By Mary Jacobson
On June 28, 1983, at approximately 1:30 a.m., a 100-foot portion of the Mianus River Bridge on Interstate 95 in Greenwich suddenly collapsed and fell into the river. Nine years later, the Oral History Project compiled or conducted interviews of twenty-two persons who remembered that momentous tragedy.
It is interesting to note that in 1970 the Greenwich Audubon Society conducted a winter bird count of starlings flying into the Mianus River Bridge roost under I-95. Joseph Zeranski, vice president of the Greenwich Audubon Society, reported that approximately 100,000 birds were counted flying in on one evening, not atypical for that time of year. “They roosted there as it was protected from rain and other inclement weather…it was one of the major roosting areas in this region.” By the 1980s there were none. “We went there each year and just shook our heads and were amazed that no birds were present.”
At 1:15 a.m. on June 28, 1983, Margot Cardozo, whose home was situated on a cove under the Mianus River Bridge, couldn’t sleep. She decided to have some milk and chocolate chip cookies in her kitchen. Approximately fifteen minutes later, a huge noise shook the house. She thought maybe a truck had jack-knifed on the bridge.
On the Mianus River Bridge, at that same early morning time, David Pace was driving a truck northbound on I-95 with his sleeping wife, Helen, beside him. Suddenly, “there was nothing under the truck, and that was it…All this happened so quick. I was on the bridge when it collapsed…I heard CRACK, like a bolt of lightning. “
Under the Mianus River Bridge, at a dock on the Cos Cob side, Werner Albrecht had been working late on his boat. At 1:25 a.m., he reached over to turn out the light when he heard “a very deep roar and a thump, like a bass drum, and a screech of tires. I looked out the window and I saw lights cascading down off the Mianus Bridge.” Werner grabbed his flashlight and “found a truck in the water with a couple (the Paces) on top of their cab calling for help…Just about that time I heard sirens from the police and fire departments and state police arriving… Several boats arrived from people who were either working or staying on their boats and they effected the rescue of that couple.”
In all, four vehicles, two trucks and two cars, fell into the river that night from a 100-foot section of I-95 that had suddenly collapsed into the river below. Three victims perished and three survived.
Greenwich first responders who arrived quickly on the scene had a chaotic and challenging task before them. They needed to deal with the traffic on the highway; to lead cars off the road before they would drive near the fallen portion of the bridge. There was a strong smell of fuel around the site in the river, which led to concerns of fire. And, of course, they needed to search for and rescue survivors as well as recover those who had perished.
Divers arrived, including Tom Brown, a state trooper and a diver. Their search was impeded by the fact that it was dark and that one of the two trucks that had fallen into the river was transporting meat. According to Brown, “You couldn’t see into the water… and, as you reach underneath, you don’t know if you have a body or a side of beef. And we kept pulling up hunks of beef. Fortunately, it was beef.”
Despite an initial estimate of eighteen months to repair the bridge, the highway reopened to traffic the following September. However, until that date arrived, the daily lives of many Greenwich residents were completely disrupted. Within nine days of the bridge collapse, the state of Connecticut determined that ramps would be built to enable cars and trucks to exit I95 to make their way alternatively through Cos Cob to the Post Road. That meant that over 90,000 vehicles were directed to the Post Road each day with the concomitant noise, pollution, disruption to residents and businesses, and safety concerns that would ensue.
Residents of Cos Cob, particularly the 300 families who lived in the “Diesel Triangle” of River Road, Strickland Road, and Post Road, were particularly negatively affected during that time. They stated that there was no communication beforehand of the impending ramps to be built. David Donald, Cos Cob resident, remarked, “It was probably the quickest road paving job that’s ever been done in the state, I’m sure, because they . . . had those ramps up in less than two weeks’ time… Oh, it was just horrendous. It was a nightmare. So, this was the shortest route. There’s no question about it. But it was awful for us who lived here.”
Five years of litigation followed to determine compensation for victims and to decide whether faulty bridge design or faulty maintenance led to its collapse. A determination was made that the bridge was held up by less steel than was originally designed because of undetected forces of rust and corrosion causing fracture and pieces to fall off, not because of design flaws. Blame was cast on the inadequate bridge inspections which did not detect these flaws. According to William Rush, defending attorney for the engineering firm, “. . . even the birds knew enough to get off the bridge.”
As Michael O’Connor, a first responder, remarked in 1992, “Sometimes it’s strange when you go across and you look and you say, ‘There’s the piece.’ And you go over it. But, knowing what that bridge has been through, it’s the safest bridge in the whole world now. I have no qualms about going over the top.”
The interviews and “The Mianus River Bridge Collapse” book may be read at Greenwich Library. The Oral History Project is sponsored by Friends of Greenwich Library. Visit the website at glohistory.org. Mary A. Jacobson, OHP blog editor.
