The suspension bridge, and later the current adjacent beam and girder bridge, are privately owned and were previously operated as toll bridges. The current bridge was closed by West Virginia in late 2007.
Ron Thompson, a member of the family who owns these structures (the suspension bridge formerly, and now the current crossing) writes: "This was a private toll bridge constructed beginning in 1939 by the Big Creek Bridge Company, a privately held corporation headquartered first in Nolan, then in Williamson. The replacement bridge next to it was constructed by the same entity. My father, along with other relatives, inherited most of the corporate stock, and for the last several years he has owned it in its entirety... My grandfather built the original suspension bridge primarily to provide a way to get coal from the surrounding hills in Pike and Martin County, Kentucky to tipples and markets in West Virginia."
Do you have any information or photos about this bridge that you would like to share? Please email
david.denenberg@bridgemeister.com.