East Huntington Bridge — Attraction in Huntington

The East Huntington Bridge, officially named the Frank Gatski Memorial Bridge, is a striking cable-stayed structure that spans the Ohio River between Huntington, West Virginia, and Proctorville, Ohio. It’s not just a beautiful bridge and an engineering feat - it is a landmark with a story.

The East Huntington Bridge was built as a Federal Highway Administration demonstration to test and promote cable-stayed technology which was widely used in Europe but still novel in the United States during the early 1980s. It features hydraulic dampers to reduce cable vibration, with upgrades made in the 2000s.

This was the first concrete cable-stayed bridge in West Virginia and only the third of its kind in the country at the time. The earlier two were the Pasco-Kennewick Intercity Bridge completed in 1978 and the Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge in Louisiana completed in 1983. With the concept proven, later built cable-stayed bridges include the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa completed in 1987, the Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville completed in 1989 and the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Georgia completed in 2003.

With a total length of 900 feet and a main span of 900 feet, the deck is 40 feet wide and has 33 feet of clearance over the Ohio River. There are 62 stay cables in a fan arrangement stemming from the single central pylon.

It is named for Frank “Gunner” Gatski, a legendary football player from West Virginia. Gatski played for nearby Marshall University in the early 1940s and went on to have a stellar professional career with the Cleveland Browns, winning eight championships and earning induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. He was the first Marshall alumnus to reach the Hall of Fame.

There is no toll to cross the bridge.

[Review 605 of 2025 - 302 in Ohio -...

The 900-foot long span of the East Huntington Bridge (officially named the Frank Gatski Memorial Bridge) crosses the Ohio River, connecting Proctorville OH and Huntington WV. It was the first suspension bridge of its type in the state of West Virginia, and only the second of its type in the United States. It's a very elegant structure, and one of the best looking bridges...

The bridge has the potential to really look nice with some lighting. If someone needed to cross the bridge by walking it is extremely dangerous as there is no room on either side for...