Bridge failures that killed 50 or more people since 1900

Map of 9 locations · Worldwide

Collapses of road, rail and pedestrian crossings from the twentieth century onward, each pinned where the structure gave way. Some fell under floodwater or a volcanic lahar, some were brought down by a train that had already left the rails, and some failed through their own design or construction. The copy follows what was reported at the time and what the inquiries afterwards recorded. The set follows Wikipedia's list of bridge failures, read and transcribed by hand with deliberate acts, war, and bridges that did not fail left out, so it is a curator's reading of that record rather than a database query.

Places in this collection

  • 2022 Morbi bridge collapse — Authorities said nearly 500 people, among them women and children, were on and around the suspension footbridge over the Machchhu river in…
  • 2007 Cần Thơ Bridge collapse — A span of the Japanese-funded bridge under construction across the Hau River, a branch of the Mekong, came down on the Wednesday, leaving w…
  • 2005 Veligonda rail disaster — The Delta Fast Passenger derailed early in the morning between Valigonda and Ramannapet stations, about 80 kilometres from Hyderabad in wha…
  • 2001 Kadalundi train disaster — The Mangalore to Chennai Mail was crossing Bridge 924 over the Kadalundi River, between the Malappuram and Kozhikode districts of Kerala, o…
  • 2001 Hintze Ribeiro Bridge collapse — The bridge over the Douro, also known as the Entre-os-Rios Bridge and built between 1884 and 1886 to link Entre-os-Rios to Castelo de Paiva…
  • 1998 Eschede train disaster — The Intercity Express "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen" derailed at 200 kilometres per hour on the Hanover to Hamburg line near the village of Esche…
  • 1981 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse — A tea dance had drawn hundreds of people into the atrium of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, when two suspended walkways a…
  • 1977 Granville rail disaster — A passenger train that had left Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains for Sydney derailed while negotiating a left-hand curve 250 m west of…
  • 1953 Tangiwai disaster — Part of a wall gave way above the Whangaehu Valley on Christmas Eve, releasing a deluge of water that picked up mud and boulders as it ran…

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