Structural Failure: Terrifying Times Places Collapsed
What goes up must come down.
Published 11 months ago in Creepy
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a large cargo ship collided with Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending the structure — and several unlucky drivers — plummeting into the Patapsco River below.
Yet as the terrifying scene unfolded on television and social media, this was far from an isolated incident. As long as we’ve had buildings and bridges, these structures have tumbled from time to time — after all, what goes up must come down.
From rivers of molasses overtaking the streets of Boston to London Bridge quite literally falling down, here are 15 infrastructure disasters throughout history.
1
Beaver Dam Bridge
While beavers may be known for their bridge-building talents, the same can’t always be said of us humans. On May 22, 1963, a pillar holding up the Beaver Dam Bridge in Quebec, Canada collapsed due to flood waters. Unfortunately, several drivers couldn’t see the damage in time, inadvertently driving themselves into the river below.
2
The Wau Apartment Collapse
34 people were killed and 40 injured when an apartment building in Seoul, Korea collapsed shortly after its completion. An investigation into the complex found that several shortcuts were taken during construction, including one column that was supposed to have 70 steel support beams featuring just five.
3
Lotus Riverside Block 7
On June 27, 2009, a 13-story apartment complex in Shanghai, China toppled over onto the ground. One worker, who had run back inside the building to grab his tools, was killed in the incident. While it’s unclear what, exactly, caused the collapse, “Initial investigations attribute the accident to the excavations for the construction of a garage under the collapsed building,” The Wall Street Journal wrote of the incident, referencing local news outlet, Shanghai Daily. “Large quantities of earth were removed and dumped in a landfill next to a nearby creek; the weight of the earth caused the river bank to collapse, which, in turn, allowed water to seep into the ground, creating a muddy foundation for the building that toppled."
4
Colossus of Rhodes
Standing at roughly the height of our Statue of Liberty, the Colossus of Rhodes was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world… until an earthquake sent it tumbling to the ground in 226 B.C. Despite symbolizing the Greek island of Rhodes for only 54 years, the broken statue fragments became a monument in their own right, remaining on the ground for eight centuries to come.
5
Arecibo Telescope
Though the Arecibo Telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico may have famously helped us look up at the stars, it quickly became acquainted with the ground. After weathering years of intense storms and hurricanes throughout the 2010s, the telescope collapsed on August 10, 2020 when an auxiliary cable came unlatched to a platform keeping the structure intact.
6
London Bridge
“London Bridge is Falling Down” is more than just a nursery rhyme. The British bridge has collapsed several times since its first iteration in 50 A.D. Its most notable fall came in 1281, when ice atop the frozen River Thames expanded, crushing several of the arches responsible for keeping the bridge upright.
7
The Great Molasses Flood
Despite its reputation as an old-timey sweet treat, Molasses is more than just its sugary reputation, serving as the catalyst for a deadly flood that left 21 dead and 150 injured. On January 15, 1919, a 2.3 million gallon tank full of molasses exploded with "a thunderclap-like bang!" per one witness, sending a roughly 15-foot tall wave of the sweet stuff crashing down onto the New England city.
8
Estádio Fonte Nova
A hangover is far from the worst thing that can come from cheering on your favorite team — just ask Brazilian soccer fans who wound up destroying a football stadium. On November 25, 2007, a portion of the structure came crashing down towards the end of the game, leaving seven dead and 40 injured. While it’s unclear what exactly caused the incident, the stadium was thought to be at capacity when the implosion occurred.
9
Royal Plaza Hotel
In 1993, guests attending conferences at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima got a whole lot more than they bargained for after the high-end lodge caved in. Local authorities ultimately discovered that the collapse was caused by the addition of several stories without checking whether the ground below the hotel was still stable.
10
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
On April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma came crashing down after a truck bomb was detonated in front of the office complex. 168 people were killed and 680 were injured in the blast. Tim McVeigh was ultimately convicted in association with the explosion and was executed in 2001.
11
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Though fans may have hit North Carolina’s Charlotte Motor Speedway to see the fast thrills of racing, they discovered the dangers that come with walking when a pedestrian footbridge collapsed on May 2, 2000. Roughly 100 people were injured in the ordeal, which was thought to be caused by a construction error.
12
Notre-Dame de Paris
While the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral may have stood for centuries as a symbol of the City Of Light, it all came crashing down in 2019 — literally — when a fire sent parts of the iconic building tumbling. It remains unclear what exactly caused the fire — some authorities say it was a cigarette while others cite faulty wiring — however the gothic marvel is set to reopen to the public this December.
13
Chelsea Homes In London
The London Bridge isn’t the only structure that’s come crashing down in the British capital. Back in 2020, 40 people were forced to evacuate their homes in West London after two terraces appeared to split the historic property from roof to street level. No one sustained any injuries in the collapse.
.jpg)
Most Popular
