Photo: North Vancouver Museum

Eighteen construction workers killed in the 1958 collapse of Vancouver's Second Narrows Bridge were memorialized Sunday.

Survivors and relatives of the men gathered to remember one of B.C.'s worst workplace disasters.

On the 60th anniversary of the tragedy, Lou Lessard recalled the bridge suddenly falling out from underneath him.

He and 78 others were plunged into Burrard Inlet, along with tons of twisted metal.

“I fell anywhere between 135 to 150 feet when I hit the water, but I didn’t fall through the structure. So that’s what saved my life,” the 89-year-old told CTV.

Many were dragged down by the structure or their tools.

Byron Maine, now 85, considers himself lucky. He jumped in to help rescue his co-workers. 

“It was horrible to see. It’s something you don’t want to experience again,” he said.

An inquiry concluded an engineering error led to steel that wasn't strong enough being used to build the bridge. The engineer was among those killed, along with a diver looking for bodies and four more who died during its reconstruction, bringing the death toll to 23.

The bridge between East and North Vancouver was renamed the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Bridge in 1994.

– with files from CTV Vancouver