While
winding through some of the more bucolic areas of
Appalachia, it is possible to actually be startled
by the presence of this suspension bridge. Carrying
U.S. 22 over the Ohio River, Veterans Memorial Bridge
is a welcome sign of modern times in a world that
has been otherwise left behind. Linking the cities
of Steubenville, Ohio and Weirton, West Virginia,
the bridge uses a single tower and a splay of steel
cable to support the six-lane bridge deck. While it
is reminiscent of the stunning Erasmusbrug in The
Netherlands, Veterans Memorial Bridge actually has
a sibling much closer to home. There is a nearly identical
span known by the typically bland name "31st Street
Bridge" just a couple of hundred miles down the river.
It joins Proctorville, Ohio with Huntington, West
Virginia. The region where these bridges live thrived
for decades on coal, steel, and timber. Now those
industries are fading, leaving abandoned mills, smokestacks,
and rail yards behind. Veterans Memorial Bridge is
a reminder that no place is beyond hope, and that
there may just be a future for this corner of the
Ohio Valley.
