The Collapse Of The Tacoma Narrows Bridge – Bizarre Buffet Podcast
On this episode of the Bizarre Buffet ( A Podcast, Of All You Can Eat Weird), we discuss the story of the notoriously famous collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. There are many element’s that make this story truly bizarre, one of them being that they incident was caught on film!
” The Collapse Of The Tacoma Narrows Bridge “
Bizarre Buffet Podcast – All You Can Eat Weird
S2E27
Released On March 8th, 2021
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About The Collapse
Tacoma Narrows Bridge, suspension bridge across the Narrows of Puget Sound, connecting the Olympic Peninsula with the mainland of Washington state, U.S. The original bridge, known colloquially as “Galloping Gertie,” was a landmark failure in engineering history.
Four months after the opening of the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge, on the morning of November 7, 1940, it suffered collapse in a wind of about 42 miles.
The Collapse Of The Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Episode Show Notes
Tacoma Narrows Bridge, was a suspension bridge in the U.S. state of Washington that spanned the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula. It opened to traffic on July 1, 1940, and dramatically collapsed into Puget Sound on November 7 the same year. Proposals for such a bridge date back to the Northern Pacific Railway back in 1889.. Several attempts were made to approve having the bridge built, but often these proposals were denied to do a lack of funding available for such a project,. During the 1938 meeting of the structural division of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the bridge became a topic of discussion as it was being built. During this meeting, a designer who was in the audience had even predicted that this bridge was going to be a structural failure. During this meeting, the bridge designer himself was present . After being built it became the 3rd at the time (1st is the George Washington Bridge, followed by the Golden Gate Bridge) longest suspension bridge in the world at a length of 5939 Feet long 195FT tall The bridge expected light traffic volume, so was only designed to have 2 lanes and was 39feet wide in total. This was quite narrow, especially in comparison with its length. With only the 8-foot-deep (2.4 m) plate girders providing additional depth, the bridge’s roadway section was also shallow.Construction began in 1938 and took about 2 years to complete. What the hell is a plate girder????? A plate girder is a built up I-beam section, used to carry heavy loads which cannot be carried economically by rolled I-sections. It is made by riveting or welding the steel plates in I-beam shape. The decision to use such shallow and narrow girders proved the bridge’s undoing. With such minimal girders, the deck of the bridge was insufficiently rigid and was easily moved about by winds; from the start, the bridge became infamous for its movement. A mild to moderate wind could cause alternate halves of the center span to visibly rise and fall several feet over four- to five-second intervals. This flexibility was experienced by the builders and workmen during construction, which led some of the workers to christen the bridge “Galloping Gertie”. The bridge had become overly flexible and would shift around in the slightest of winds. It was known for bouncing up and down hence the nickname Galloping Gertie. This generated a buzz where it had become a tourist attraction. Often when you would drive on it, the road would move up and down and you could be driving 100 feet away from another car, and not see it bc the road was shifting. In efforts to keep the bridge steady, some enhancements were made to the bridge by attaching cables that were connected to 50 ton concrete blocks that were placed in the water to help anchor the bridge and keep it from rocking. Shortly after this, the stress on these cables were too high that they snapped. Bridge also lacked aerodynamics $13mil bridge built for $8Mil…. You get what you pay for. And the insurance money was stolen. COLLAPSE On November 7, 1940…. Less than 5 months after the bridge opened… on a windy day. At 42MPH winds, the bridge began to sway not just up and down…but left and right. From 7AM-10:30AM the bridge rocked all morning due to the eccentric movement of the bridge, this closed the bridge prohibiting any drivers from traveling on it,. One car was stranded on the bridge that belonged to LEONARD COATSWORTH who was the editor of the local newspaper.. He gave an account of the disaster “ I drove on the bridge, and started across. In the car with me was my daughters cocker spaniel, Tubby. Just as I drove past the towers the bridge began to sway violently from side to side. Before I realized, the title became so violent that I lost control of the car. I jammed on the breaks and got out…only to be thrown onto my face against the curb. Around me I could hear concrete cracking. I started back to the car to get the dog. But the car was thrown before I could reach it. The car then began to slide side to side on the roadway, I decided the bridge was breaking up. My only hope was to get back to shore omg hands and knees. I crawled 500 yards to the tower, brushing my hands and knees. Toward the last, I risked rising to my feet, running a few yards at a time. When I made it to the toll plaza, I saw the bridge in its final collapse and saw my car plunge into the narrows. With real tragedy and disaster and blasted dreams all around me…I believe that right at this minute, what was upset me most was that in a few hours I have to tell my daughter that her dog is dead, when I might have saved him. Coatsworth wasn’t the only person who tried to save the dog tubby. When the bridge slowed down in its movement in a lull…2 other man ran out and made an attempt to save the dog. Upon arriving to the car, the dog was obviously scared and bit one of the 2 men in the hand and the dog refused to leave the car. Sadly, the dog was on the bridge when it had collapsed. 11:02 the bridge finally collapsed by 11:10 AM it was over and all that stood was the East and West Towers with collapsed disfigured cables. This stood for months Aftermath: Who was at fault?? It was an embarrassment since it was publicly funded. Money lenders were to blame due to their cheapness in design to save money. The weeks leading up to the bridge, they were doing research on how to fix the design of the bridge to avoid catastrophe. Theories: Far too flexible. When the 40mph wind hit the bridge, it separated and flowed around it creating flowing air currents that became powerful enough to move the bridge in twisting motions. As this movement became more pronounced, the bridge became subject to aero elastic flutter… a complex phemnonemna when the elastic quality of the bridge desk combined with the wind, makes the motion of the bridge to the point that the movement was self generated. The end result, total collapse. In the aftermath… some effort was made to salvage the structure.. most of the metal components could not be saved… the concrete pedestals stayed in tact… and were incorporated into a new bridge going across the narrows. The wreckage of the bridge was left underwater, which eventually colonized by aquatic life becoming a large artificial wreath. From this collapse, this bridge is a case study for engineers around the world, has lead to better construction and design methods for bridges, 1950, a new bridge was built… it became so popular, a second bridge was made next to it. 700 Feet Down (Docu)A Diver (Peter Bortel and Jonathan Saenz ) wanting to know what was in the water, he found most of the bridge wreckage after several drives. Him, a team, and with film maker/ producer Carly Vester, they put together this documentary. They had to film in the winter because thats when the water had the slowest currents. They had connected with eye witnesses who saw the collapse. That must be difficult.. I couldn’t find any residents from Cabrini Green. The documentary tells the entire story from construction, the collapse, and now… 80 years later. The title comes from the length of the bridges towers to the depth of the water.. The wreckage it self is about 200 feet below. It pays tribute to the height that the bridge fell at. |
