Failure™ Magazine

Suspended Animation

The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

Written by Jason Zasky   Filed under History, Science & Technology

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsing on November 7, 1940.

It’s an ominous sign when a bridge opens and the public equates the new structure with an amusement park ride. That’s exactly what happened when the Tacoma Narrows opened in July 1940. Attracting passengers from far and wide, people would drive across simply to experience the excessive undulations of the roadway, soon earning it the nickname of ‘Galloping Gertie.‘ When its spectacular collapse was captured on film in November of that year its place as the most remarkable engineering failure in history was assured.

Connecting the Olympic peninsula with Washington State’s mainland, the Tacoma Narrows’ main span measured 2,800 feet, making it the third longest suspension bridge in the U.S. Most notable about the design, however, was its surprisingly slender frame. Measuring only 39 feet across, the two-lane bridge was extremely narrow relative to its length, making the roadway prone to moving up and down in waves. At times, travelers reported that cars driving ahead of them or following behind were temporarily obscured from view.

The Tacoma Narrows wasn’t the only new suspension bridge of the period that suffered from excessive motion. The Golden Gate bridge [1937], New York’s Bronx-Whitestone [1939], and Maine’s Deer Isle bridge [1939] also demonstrated an alarming tendency to undulate in the wind and all had to be retrofitted with extra cables and/or stiffening devices. While it’s unclear whether the Narrows’ principal engineer, Leon Moisseiff, was aware of the problems plaguing these other new bridges (he almost certainly was), he argued for cost-cutting adjustments to the original design and against initiatives that would detract from the bridge’s appearance. Meanwhile, an advisory engineer named Theodore Condron strongly and repeatedly urged that the Tacoma Narrows be built at least 25% wider. Condron, a lone dissenter, was ignored, though his fears quickly proved justified as the bridge began behaving abnormally even during the construction process.

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