Tacoma Narrows Bridge

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a toll suspension bridge carrying State Route 16 between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State. Two parallel decks span the Puget Sound and serve more than ninety thousand vehicles daily.

The first bridge from nineteen forty collapsed only months after opening due to aerodynamic oscillations. A new design replaced the failed structure ten years later using reinforced truss girders instead of the original shallow stiffening beams.

Engineering students worldwide study the bridge's 1940 collapse through film footage that shows the structure's oscillations before its eventual breakdown.

Crossing relies entirely on electronic toll systems with no tollbooths on the roadway. Traffic patterns shift during morning and afternoon commute hours from nearby military installations and peninsula residents.

The collapse of the original structure was filmed by chance by a professor and the footage remains a teaching tool in engineering courses worldwide. The recording shows a metal structure moving in waves like fabric in the wind before finally falling into the depths.

Location: Tacoma

Official opening: October 14, 1950

Length: 1,822.4 m

GPS coordinates: 47.26901,-122.55165

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:27