Tacoma Narrows: The Bridge That Twisted Itself Apart

In November 1940 the brand-new Tacoma Narrows Bridge twisted itself to pieces in a 42 mph wind. Here is what really happened, why the famous 'resonance' explanation is wrong, and how Galloping Gertie changed every long bridge built since. Why did a brand-new bridge, built for a hundred-mile-an-hour gale, tear itself apart in a moderate wind? Chapters 0:00 Forty-Two Miles an Hour 1:03 The Third Longest Span 2:27 A Cheaper, Thinner Bridge 4:00 Wind That Pushes Back 6:02 The Last Morning 8:14 Not Resonance 10:15 Built to Let the Wind Through 11:34 Sources and credits Sources In the Wake of Tacoma: Suspension Bridges and the Quest for Aerodynamic Stability (Richard Scott, ASCE Press, 2001): https://sp360.asce.org/PersonifyEbusi... The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse (Quick Study, citing Billah and Scanlan, Am. J. Phys. 59, 118, 1991) (Donald W. Olson, Steven F. Wolf, Joseph M. Hook, Physics Today, 2015): https://physicstoday.aip.org/quick-st... The Failure of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge: A Report to the Honorable John M. Carmody, Administrator, Federal Works Agency (Othmar H. Ammann, Theodore von Karman, Glenn B. Woodruff, Federal Works Agency (CaltechAUTHORS), 1941): https://authors.library.caltech.edu/r... Eyewitness accounts (Leonard Coatsworth, Clark Eldridge, F. B. Farquharson) (Washington State Department of Transportation, 1940): https://wsdot.wa.gov/TNBhistory/eyewi... Tacoma Narrows Bridge history: Collapse (Washington State Department of Transportation): https://wsdot.wa.gov/TNBHistory/colla... Tacoma Narrows Bridge history: Lessons from failure, and Aftermath (Washington State Department of Transportation): https://wsdot.wa.gov/TNBhistory/bridg... Tacoma Narrows Bridge destruction, film of November 7, 1940 (Barney Elliott, Stillman Fires Collection), and Official Opening program, Tacoma Narrows Bridge and McChord Field, June 30 - July 4, 1940 (Prelinger Archives / Wikimedia Commons, 1940): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Archival material (public domain) The deck twisting in the wind, seen from the shore (November 7, 1940). Barney Elliott / Prelinger Archives. Public domain: Prelinger Archives public domain dedication (Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... The wrecked bridge from the water, its center span gone (November 1940). Castle Films / Stillman Fires Collection (Internet Archive). Public domain: Internet Archive item SF121, license field 'Public Domain': https://archive.org/details/SF121 Official opening program, Tacoma Narrows Bridge and McChord Field (June 30 - July 4, 1940). Tacoma Narrows Bridge - McChord Field Celebration Committee. Public domain: published in the US in 1940 without a copyright notice (PD-US-no notice): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... The deck twisting, seen along the roadway from a tower (November 7, 1940). Castle Films / Stillman Fires Collection (Internet Archive). Public domain: Internet Archive item SF121, license field 'Public Domain': https://archive.org/details/SF121 The roadway heaving, filmed from the bridge (November 7, 1940). Barney Elliott / Prelinger Archives. Public domain: Prelinger Archives public domain dedication (Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... A section of the center span falls into the Narrows (November 7, 1940). Barney Elliott / Prelinger Archives. Public domain: Prelinger Archives public domain dedication (Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Riveted steel at the deck's edge, bending as the span twists (November 7, 1940). Castle Films / Stillman Fires Collection (Internet Archive). Public domain: Internet Archive item SF121, license field 'Public Domain': https://archive.org/details/SF121 Series: Engineering Disasters, Mapped (full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list.... The Hidden Blueprint: the places, disasters and inventions that quietly built the modern world. Except for the credited archival material, all images are illustrations created for this documentary; maps and diagrams are simplified and not to scale. Narration and quotes are produced with synthetic voices. Original music score. #history #engineering #documentary