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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