On April 9, 1978, a third of the Wilson Bridge in Tours, France, collapsed into the Loire River, splitting the structure in two. Although no one was hurt, the disaster disrupted the water supply for 110,000 people and led to inspections of other bridges along the river. The collapse was linked to sand extraction from the riverbed, which had been happening since 1960 and had deepened the riverbed by nearly three meters in Tours. This extraction caused regressive erosion, which exposed the wooden foundations of the bridge. These foundations had already been weakened by the severe drought of 1976, which lowered the water level and left parts of the structure vulnerable. The Wilson Bridge was originally built between 1765 and 1778 and featured 15 arches spanning 434 meters. Its design required the foundations to remain permanently submerged in water to stay intact. However, the combination of sand extraction, erosion, and the drought created conditions that led to the collapse. The first major collapse happened on April 9 at 9:27 a.m., when a car fell onto the shore. Additional collapses occurred on April 10 and May 3, including the southern abutment. In total, six arches, five piers, and the southern abutment were lost. A temporary Bailey bridge was put in place in July 1978 to restore traffic, and the damaged section of the Wilson Bridge was demolished by November 1978. A public vote from April 4 to December 23, 1978, helped decide the design for the new bridge, which was completed in September 1982 at a cost of 81 million francs. Initially, the collapse was blamed on underwater erosion and river diversion, but later investigations found that sand extraction, authorized by the French government, was the main cause. In 1994, a decree banned such extractions in the minor beds of rivers, 16 years after the collapse and 15 years after sand extraction had reached its peak on the Loire in 1979. Today, the Wilson Bridge has been rebuilt on a third of its original length and continues to connect the two sides of Tours. The disaster highlighted the risks of riverbed mining and the importance of maintaining infrastructure in areas prone to environmental changes.