	United States	11 May 1858	Railroad trestle	Weight	9 killed, 55 injured
Springbrook Bridge	Between Mishawaka and South Bend, Indiana	United States	27 June 1859	Railroad embankment bridge	Washout	41 killed		Known as the Great Mishawaka Train Wreck or the South Bend train wreck
Bull Bridge	Ambergate	England	26 September 1860	Cast iron rail bridge	Cast iron beam cracked and failed under weight of freight train	0 killed 0 injured	Total collapse of bridge	Section of broken girder
Wootton Bridge	Wootton	England	11 June 1861	Cast iron rail bridge	Cast iron beams cracked and failed	2 killed	Total damage to floor	Wootton Bridge crash, caused by a flawed design & unreliable cast iron, failed from a repair
Platte Bridge	St. Joseph, Missouri	United States	3 September 1861		Sabotage by Confederate partisans during US Civil War.	17–20 killed, 100 injured
Chunky Creek Bridge	near Hickory, Mississippi	United States			Debris build-up from winter flood shifted the bridge trestle.			-
Rail bridge	New Hamburg, New York	United States	6 February 1871	Wooden trestle with drawbridge in center	Fire following explosion caused by train collision with derailed train	22 killed	Drawbridge collapsed into creek	1871 New Hamburg rail disaster
Train bridge	Wood River Junction, RI	United States	19 April 1873		Washaway	7 killed, 20 injured		Railroad Disaster at Meadow Brook, Rhode Island
Dixon Bridge	Dixon, Illinois	United States	4 May 1873	Iron vehicular bridge over the Rock River	Large crowd assembled on one side to view baptism ceremony; bridge design flaw	46 killed 56 injured	Bridge was a total loss	The collapse of the Dixon Truesdell Bridge, May 4, 1873.
Portage Bridge	Portageville, New York	United States	5 May 1875	Wooden beam bridge over the Genesee River	Fire	0 killed 0 injured	Bridge was a total loss	Fire destroyed all but the concrete abutments
Ashtabula River Railroad Bridge	Ashtabula, Ohio	United States	29 December 1876	Wrought iron truss bridge	Possible fatigue failure of cast iron elements	92 killed, 64 injured	Bridge total damage	Ashtabula bridge disaster
Tay Rail Bridge	Dundee	Scotland	28 December 1879	Continuous girder bridge, wrought iron framework on cast iron columns, railway bridge	Faulty design, construction and maintenance, structural deterioration and wind load	75 killed, no survivors	Bridge unusable, girders partly reused, train damaged	Fallen Tay Bridge. Locomotive was saved from the Tay and was still in use 19 years later; known as "The Diver".
Honey Creek Rail Trestle	Boone County, Iowa	United States	6 July 1881	Railroad trestle	Flash flood washed out timbers supporting trestle	2 killed	Bridge rebuilt	Kate Shelley, who lived nearby, was able to warn the railroad to stop an oncoming passenger train.
Inverythan Rail Bridge	Aberdeenshire	Scotland	27 November 1882	Cast iron girder rail bridge	Hidden defects in cast iron caused collapse as train passed	5 killed, 17 injured	Bridge rebuilt	Crash scene after the accident. The Board of Trade issued warning about similar under-bridges.
Little Silver	New Jersey	United States	30 June 1882	Trestle railway bridge	Train derailment due to insecure railroad switch on the northbound side of the bridge.	3 killed, 65+ injured	Estimated $15,000 worth of damage to the bridge and cars combined. Bridge was repaired.	Several rail cars derailed and fell off the bridge into Parker's Creek. Ulysses S. Grant was a passenger.
Osijek railway bridge	Osijek	Hungary / Croatia border	23 September 1882	Railway bridge	Bridge collapsed into the flooding Drava river under the weight of a train	28	Washout by flood Collapsed wooden bridge later replaced by iron bridge.
Camberwell Bridge	London	England	15 May 1884	Cast iron trough girder bridge over railway	Hidden defects in cast iron caused collapse of four girders	0 killed, 1 injured	Bridge rebuilt
Bussey Bridge	Boston	United States	14 March 1887	Iron railroad bridge collapses under train	Poor design and maintenance	23 killed, 100+ injured	Bridge rebuilt	A drawing of the collapsed bridge.
Big Four Bridge	Louisville, Kentucky	United States	10 October 1888	Caisson and truss		12 died when caisson flooded, 4 died when beam broke, 21 died when truss fell into river
Conemaugh Viaduct	Upriver from Johnstown, Pennsylvania	United States	31 May 1889	Stone,78-foot high railroad bridge	Washed away by the Johnstown Flood	0	total loss
Norwood Junction Rail Bridge	London	England	1 May 1891	Cast iron girder fails under passing train	Hidden defects in cast iron caused collapse	0 killed, 1 injured	Bridge rebuilt
Münchenstein Rail Bridge	Münchenstein	Switzerland	14 June 1891	Wrought iron truss	Train falls through centre of bridge	71 killed, 171 injured		The railway bridge collapsed under a heavy train loaded with more than 500 passengers; more than 70 were killed.
Chester rail bridge	Chester, Massachusetts	United States	31 August 1893	Lattice truss bridge	Removed rivets caused bridge to collapse under the weight of a train	14 killed
Point Ellice Bridge	Victoria, British Columbia	Canada	26 May 1896		Overloaded tram car collapses central span	47/53/50–60 killed
Maddur railway bridge collapse	Maddur	India	02 October 1897		River in flood	150 drowned	AA