The St. Marys Bridge, also known as the Hi Carpenter Memorial Bridge, carries WV Route 807 over the Ohio River between Newport, Ohio and St. Marys, West Virginia. It replaced a suspension crossing that had been deemed unsafe for all traffic.
The St. Marys Bridge, an eyebar suspension crossing, opened in 1928. 1 It was closed immediately out of safety concerns after the collapse of the similarly-designed Silver Bridge on December 15, 1967.
Constructed by the E. Lionel Pavlo Engineering Company, the new four-lane St. Marys Bridge opened in 1977. It was named after Hi Carpenter, a well-known riverman who began his long career ferrying mail between Raven Rock and Leith, Ohio when he was 13 years old. 2 His greatest undertaking was building the Short Route Bridge in 1928.
A view of the original St. Marys Bridge in 1970.
Information
- State: Ohio, West Virginia
- Route: WV Route 807, OH Route 807
- Type: Warren through truss
- Status: Active - Automobile
- Total Length: 2,583 feet
- Main Span Length: 900 feet
- Deck Width: 64 feet
Sources
- LeRose, Chris. “The Collapse of the Silver Bridge.” West Virginia Historical Society.
- James H. O’Donnell: Out of the Mud: Hiram Carpenter and the Ohio River Valley, 1880-1950, John Deaver Drinko Academy, Huntington, 2010.
