The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is the historical name given to the twin suspension bridge—

originally built in 1940—that spanned the Tacoma Narrows strait. It collapsed just four months
later due to aeroelastic flutter. Since then, this topic has become popular, with several case
studies discussing the failure phenomenon of suspension cable bridges.

In the state of Washington, the construction of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was completed and
opened to the traffic on July 1st, 1940. It was the very first bridge to incorporate a series of plate
girders as roadbed support, and the first bridge of its type (cable suspension). It was also the third
largest suspension bridge of its time, with a 2800-foot central span and two side spans of 1100
feet each.

A west-side approach had a continuous steel girder of 450ft, while the east side had a long
reinforced concrete frame of 210ft.  It had two cable anchorages of 26ft. along roadways, two
5ft. sidewalks and two 8ft. deep stiffening girders. Among several other structural details, the
suspension cable anchorages to which the cables were connected were made of 20,000 cubic
yards of concrete, 6 lakh pounds of structural steel, and 2.7 lakh pounds of reinforcing steel.
Because of its extremely long length, it was considered a ‘narrow bridge’. The overall
construction cost was estimated to be a whopping $6 Million in 1940. Considering inflation, this
is equivalent to almost $1 Billion, and all of this for something that lasted just four months and
seven days. Yet, this remains a great engineering feature for civil engineers to ponder over.

Shortly after the construction of the Tacoma bridge, it was found to dangerously buckle and
sway along its length in windy conditions. Even with the normal winds, the bridge was
undulating noticeably, and this had the engineers worried as to the conditions in the presence of
high winds. Alarmed by this, many engineers started conducting experiments in a wind tunnel on
the structural behavior of the bridge when subjected to wind loads.

On the day of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, it experienced winds of about 19 m /s (i.e.,
about 70kmph). The center stay was torsionally vibrating at a frequency of 36 cpm (cycles/min)
in nine different segments. Over the next hour, the torsional vibration amplitude built up and the
motion had changed from rhythmically rising and falling to a two-wave. Despite all these
motions, the center part of the bridge (along the length) remained motionless, while its other two
halves twisted in opposite directions.
The bridge was twisted noticeably into two parts, experiencing 14 vibrations/min. This drastic
torsional motion was started by a failure of a cable (located along the north side) band
connecting to the center of the diagonal ties. Due to alternative sagging and hogging of span
members, the towers holding them were pulled towards them. Further, visible and predominant
cracks developed before the entire bridge crashed down into the river.

The problem that caused the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse was not a new problem, but one
which had been unspecified. Due to wind action, increased stiffness can be seen through various
design methods such as adding a greater dead load, adopting dampers, stiffening trusses or by
guy cables. However, these factors were not originally considered and only became part of the
later forensics.

Vocabulary
Aeroelastic Flutter (aeroelasticitate)- an unstable, self-excited structural
oscillation at a definite frequency where energy is extracted from the
airstream by the motion of the structure
cable bridge(pod de cablu)- bridge form in which the weight of the deck
is supported by a number of nearly straight diagonal cables in tension
running directly to one or more vertical towers
anchorage (ancore)-  The process of fastening a joist or joist girder to a
masonry, concrete, or steel support by either bolting or welding.
Girder (grinda) - a support beam used in construction. It is the main
horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams.
roadbed (trasament)-  the earth foundation of a road prepared for
surfacing
stiffening girders (grinzi de rigidizare)- transmits the dead weight of the
roadway and the live traffic loads acting on the roadway in the
transverse direction of the bridge to the suspension points of the cables
where these loads are removed by the cables.
Damper (amortizoare)- is a valve or plate that stops or regulates the flow
of air inside a duct, chimney, VAV box, air handler, or other air-
handling equipment. 

Verbs
To sway along its length- a sa legana de-a lungul lungimii sale
To vibrate torsionally- a vibra torsional
to twiste in opposite directions- a se rasuci in directii diferite
to sag span – a intinde deschiderea
to be pulled towards them- a fi trase spre ei
Summery
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is the historical name given to the twin suspension bridge—
originally built in 1940—that spanned the Tacoma Narrows strait. It collapsed just four months
later due to aeroelastic flutter. Since then, this topic has become popular, with several case
studies discussing the failure phenomenon of suspension cable bridges.

Shortly after the construction of the Tacoma bridge, it was found to dangerously buckle and
sway along its length in windy conditions. Even with the normal winds, the bridge was
undulating noticeably, and this had the engineers worried as to the conditions in the presence of
high winds. Alarmed by this, many engineers started conducting experiments in a wind tunnel on
the structural behavior of the bridge when subjected to wind loads.

The bridge was twisted noticeably into two parts, experiencing 14 vibrations/min. This drastic
torsional motion was started by a failure of a cable (located along the north side) band
connecting to the center of the diagonal ties. Due to alternative sagging and hogging of span
members, the towers holding them were pulled towards them. Further, visible and predominant
cracks developed before the entire bridge crashed down into the river.

The problem that caused the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse was not a new problem, but one
which had been unspecified. Due to wind action, increased stiffness can be seen through various
design methods such as adding a greater dead load, adopting dampers, stiffening trusses or by
guy cables.