Sunday, July 3, 2016

Niagara Falls - Honeymoon Bridge Collapse January 27, 1938

Here's an FYI Slice of Americana
Niagara Falls - Honeymoon Bridge Collapse January 27, 1938

A wind storm from Lake Erie pushed massive amounts of ice over Niagara Falls. Our friendly tour guide says that more than 90 feet of ice crushed its way through the gorge, and the pressure buckled the girders and mangled the bridge base foundations on both sides. All of the moving ice and pressure caused the bridge to collapse.

Having witnessed this ice movement with the Erie storm in prior days the imminent collapse was predicted, and the spectacle drew thousands of onlookers. This collapse made big news and was filmed for broadcast news.

According to our tour guide the bridge came down in one massive piece at 4:20 PM on January 27, 1938. He said, that the collapse made international news and that it was even filmed. From news archives the following clip was found, and posted on YouTube.
The same video is re-posted here.
The Honeymoon Bridge was also called The Upper Steel Arch Bridge and Fallsview Bridge. It crossed the Niagara River, connecting Canada with the USA, and was located about 500 feet up from the present day Rainbow Bridge.


The original video posting on YouTube was at this link
Here are some old photos of that bridge.

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