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All the United States West Virginia Vulcan Bridge
AO Edited

Vulcan Bridge

This rural bridge gave the government of West Virginia a red scare.

Vulcan, West Virginia

Added By
Mike Walker
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The Vulcan bridge   Kentuckian / Public Domain
The Vulcan bridge   Kentuckian / Public Domain
Railroad tracks through Vulcan   Kentuckian / Public Domain
The railroad line service road, which many Vulcan residents used after the bridge collapsed   Magnolia677
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About

Sitting along the Tug Fork River, just a stone’s throw from the Kentucky border, the West Virginia town of Vulcan features a similar history to many other American mining towns. Founded in the early 20th century, it faced a major loss in population in the 1960s after the coal mines ran dry. The remaining residents were content to continue to call Vulcan home. There was only one problem—the only way in and out of town was a ramshackle swinging bridge. With its narrow width and decaying wooden slats, it was woefully unsuited for even pedestrian traffic. 

The small town watched as its bridge continued to rot, and eventually collapse. Residents began to use a maintenance path along the railroad, which would fine and prosecute anyone it found trespassing. As the only legal way in and out of his town had been lost, local resident John Robinette appointed himself mayor with one goal: getting this bridge replaced. Facing stonewalling from the state government, which prioritized funding for projects which it deemed more useful, Mayor Robinette made the bold choice to request funding for the bridge from the Soviet Union and East Germany.

If formal funding requests to their own government were ignored, this new request immediately caught national attention. Newspapers from Spokane to New York reported the story. While crumbling infrastructure is embarrassing on its own, the idea of an American town taking charity from the nation’s top geopolitical rival was too much to bear. Bomb threats were received, threatening to destroy any bridge built with communist help. 

It is unlikely that either the Soviets or East Germans seriously considered answering Vulcan’s cry for help. However, the request did catch the attention of one Soviet reporter, Iona Andronov. The journalist traveled all the way to Vulcan on December 17, 1977, to meet with the mayor and examine the site of the bridge. Within only one hour of his arrival, the panicked state highway commissioner called a press conference, announcing that the state would replace the bridge. 

In true bureaucratic fashion, the bridge still took two years to complete, with only one lane. Still, it was funded entirely with true blue American funds, thus preventing a PR nightmare for the US when the country was gearing up for the final years of the Cold War. Mayor Robinette still found a way to thank the Soviets for their “help” by christening the bridge with two bottles of Russian vodka. Despite the success of this gambit by the town of Vulcan, the tactic was never repeated.

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History Infrastructure Disasters Mining Engineering Bridges

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Added By

mikewalker

Edited By

Michelle Cassidy

  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

October 11, 2024

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Sources
  • https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1978/12/16/110985173.html?pageNumber=12
  • https://archleague.org/article/difficult-terrain-the-history-of-west-virginias-infrastructure/
  • https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0g0wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sgUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2235,462258
Vulcan Bridge
34 Kellany Ln
Vulcan, West Virginia, 25682
United States
37.551472, -82.125523
Get Directions

Nearby Places

West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

Matewan, West Virginia

miles away

Hatfield & McCoy Moonshine

Gilbert, West Virginia

miles away

Breaks Interstate Park

Breaks, Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of West Virginia

West Virginia

United States

Places 106
Stories 10

Nearby Places

West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

Matewan, West Virginia

miles away

Hatfield & McCoy Moonshine

Gilbert, West Virginia

miles away

Breaks Interstate Park

Breaks, Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of West Virginia

West Virginia

United States

Places 106
Stories 10

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