page_title: Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940)
hierarchical_section_title: Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940)
caption_attribution_description: English: The blue circle marks the location of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Credit should go to user PHenry for creating the base image at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Map-WA-16.svg and the route shield at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WA-16.svg
context_page_description: The 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the first version of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. It was a suspension bridge in the U.S. state of Washington. The bridge was built over the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula. It opened on July 1, 1940. The bridge collapsed into Puget Sound on November 7 of the same year. At that time, it was the third longest suspension bridge in the world in terms of main span length. The Golden Gate Bridge and the George Washington Bridge were the only bridges that were larger.
  Construction of the bridge started in September 1938. After the deck was built, the wind caused it to move vertically. Because of this, the people building it gave it the nickname Galloping Gertie. The movement was seen even when the bridge opened to the public. Many things were tried to stop the bridge from moving. None of these things worked. The bridge's main span collapsed under 40-mile-per-hour winds on the morning of November 7, 1940.
  Because of World War II, the bridge could not be built again at that time. The towers and cables of the bridge were still in place. These and the rest of the bridge were taken apart and sold as scrap metal.
context_section_description: The 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the first version of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. It was a suspension bridge in the U.S. state of Washington. The bridge was built over the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula. It opened on July 1, 1940. The bridge collapsed into Puget Sound on November 7 of the same year. At that time, it was the third longest suspension bridge in the world in terms of main span length. The Golden Gate Bridge and the George Washington Bridge were the only bridges that were larger.
  Construction of the bridge started in September 1938. After the deck was built, the wind caused it to move vertically. Because of this, the people building it gave it the nickname Galloping Gertie. The movement was seen even when the bridge opened to the public. Many things were tried to stop the bridge from moving. None of these things worked. The bridge's main span collapsed under 40-mile-per-hour (64 km/h) winds on the morning of November 7, 1940.
  Because of World War II, the bridge could not be built again at that time. The towers and cables of the bridge were still in place. These and the rest of the bridge were taken apart and sold as scrap metal.  In 1950, a new Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened in the same place. It used the first bridge's tower pedestals and cable anchorages. The parts of the bridge that fell into the water are now an artificial reef.
  The bridge's collapse had lasting effects on science and engineering.  In many physics books, it is used to show resonance. Its collapse also helped increase research in the field of bridge aerodynamics-aeroelastics. This has affected the designs of all the world's large long-span bridges built since 1940.
caption: Map showing location of the bridge
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