Wheeling Suspension Bridge

The historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge carries the National Road over the Ohio River between Wheeling Island and downtown Wheeling, West Virginia.

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The historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge carries the National Road over the Ohio River between Wheeling Island and downtown Wheeling, West Virginia. It stands as one of the most important early transportation crossings in the region. ¹

History

Early Plans and the National Road

A charter was first granted to the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Company in 1816 to construct a bridge over the main channel of the Ohio River. ⁵ This would have extended the National Road into Ohio after the road reached Wheeling on August 1, 1818. At the time, Wheeling and Pittsburgh were competing to become major commercial gateways linking the Eastern Seaboard with the Midwest across the central Appalachian Mountains. In 1820, Congress authorized the extension of the National Road west to St. Louis, Missouri.

By 1836, the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Company had raised enough private funds to build a wooden bridge over the Ohio River backchannel between Zane’s Island—renamed Wheeling Island in 1902—and Ohio. The company then turned its attention to constructing a bridge over the main channel between Zane’s Island and Wheeling. ⁵ That same year, a federal proposal called for a suspension bridge with a removable section so that steamboat smokestacks could pass, but Congress tabled the measure. Another proposal to require hinges on tall steamboat smokestacks also failed to gain support.

Design Competition and Construction

As traffic on the National Road declined, Virginia congressmen abandoned efforts to secure federal funding for a Wheeling bridge in early 1847. ⁵ Civic boosters responded by forming a new company that year and requesting bridge proposals in May. Soon afterward, the legislatures of Virginia and Ohio jointly issued a new charter for the crossing. Charles Ellet Jr. and John A. Roebling, then the leading authorities on suspension bridge design, were invited to submit plans and estimates for a bridge over the main channel of the Ohio River. ^{6 7}

The proposed bridge was to stand 90 feet above low water, based on the assumption that the tallest steamboat smokestacks were about 60 feet high. ⁸ But as smokestacks grew taller, the design increasingly threatened to obstruct the largest steamboats. Even so, Ellet won the contract in 1847 with a bid of $120,000, edging out Roebling’s proposal for a shorter double-span bridge estimated at $130,000.

The Wheeling Suspension Bridge was completed in November 1849 at a cost of $250,000. ⁸ It featured a simple timber deck resting on transverse timber floor beams, which were supported at their ends by wrought-iron suspenders hung from the main cables. It was the first major suspension bridge in the United States and gave the National Road a fixed crossing over the Ohio River. Litigation before the United States Supreme Court between 1849 and 1852 over whether the bridge obstructed steamboat traffic ultimately cleared the way for other bridges to be built over navigable waters.

Collapse, Litigation, and Rebuilding

The original bridge did not last. Subjected to severe torsional and vertical motion, the flooring was thrown upward toward the tops of the towers, and the bridge collapsed on May 17, 1854. ⁸

During the court’s summer recess, Justice Grier issued an injunction against rebuilding it, but a temporary bridge designed by William McComas was put in place by July 26. ⁵ That crossing had a 14-foot-wide deck and operated with alternating one-way traffic. At the same time, the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Company challenged the injunction, arguing that it violated both the authority of Congress and the sovereignty of Virginia. The legislatures of Ohio, Virginia, and Indiana also petitioned Congress to save the bridge. Through the efforts of Wheeling Congressman George W. Thompson and others, Congress declared the bridge a post road before the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling could take effect. In December, Justice Nelson upheld the Wheeling bridge as a valid exercise of Congressional authority over military and postal roads despite continued objections.

A permanent replacement suspension bridge of the same basic design opened in 1859 at a cost of $40,000.

Strengthening and Improvements

In 1871 and 1872, William Hildenbrand modified the span using designs prepared by Washington A. Roebling. Auxiliary stay cables were added, and the deck was replaced to strengthen the bridge and improve its resistance to strong winds. Further improvements designed by Hildenbrand followed in 1886, with additional repairs completed in 1922 and 1930. ⁸

Ownership of the bridge changed in 1927, when the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Company sold it to the City of Wheeling. It was later taken over by the West Virginia Department of Highways. ⁷ In 1956, the timber deck was replaced with open steel grating, and steel floor beams were installed to reduce dead load and improve wind resistance. ⁸ This widened the roadway from 16¼ feet to 20 feet, although it also narrowed the sidewalks considerably.

Historic Recognition and Restoration

Recognition of the bridge’s historic importance came later in the 20th century. It was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1969 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975, one of the highest honors given to a non-federal historic site or structure. ¹ It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Because of its deteriorating condition, the bridge was closed in 1982 for a $2.4 million restoration project. The work included repairs to the cables and anchorages and the reconstruction of several trusses. It reopened during a public celebration on May 5, 1983. In 1987, 154 specially designed globe lights were added, and another renovation campaign was completed in 1999.

Vehicular Restrictions and Pedestrian Use

By the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the bridge’s structural limitations had become increasingly problematic. When it was built, the heaviest expected live load was a horse and buggy. A 4,000-pound weight limit was later imposed, making the bridge unsuitable for trucks, buses, and other heavy vehicles. Despite that restriction, overweight vehicles periodically entered the bridge and forced closures for inspection and repair. Among the most notable incidents were a Greyhound bus attempt to cross on March 23, 2016, ⁹ and a charter bus crossing on June 29, 2019. ³ The charter bus driver was cited for operating an overweight vehicle and for disobeying a traffic control device. After the 2019 incident, the bridge reopened on August 13 following the installation of a height barrier with hard restraints by the WVDOH in an effort to prevent further overweight crossings. ^{2 4}

Continued disregard for the bridge’s weight and height restrictions led the WVDOH to close the Wheeling Suspension Bridge to all vehicular traffic on September 24, 2019. ² On February 4, 2026, the WVDOH announced that the bridge would remain open to pedestrians only. ¹⁰ The agency stated that it intended to preserve the bridge in accordance with National Historic Landmark standards while studying options to reduce the weight of the deck and repair the original suspension cables.

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