SFR 82 years ago today

Sorta fishing-related
Stonedfish

Stonedfish

Known Pluviophile
Forum Supporter
Drove over it yesterday to and from fishing.
The severe side winds warning signs were on, but I’ve driven across it in way worse winds.
She went down 82 years ago today. Glad the replacement and new bridge were built to better standards.
SF

 
Saw the original clip years ago in high school physics class. Living in RI and not having done much travel at that point in my life, the actual location didn't really register, though the name "Tacoma Narrows" somehow stuck in my memory. Many years later, on my first trip to the Seattle area, my wife and I were just about to cross the present bridge when I made the connection. Not being a fan of heights anyway, I spent the whole drive across trying to avoid the thought that the road was going to undulate and hurl our rental car over the edge.

Some memories are better left repressed.... :)
 
Some years later (1957) another suspension bridge collapsed (for different structural reasons):

My grandfather lived in Taylor, BC. Rather than drive miles downriver to another bridge crossing, he bribed a railroad employee and drove across a railroad bridge spanning the Peace River to come visit us in Sequim.
 
I remember years ago when I first started fishing the beaches here, (before they even started building the second bridge), you could pull off the highway and park on the west end of the narrows bridge in a makeshift gravel spot. From there you could hike a trail down to the beach and there were remnants of the old galloping Gertie sticking out of the hillside. As I recall they actually made a helpful handrail in places, to grab going down the steep slope to the beach.

Of course now with the second bridge built you can't even get near that access spot.
 
Merle said:
I remember years ago when I first started fishing the beaches here, (before they even started building the second bridge), you could pull off the highway and park on the west end of the narrows bridge in a makeshift gravel spot. From there you could hike a trail down to the beach and there were remnants of the old galloping Gertie sticking out of the hillside. As I recall they actually made a helpful handrail in places, to grab going down the steep slope to the beach.

Of course now with the second bridge built you can't even get near that access spot.
Click to expand...

Yep
The first exit on the west side of the bridge allowed you to drive under the old bridge to get on the south side. They had an old, fenced off maintenance area directly under the old bridge.
I much preferred going down the hill. There were a lot less people down there before the park opened.
That is one of many places I wish I had taken pictures of from the past.
SF
 
The builders of that bridge thought that the weight of the Cement would stop the swaying of the bridge. Boy were they ever wrong. Yeah the dog went down with the car.
 
I took a boat tour out of Gig Harbor with my mom when she visited a few years ago. It was pretty cool to hear the history of the bridges while touring underneath them. Also the workers “graffiti” that still remains way up high. I’d recommend the tour if you have family visiting from out of town.
 
My wife grew up in Gig Harbor. Her dad was in construction/paving and helped rebuild the bridge. There is a song about the bridge collapse and my wife and kids sang it every time we drove over To Gig Harbor. I’ve been told that I can’t hold a tune in a bucket, so concentrated on driving…
 
Last edited:
Eastside said:
My wife grew up in Gig Harbor. Her dad was in construction/paving and helped rebuild the bridge. There is a song about the bridge collapse and my wife and kids sang it every time we drove over To Gig Harbor. I’ve been told that I can’t hold a tune in a bucket, so concentrated on driving…
Click to expand...
It's gotta be this one (can't imagine there's more than one): https://billdavie.bandcamp.com/track/the-ballad-of-galloping-gertie

I'll have to try and memorize the chorus (it's catchy) for the crossings for the next time I'm out there and driving to and from my day of chasing SRCs in the Sound.
 
Such a great example of hubris... man was invincible and nature didnt have a chance... super an interesting era... big bridges, big damns...unstoppable...

Such a wonderful teaching tool... hard to forget. Every high school physics teacher must love it.

Heard it made great ling habitat... havent fished yet, though I've crossed over it countless times.
 
headduck said:
Such a great example of hubris... man was invincible and nature didnt have a chance... super an interesting era... big bridges, big damns...unstoppable...

Such a wonderful teaching tool... hard to forget. Every high school physics teacher must love it.

Heard it made great ling habitat... havent fished yet, though I've crossed over it countless times.
Click to expand...
Respectfully, I don’t think it’s an issue of hubris, unless the definition of hubris is pushing the advancement of technology. There is a great book little book called “To Engineer is Human”, which is a set of stories about how engineering often advances (sadly) due to failure. The book goes all the way back to iron bridges in England where engineers first learned about metal fatigue. What was learned by Galloping Gertie was super complex, and led to a greater understanding of aeroelastics and flutter in bridge and building construction. It failed due to an heretofore unknown/unexpected vibratory mode. Because of the failure, it is highly unlikely there will be another similar since the learnings are built into new regulations and design practices.

I have also heard it has created great ling habitat, although I’ve never fished it.

“Penetrating so many secrets, we cease to believe in the unknowable. There it sits nonetheless, licking its chops”. H.L. Mencken
 
Good point @Mukman

I belive in failing to advance as well, But...

Theres a reason it's a lesson in every high school physics class regarding the basics of harmonic resonance.

I assume they understood such things but were certain they had the answer. Despite the answer being contrary to foundational physics. I have known many an engineer (of all types) and this confidence is quite prevalent.

For me hubris is more probable than ignorance although both are equally human.

Sounds like a good book. I'll look into it.
 
Just pondering the power of the engineer during that time... the respect they must have garnered.

The enormous changes made to the landscape and society... nearly gods... infallible... almost...
 
That video reminds me of the crypto currency descending triangle Elliott wave pattern.
 
Is the rubble from a crypto collapse good Ling Cod habitat ?
If not, I'm sticking with the bridge...at least it's good for something.
:)
 
mems said:
Harmonics
Click to expand...
I have no knowledge of the physics or engineering involved but this was my initial thought, supported by

until I read this article...
www.forbes.com

Science Busts The Biggest Myth Ever About Why Bridges Collapse

If you've ever thought the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed due to resonance, you've fallen for the same myth that scientists did.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
headduck said:
For me hubris is more probable than ignorance although both are equally human.
Click to expand...
Hubris? Ignorance? Both?
" Whenever you have an object suspended between two points, it's free to move, vibrate, oscillate, etc. It has its own response to outside stimuli, just like a guitar string vibrates in response to outside excitations. That's what the bridge did most of the time: simply vibrated up-and-down as cars passed over it, as the wind blew, etc. It did what any suspension bridge would do, only slightly more severely due to the cost-saving measures implemented in its construction... It didn't take any fancy resonance to bring the bridge down, just a lack of foresight of all the effects that would be at play, cheap construction techniques, and a failure to calculate all the relevant forces. "
Mukman said:
Because of the failure, it is highly unlikely there will be another similar since the learnings are built into new regulations and design practices.
Click to expand...
"The phenomenon of flutter is now well-understood, but it has to be remembered in order to be effective. The two bridges currently spanning the Tacoma Narrows' previous path have shorn up those flaws, but London's Millennium Bridge and Russia's Volgograd Bridge have both had "flutter"-related flaws exposed in the 21st century.
Don't blame resonance for the most famous bridge-collapse of all. The true cause is much scarier, and could affect hundreds of bridges across the world if we ever forget to account for, and mitigate, the fluttering effects that brought this one down."

Is the "scarier" part the assumption that it can't - won't happen again?
 
I did a lot of fly fishing beneath the new Narrows Bridge as it was being constructed 2006-2007. It was entertaining to watch it progress over time. When I hooked a salmon, bridge workers would occasionally watch and cheer me on. PNW memories.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top