Nerf Balls to Go

I'm exactly 1000 yards from the bridge right now. I can see the new concrete towers slowly reaching to the sky, topped by huge cranes, lit by work lights.

Have you ever seen the black and white footage of a bridge violently twsiting in the wind before collapsing? That's the original bridge..."Galopping Gertie" they called it.

G.G. was built before they knew about the effects of high winds on structures. The bridge was built in such a way that the flat surfaces acted like airplane wings.

The city of Tacoma had taken out a big insurance policy on G.G., but when they went to the city official in charge of paying the premium, he admitted that he had gone south with the money and had not paid the premium! He never thought that the bridge would fall down! OOPS.

The current bridge was made of steel and dubbed Sturdy Gertie. Lots of air flow this time.

The remains of G.G. are still down at the bottom of Puget Sound. I've walked along the shoreline and seen the twisted and snapped girders.

The State of Washington Department Of Transportation has several webcams of the bridge including ones that focus on the new construction.

Here's a link to the page.

Posted by Mumblix Grumph at June 3, 2005 12:34 AM

Thanks for the link. I passed it along this morning. Good find for me.

Posted by John Ballard at June 3, 2005 3:09 AM