It began construction in 1957. On June 17, 1958, when one of the cranes was stretching from the north side of the bridge to join the two chords of the unfinished arch, several of the spans collapsed. This caused 79 workers to fall 30 metres (100 ft) into the water. 18 of them were killed either instantly or shortly after, possibly drowned by their heavy tool belts. When a diver went down to search for the bodies, he drowned and that brought the total of deaths for the collapse to 19. The bridge opened on August 25, 1960 and was renamed the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing in 1994 to honour the workers that had died in the collapse.