BPL: Collapsed under weight of cattle 1853. BOB: Indicates year of completion and collapse as 1854. EOV: Appears more authoritative on the matter, "Although the bridge was not quite finished, Tarvin and the mayor of Covington rode the first vehicle across it on December 28, 1853. Less than two weeks later... the bridge collapsed."
The January 18, 1854 edition of The New York Times has a small article with a January 16, 1854 byline reporting the collapse of the bridge: "The... bridge... gave way this evening, while two men and eighteen cattle were crossing it... The keys which held the wire cable to the anchors gave way."