U.S. Route 35

39 years ago, when the Silver Bridge was dedicated on August 2nd, 1928, it was a gala affair, according to a story in the State Gazette published at that time in Point Pleasant.

Perhaps it was not anticipated that in 40 years, it would hardly be sufficient to take care of the traffic on the heavily traveled U.S. Route 35 and the traffic between Ohio and West Virginia towns.

Today, the State Road Commission is tearing apart the right side of the approach to the bridge on the West Virginia side to widen it.

Just three months later, on December 18th, she was writing about the Silver Bridge again, but there was no discussion of celebration.

By the mid-1960s the Silver Bridge is nearly 40 years old.

It carries US Route 35 across the river.

and Route 35 is the primary connection between Point Pleasant and the larger world to the west.

The bridge is narrow by modern standards, two lanes, no median, no shoulder, the guardrails low enough to see over.

The roadway surface rippled with decades of patching and repaving.

Commuters heading home from work.

Shoppers returning from Gallipolis with packages in their back seats.

Trucks hauling freight along Route 35.