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Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Join Team UAH for the thrill of a lifetime. One of the most famous and spectacular cases of destructive flutter befell not an airplane but a bridge. When the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, then the third longest suspension bridge in the world, opened to traffic in the fall of 1940, it had already acquired the nickname Galloping Gertie because it heaved rhythmically and visibly when the wind blew. In fact, people repeatedly crossed the bridge just to enjoy its roller-coaster-like undulations, which were considered harmless. On November 7, only six weeks after the bridge opened, a steady 42-mph wind was blowing along Puget Sound. The slender span began its dance. Then a cable near mid-span snapped, creating an unbalanced condition. Soon the bridge was performing twisting, heaving, and swinging motions of an incredible magnitude. These continued for more than half an hour before the center span fell into the water--long enough for an amateur filmmaker to record for posterity the astonishing spectacle. -- Peter Garrison |
