The original bridge is still in the bottom of the sound, it's become a local dive spot and the wreckage is home to a whole bunch of sea life, including the Puget Sound Octopus. It's really cool how nature can utilize wreckage from a tragic event.
Heard that they salvaged part of it for the road up to Alaska during WW2 Chico in kitsap County was also named for a chief Only casualty from the bridge was a dog that got left in a car
Great thorough video. As a former Tacoma resident, I had the privilege of meeting the man who filmed the footage of the disaster. An amateur photographer, the man had a 16mm camera with early Kodachrome color film in his car’s trunk, and he used it to capture the scene.
Well, it has been nearly 40 years since I talked with the man, so unfortunately I cannot recall his name. He was a terminal cancer patient of mine that I cared for as a nurse. But even in his weak state he spoke animatedly of filming the bridge collapse; and later of opening a camera shop.
I spent some time in Tacoma a number of years back. I was working in Tacoma and staying with my sister on the other side of the bridge. She thought the prudent thing to do on the first night I showed up was to show me the video of the bridge collapsing. Thanks sis!
Washington is a rich source for bridge problems. You might be able to do a series. Besides the 1st Tacoma Narrows failing, there is also the 1st Hood Canal Floating Bridge sinking, the 1st Lake Washington Floating Bridge sinking (there is kind of a pattern there) and most recently the 20 year old West Seattle Bridge being closed because it was prematurely cracking so badly that there were fears it might collapse.
I only learned about the original Lake Washingon bridge collapsing a couple years ago! Definitely a potential future topic. Simon's team surely can dig up the old news footage from the time. And let's not forget that bridge that collapsed on I-5 back in 2013 by Burlington (or was it 2014?)
Side Projects: Oh my goodness, you mentioned my hometown! My grandfather saw the bridge collapse. I'm told that some people used to take car rides over the bridge as entertainment, kinda like a roller coaster, that really shouldn't have been a roller coaster. Interestingly enough, that's not the only high-profile bridge in Kitsap County that failed during a wind storm. The Hood Canal Floating bridge which connects the Kitsap Peninsula to the Olympic Peninsula also broke during a wind storm and sank. Then the floating bridge over Lake Washington sank. (I guess you shouldn't open up the valves on a floating bridge during a storm and then go home for Thanksgiving Weekend.) Then Husky Football Stadium also collapsed. . .
When I started my engineering course 10 years ago they would talk about the Quebec Bridge collapse, and how important it was to understand the mechanics of materials. When I got to the 2nd year after surviving the first, they would talk about Tacoma Narrows and resonance. Just goes to show, these events that happened generations ago are still being addressed today in engineering classes.
Many pieces of the bridge were moved to the 60-80 foot depth range and placed near Les Davis Park in Tacoma. I've gone scuba diving on them many times, and the habitat they provide is home to a dizzying array of critters. One of my favorite dives.
Hello from an engineer in Monroe, Washington!!! ....I just returned to internet access after a camping trip on the Washington coast to discover that Simon posted a video of the very location I just passed! Galloping Gertie was frequently referenced in my high school math and college level engineering courses at the UW. We love to talk about this! So excited to see this video here!
The replacement bridge has metal grates between each lane (you aren't supposed to switch lanes) and you can see straight down while you're driving. It's terrifying and I hate it.
I've been over it, but it's been many years. I've also driven over the Golden Gate Bridge, and that's terrifying because most of the other drivers go speeding over it and I was in a 1979 Pinto.
The Bridge of the Gods connecting Washington and Oregon at Cascade Locks had a roadway just made of metal grate. The Narrows bridge is easy by comparison!
I'm glad you're talking about this living and growing up with the single bridge as a kid then the eventual second bridge built. I see this bridge at least 1 time every couple of months living in the Tacoma area. If you're ever in Tacoma drive into Tacoma to Pt. Defiance park take the 5 mile drive and see some great views of the twin bridges standing tall and proud.
We in the local area have continued to pay for infrastructure improvements that benefit the military bases, and no, they still aren't helping to pay for them. Thanks for doing a story about my hometown Tacoma, Simon. If you hadn't heard, we added a second bridge right next to the replacement.
I’ve known about this for more years than I care to admit. But I must say your descriptions really made it very easy to understand what exactly happened. And you got almost all the words pronounce correctly.
Bridges often freak me out, but there’s something special about the Tacoma bridge. It’s a combination of its height, the steep arch the road makes, the tall skinny towers, the grating you can see through. To compare, the Golden Gate is massive strong, solid, powerful. The Narrows bridge is skinny, witchy, wild, elemental, tall, scary.
Forever impressed this was captured on video. Seriously, seeing the bridge move like that when you've grown up around suspension bridges that are pretty solid (I have two in my city alone, the Hi-Level and the Veteran Skyway) makes it pretty surreal to see.
This collapse is part of the reason why the 5.06 mile (that's 8.14 km) long Mackinac Bridge in Northern Michigan has 2 of its 4 lanes as metal grating for the strong winter winds on the Straits of Mackinac to pass through. You can feel some sway in high winds, but virtually none most of the time, despite nearly constant 8 mph winds over the Straits. While this has led to a few vehicles getting blown into the bumper rails, it had never directly been the cause of the two cars that have gone over. The first, a Yugo, is debated on the cause, but wind may have been a factor. The second was ruled a suicide. Small vehicles are now escorted in high winds by large semis as escort vehicles. At 50 mph, the bridge is closed for safety.
I remember as a kid my Dad told me the wind picked up the Yugo and it flew like a paper airplane over the rails into the straits. Lol.... I was a gullible child.
Simon, can we do a side project listing all your channels and how you keep up with all of them :) Seriously though, I love all your work and I appreciate all your links included below. You are truly prolific and I have this vision of you doing videos 24/7. You are amazing!
I grew up nearby in the 1970s and we had a little machine in our elementary school library that played black and white films. The film of the bridge falling was the most exciting to us and we watched it over and over in about the third grade. It was cool to hear a little more explanation of what actually happened to it.
We studied this bridge in my physics and differential equations class. The initial fluttering happened, started basically a wave function. Harmonic functions and equations have what are called Eigenvalues, where the equation can grow exponentially. The fluttering hit the Eigenvalue of the harmonic function of the bridge that caused the wave to get worse and worse and worse until the bridge couldn't handle it anymore.
Yet this is something infantry units have known about for millennia, the Roman Empire noticed this phenomenon and had to train the troops to "not march in step" when crossing bridges to combat the resonance.
I was taught the danger of resonances by the teacher showing that film. However, strictly technically, the bridge didn't collapse because of resonances, they are unavoidable, but because they were either unintentionally (over) excited or located in a frequency span not thought likely to be excited. So you either prevent excitation, dampen the excitation or move the frequencies.
Welcome to the neighborhood, Simon! My grandfather watched the first bridge, "Galloping Gerdie" fall, from his house on the Tacoma side.. I currently live in Gig Harbor just on the west side of Tacoma Narrows. Give a shout next time and I'll happily take you sailing. Cheers!
@@robertgraybeard3750 Lol, I know. My reply was a joking reference to one of the hosts of "Well There's Your Problem" a podcast here on youtube. Alice's solution to every engineering problem is to boldly claim "Just make it more rigid"
I've lived in Kitsap and Bremerton since 1996. Was sure spooky learning about Galloping Girtie and the Narrows Bridge. Now, there are 2 of them and it's amazing in the differences in the technology in building the two bridges
I used to live there, and I've driven over the newer bridges many times. As a kid the challenge was always to see who could hold their breath the entire length of driving over the bridge. My dad figured this out, and would slow down.
I grew up in Washington south of Seattle! I remember watching the video of the bridge coming down in both elementary school around fourth grade plus in high school in Washington State History class!
Great video sir. Speaking for bridges that go boom, a video on the doomed Tampa Bay Skyway Bridge may make an interesting one. The bridge spans the mouth of Tampa Bay in Florida. It was struck by a tanker causing a complete collapse that took the lives of 35 people in 1980. The new suspension bridge an engineering marvel running along side the remains of the original bridge used today as a fishing pit by locals.
A specific feature of this bridge was it’s very large length to width ratio. It stretched a number of design ideas beyond their previous application. I suppose you could say it was a bridge too far. However, it’s worth noting that although this bridge collapsed, there was one only one casualty - the dog. If we compare this to other bridges disasters, we can see that, even though this was a design failure, it was a phenomenal safety success. That the bridge gave plenty of warning before it failed, so that nobody was on it at that critical moment. I’ve got some detailed pictures of elements of the bridge and will say that it’s amazing that a structure made of concrete and steel was able to withstand so much twisting and stress for so long.
There's now two spans of the replacement bridges. The older one is still narrow and a tad scary when the wind blows (which is half the year, as I can attest to as a Tacoma resident). It used to have two way traffic and narrow lanes. The newer span opened in the last 15 years or so and allows each span to have one way traffic (and a toll if you're heading southbound). I suspect the newer span probably will survive all windstorms and hopefully whatever earthquakes may come.
Simon, nice job on the pronounciatins. This morning I was flying into a smaller towered airport. Right after I got my landing clearance from ATC, their mic stuck without them realizing... I started hearing your voice. Apparently the air controller was watching one of your videos while monitoring air traffic. (It was not too busy of an airport. I didn’t feel it was a safety concern.). I figured you’d appreciate that. Love your aircraft videos. #SR71.
Suggestion for this channel - the roads, bridges, and resorts built by the WPA during the Depression. Examples: Columbia River Highway, Vista House, Timberline Lodge on My. Hood ("The Shining"), and amazing stone and wood architecture all over the Western US.
I grew up on an island in the area, and my dad must have told me this story a dozen times lol. Still, a twisty bridge is better than no bridge at all sometimes. When my mom went into labor with my youngest sister, the ferry boats weren't running that late, so she and my dad drove three hours around to the hospital. Another time my other sister got a concussion, and she had to be airlifted into the city. Kind of crazy to think about being so cut-off from basic facilities.
In Victoria we have the big McKillop Bridge over the Snowy River which replaced a smaller structure which was washed away a week before the opening ceremony - um, I can imagine the project team meeting after that one and wonder if the same team built the new one. However the Snowy River is now tamed by the Snowy Mountains Scheme of dams and hydro electrical power stations and hardly gets any water nowadays.
Lived there, Tacoma. Did that, the replacement Narrows bridge, many times. Loved living there... Back then...all rhododendrons and mist... good times good friends 💜🙃🖖
Although suspension bridge construction may have been new and not well understood at the time, the Golden Gate bridge, the Oakland Bay Bridge, the St. John's Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC were all built before the Tacoma narrows bridge and are all still standing.
This is a mind blowing moment. . . . Sideprojects is the channel the covers things not quite mega enough to make it into Megaprojects, but I've now watched 2 videos of subjects Simon's already covered in TIFO. . . . So does that mean that TIFO is like "Forgotten Projects", "Project Prototypes", or "Projects: lite"? Mega, side, lite; totally relatable sizes in the US. Mega sized is if you're particularly hungry and you missed your afternoon snack. Side is the second part of the meal that's not quite like the main portion. Lite is same subject, half the run time.
On the north end of this same peninsula is another bridge that failed: the hood canal bridge. And while the Bremerton shipyards are a big navy presence there, just a few miles north is naval base Bangor.
I've walked across the bridge a few times, the new one... I'm not that old! Get off my lawn! I don't know where that came from... Apparently there is a Giant Squid that uses the old bridge as it's home.
@@lowthg Mebbe it didn't like me telling it to get off my lawn? I don't know if it's supposed to be a giant squid, octopus, or massive cuttlefish... It's allegedly a giant mollusk. I remember they did a dive on the Discovery Channel around 2008 or so, with the guy who built this insane exosuit thing and dove with those crazy squid in the Gulf of Mexico. I think I changed the changed the channel with utmost rapidity.
I may be wrong, But I'm pretty sure It's an Octopus that's down there. I guess the divers that inspect and maintain the concrete pier pads have been seeing it for years. Apparently It doesn't freak out over people. None of this I have fact checked. Just what I was always told and learned as a Tacoma school kid in the 80's and 90's I currently live about a mile away from the two spans. I think the new one is ugly and unpleasant to look at compared to the old span. Just my opinion. Anyway... yeah... None of that was prolly not helpful to anyone in anyway. You're welcome.
@@whomyguy1 youre the closest to right. but it isnt *an* octopus. many love down there. and the puget sound happens to be home to the giant pacific octo. which sounds a lot more dramatic than they tend to be. it is a difficult dive under the bridge because of the currents, but regular folk do dives nearby all the time, myself included. seeing octopus in tacoma, seattle, around here isnt uncommon, its just tricky since theyre smart and like to hide and way better at swimming. anyhoo, i love tacoma.
Look into the London millennium bridge, it's quite fascinating what was discovered due to the large pedestrian crowd walking across the bridge. I've felt this type of movement elsewhere on small bridges when I visit heavy tourist areas with a lot of pedestrians.
As I stated in the previous video, and considering your paper example, the wind was at just the correct velocity to cause the bridge to reach resonance frequency at both the slower and faster wind speed (most structures and mechanical systems have 2 or more resonance frequencies). As you stated with the paper, it can vibrate excessively at one of the lower frequencies, but will tear itself apart at the higher frequencies due to the larger force input to the system. My point being they should have consulted a team of proper mechanical engineers with vibrations, aeronautics, and fluids backgrounds. They would never have allowed the omission of trusses or blockage of air flow to fly in the design process.
There is an even taller bridge across the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. I haven't been there, but have heard that crossing it is even more scary. When there is high wind, cars need to be paired with larger, heavier vehicles so they don't get blown off the bridge into the lake. (Superior Wisconsin also has the last example of a whaleback ship, which is something else I should see.)
Yeah old Galloping Gertie. Reminds me of the Silver Bridge collapse that happened in my neck of the woods although that bridge disaster killed 46 people till this date the worst bridging disaster in American history and two of the bodies have never been found.
these days, the scariest part of crossing that bridge in high winds is feeling like your car is going to be blown sideways into the lane next to you. There are huge wind socks on the bridge to show you how strong the winds are so you can prepare to control your vehicle. but still creepy to cross next to a big truck. They built the replacement bridge in the 50's, but by the 90's it just wasn't big enough to handle the booming population. It was built for 30,000 cars per day and was handling 90,000. So in the beginning of the century, they built a second bridge. No more head-on collisions in wind and rain storms, no more 15 miles of traffic to cross the bridge at rush hour. It's a toll bridge one direction, but worth it in the long run!
Galloping Gertie is famous throughout the Pacific Northwest. There is even a bar & grill by that name near Ft. Lewis, just south of Tacoma. It is decorated with pictures of the old bridge, as well as racehorses.
Every Civil Engineering student, myself included, got to watch the video of the collapse and discuss the reasons for it. There couldn't be a more dramatic demonstration of what happens when Engineering doesn't consider every possible situation a structure might face.
When I was little we would go over to Port Orchard for Easter. I would curl up in a ball and close my eyes til we got to the other side. The most beautiful bridge I've ever seen is St. John's Portland Oregon.
Resonance is a real thing that most certainly played a role in the bridge failure. Once flutter takes hold it can shake the bridge to its resonant frequency, which will amplify the shaking and cause a structural failure.
Since you did a video on the Tacoma narrows, you should do a video on the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, not only is it rooted in tragedy, but also in the mysterious.
Bremerton gets a mention! Thats where I'm from! Puget Sound Naval Shipyard might be worth an ep on one of your channels. Also, ironically, driving over the bridge and taking the ferry to get to seattle take almost an identical amount of time.... OH Washington State Ferry System might be a good megaprojects ep!
As a young kid, I was afraid of crossing the replacement bridge because of the original bridge collapsing. If I'm being totally honest, I was nervous crossing it up into my late teens. That was how dramatic the footage of Galloping Gertie collapsing was for me as a wee kidlet.
Lived on the Kitsap Peninsula and commuted to Tacoma for work. Miss that area! Its gorgeous! Windy as fuck though. You really do get blown around on the Narrows Bridge some days.
Now do one on the I-90 floating bridge a few miles north between Seattle and Bellevue. Another wind casualty, the pontoons had been cut open so the water used during a refit could be properly treated and oops a storm filled them up.
I would LOVE a short video of you pronouncing city names is Washington! My favorites are Puyallup, Issaquah, Snohomish, Sequim and (my all time favorite) Enumclaw!
A short list of cool place names I lived in or visited ... In Washington...Tacoma, Seattle, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Tillicum, Sequim, Enumclaw, Cle Elam, Anacortes, Forks, Cosmopolis, Wenatchee, Chelan, Spokane, Walla Walla, Paradise, Home, Chehalis, Hoquiam, Snoqualmie, Snohomish, Omak, Okanagan... In Florida...Bagdad, DeFuniak Springs, Ocklocknee, Wewahitchka, Kissimmee, Talquin, Ocoee, Tallahassee, Wausau, Apalachicola, Sopchoppy, Wakulla, Ocala, Okaloosa... I'm not even going to add the places in California, Texas, Nebraska, Louisiana, Alabama Georgia, Maryland, or Germany...nor any of the other states or countries I've spent less than a day in, since this list would be pages long... EXCEPT my all time favorite name...Intercourse, Pennsylvania.
Hi. Very interesting and informative video, thank you. Would it be possible to do a video on the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster of 1879? Thank you for all your hard work to bring us such good and informative videos.
I drive over the narrows bridge for work in a box van, and when it’s breezy out, the wind pushes and holds my box van lopsided over a few degrees off center. Absolutely terrifying
It's hard to believe that the bridge was only open for less than 6 months before it collapsed. I remember seeing that film of the bridge waving and then collapsing when i was a kid, and it horrified me. It made me quite suspicious of bridges for quite a while.
The original bridge is still in the bottom of the sound, it's become a local dive spot and the wreckage is home to a whole bunch of sea life, including the Puget Sound Octopus. It's really cool how nature can utilize wreckage from a tragic event.
Fun fact, that's where a "legendary Kraken", and the NHL team is a nod to that
It's a great place to fish for ling cod.
Is the car still down there too? I assume the poor dog entered the food chain a long time ago....
Hopefully, the dog sounded like an Ahole
Heard that they salvaged part of it for the road up to Alaska during WW2
Chico in kitsap County was also named for a chief
Only casualty from the bridge was a dog that got left in a car
Great thorough video. As a former Tacoma resident, I had the privilege of meeting the man who filmed the footage of the disaster. An amateur photographer, the man had a 16mm camera with early Kodachrome color film in his car’s trunk, and he used it to capture the scene.
WOW!!!
Was his name Zapruder?
Well, it has been nearly 40 years since I talked with the man, so unfortunately I cannot recall his name. He was a terminal cancer patient of mine that I cared for as a nurse. But even in his weak state he spoke animatedly of filming the bridge collapse; and later of opening a camera shop.
Definitely Zapruder then.
I wonder if he got paid or roatoties for it.
I spent some time in Tacoma a number of years back. I was working in Tacoma and staying with my sister on the other side of the bridge. She thought the prudent thing to do on the first night I showed up was to show me the video of the bridge collapsing. Thanks sis!
Washington is a rich source for bridge problems. You might be able to do a series. Besides the 1st Tacoma Narrows failing, there is also the 1st Hood Canal Floating Bridge sinking, the 1st Lake Washington Floating Bridge sinking (there is kind of a pattern there) and most recently the 20 year old West Seattle Bridge being closed because it was prematurely cracking so badly that there were fears it might collapse.
I only learned about the original Lake Washingon bridge collapsing a couple years ago! Definitely a potential future topic. Simon's team surely can dig up the old news footage from the time. And let's not forget that bridge that collapsed on I-5 back in 2013 by Burlington (or was it 2014?)
Side Projects: Oh my goodness, you mentioned my hometown! My grandfather saw the bridge collapse. I'm told that some people used to take car rides over the bridge as entertainment, kinda like a roller coaster, that really shouldn't have been a roller coaster. Interestingly enough, that's not the only high-profile bridge in Kitsap County that failed during a wind storm. The Hood Canal Floating bridge which connects the Kitsap Peninsula to the Olympic Peninsula also broke during a wind storm and sank. Then the floating bridge over Lake Washington sank. (I guess you shouldn't open up the valves on a floating bridge during a storm and then go home for Thanksgiving Weekend.) Then Husky Football Stadium also collapsed. . .
When I started my engineering course 10 years ago they would talk about the Quebec Bridge collapse, and how important it was to understand the mechanics of materials. When I got to the 2nd year after surviving the first, they would talk about Tacoma Narrows and resonance. Just goes to show, these events that happened generations ago are still being addressed today in engineering classes.
Resonance? Not aeroelastic flutter?
I am LOVING that side projects is turning into Side Blaze!
blaze it up
Many pieces of the bridge were moved to the 60-80 foot depth range and placed near Les Davis Park in Tacoma. I've gone scuba diving on them many times, and the habitat they provide is home to a dizzying array of critters. One of my favorite dives.
These Side Projects are more and more resembling Blaze episodes, but with real topics :D
Yeah, I kind of like it! It's nice to see Simon's channels diversifying in delivery beyond mostly serious or Business Blaze
They are and its even more entertaining imo:)
And I prefer it that way. After watching Biz Blaze seeing serious Simon is just weird.
INFIDEL!!!!
Hey ...who said I was complaining??? 😄
"This bridge didn't want to exist." I feel that.
A very Emo bridge
Bri...bri... bri... broken!
No! Your a bridge for the people!
(A play on forky from toy story 4)
same tbh
I cant relate more to this bridge during 2020/21
The exciting prequel to "The Cliff that refuses to be a Cliff"
Hello from an engineer in Monroe, Washington!!! ....I just returned to internet access after a camping trip on the Washington coast to discover that Simon posted a video of the very location I just passed! Galloping Gertie was frequently referenced in my high school math and college level engineering courses at the UW. We love to talk about this! So excited to see this video here!
My grandfather watched the bridge fall from a nearby beach. Pretty surreal.
Wow!
Surreal? They just legalized magic mushrooms in DC. Thats surreal!
@@stefanschleps8758 no shit?!?
Grandad's a legend!!
"Failure is but a stepping stone to success." That my friends is a segue. Bravo Simon, bravo!
The replacement bridge has metal grates between each lane (you aren't supposed to switch lanes) and you can see straight down while you're driving. It's terrifying and I hate it.
I've been over it, but it's been many years. I've also driven over the Golden Gate Bridge, and that's terrifying because most of the other drivers go speeding over it and I was in a 1979 Pinto.
Oh man, you'd hate the old Alexandra Bridge over the Fraser River.
The Bridge of the Gods connecting Washington and Oregon at Cascade Locks had a roadway just made of metal grate. The Narrows bridge is easy by comparison!
You're not supposed to change lanes?! 🤐
@@jimklein5491 Nope-hence the "Do not change lanes on bridge" signs.
I'm glad you're talking about this living and growing up with the single bridge as a kid then the eventual second bridge built. I see this bridge at least 1 time every couple of months living in the Tacoma area. If you're ever in Tacoma drive into Tacoma to Pt. Defiance park take the 5 mile drive and see some great views of the twin bridges standing tall and proud.
We in the local area have continued to pay for infrastructure improvements that benefit the military bases, and no, they still aren't helping to pay for them. Thanks for doing a story about my hometown Tacoma, Simon. If you hadn't heard, we added a second bridge right next to the replacement.
"The bridge is twisting in the wind!"
"It's supposed to do that. It's a feature."
Until it wasn’t 😳
"It's supposed to do that. Don't worry though, it'll all blow over soon."
You should do a side project on the floating Bridges we've managed to sink the Hood Canal floating Bridge and the Lake Washington floating Bridge
I knew this story already from various places but this is the most I have laughed during the retelling, ever. The Snark is Golden.
I’ve known about this for more years than I care to admit. But I must say your descriptions really made it very easy to understand what exactly happened. And you got almost all the words pronounce correctly.
I’m glad Simon said something about repeating the topic or I would have had the terrible feeling like I’ve seen the video before
you might want to look at another Washington State Bridge - the Mercer Island Floating bridge that - sunk!
Bridges often freak me out, but there’s something special about the Tacoma bridge. It’s a combination of its height, the steep arch the road makes, the tall skinny towers, the grating you can see through.
To compare, the Golden Gate is massive strong, solid, powerful.
The Narrows bridge is skinny, witchy, wild, elemental, tall, scary.
You are so right... You know they have the second bridge there now too and the difference between the two is crazy!
Cool to run under them in a boat.
Forever impressed this was captured on video. Seriously, seeing the bridge move like that when you've grown up around suspension bridges that are pretty solid (I have two in my city alone, the Hi-Level and the Veteran Skyway) makes it pretty surreal to see.
Film
@@drboze6781 potato, potato. Let's not get caught up on semantics. People know what I mean.
This collapse is part of the reason why the 5.06 mile (that's 8.14 km) long Mackinac Bridge in Northern Michigan has 2 of its 4 lanes as metal grating for the strong winter winds on the Straits of Mackinac to pass through. You can feel some sway in high winds, but virtually none most of the time, despite nearly constant 8 mph winds over the Straits.
While this has led to a few vehicles getting blown into the bumper rails, it had never directly been the cause of the two cars that have gone over. The first, a Yugo, is debated on the cause, but wind may have been a factor. The second was ruled a suicide. Small vehicles are now escorted in high winds by large semis as escort vehicles. At 50 mph, the bridge is closed for safety.
I remember as a kid my Dad told me the wind picked up the Yugo and it flew like a paper airplane over the rails into the straits. Lol.... I was a gullible child.
John Sturm Well, it WAS a Yugo, lol!
Are you a fellow Michigander?
@@susanrobinson910this is true. They barely cracked a ton.
"Except this bridge really didn't want to exist" LOVE this. Simon, you have such a way with words.
Simon, can we do a side project listing all your channels and how you keep up with all of them :)
Seriously though, I love all your work and I appreciate all your links included below. You are truly prolific and I have this vision of you doing videos 24/7. You are amazing!
The channel list is in the video description .
Poor doggo :( Absolutely loving your channels, have learnt so much over the last week or so!
Tubby has a park at the bridge.
I grew up nearby in the 1970s and we had a little machine in our elementary school library that played black and white films. The film of the bridge falling was the most exciting to us and we watched it over and over in about the third grade. It was cool to hear a little more explanation of what actually happened to it.
We studied this bridge in my physics and differential equations class. The initial fluttering happened, started basically a wave function. Harmonic functions and equations have what are called Eigenvalues, where the equation can grow exponentially. The fluttering hit the Eigenvalue of the harmonic function of the bridge that caused the wave to get worse and worse and worse until the bridge couldn't handle it anymore.
The best example of resonance used by physics teachers...
"Resonance", used by both physics teachers and psychic healers. Get yours today!
The wibbly wobbly (Millennium) bridge was good until they fixed it.
Yet this is something infantry units have known about for millennia, the Roman Empire noticed this phenomenon and had to train the troops to "not march in step" when crossing bridges to combat the resonance.
I was taught the danger of resonances by the teacher showing that film.
However, strictly technically, the bridge didn't collapse because of resonances, they are unavoidable, but because they were either unintentionally (over) excited or located in a frequency span not thought likely to be excited. So you either prevent excitation, dampen the excitation or move the frequencies.
@@stefanschleps8758 Damn it, man. They still allow 3 syllable words in school now days?
Welcome to the neighborhood, Simon! My grandfather watched the first bridge, "Galloping Gerdie" fall, from his house on the Tacoma side.. I currently live in Gig Harbor just on the west side of Tacoma Narrows. Give a shout next time and I'll happily take you sailing. Cheers!
Always a pleasure to watch and listen to you, Simon!!!
Ah yes, from the famous episode of WellTheresYourProblem
Just make it more rigid.
I believe it's next week's episode even!
I came here for this comment and I found it
@@someguycamping9972 and be sure to let the wind blow through.
@@robertgraybeard3750 Lol, I know. My reply was a joking reference to one of the hosts of "Well There's Your Problem" a podcast here on youtube. Alice's solution to every engineering problem is to boldly claim "Just make it more rigid"
I've lived in Kitsap and Bremerton since 1996. Was sure spooky learning about Galloping Girtie and the Narrows Bridge. Now, there are 2 of them and it's amazing in the differences in the technology in building the two bridges
Having lived in Washington my whole life I have to say Simon, you're doing just fine with the pronunciation of places.
Ever since business blaze started all the channels after it seem more laid back.... I approve. 👍
"If you're watching this on a plane" Simon, I'm sorry to inform you but there's been a bit of a kerfuffle and the entire world has shit the bed
Is that why everyone is hoarding toilet paper? 😂
@@David-lr2vi 🤣🤣🤣..👍
Sounds like the plot of Steven Kings _The Langoliers_
Normal people stayed traveling
@@brendenlothamer1680 how have you managed to spell your own name wrong
How can someone leave a dislike on your video? mindblowing . You are interesting , easy to understand and funny on top of that , Thanks for the video!
I used to live there, and I've driven over the newer bridges many times. As a kid the challenge was always to see who could hold their breath the entire length of driving over the bridge. My dad figured this out, and would slow down.
I grew up in Washington south of Seattle! I remember watching the video of the bridge coming down in both elementary school around fourth grade plus in high school in Washington State History class!
Great video sir. Speaking for bridges that go boom, a video on the doomed Tampa Bay Skyway Bridge may make an interesting one. The bridge spans the mouth of Tampa Bay in Florida. It was struck by a tanker causing a complete collapse that took the lives of 35 people in 1980. The new suspension bridge an engineering marvel running along side the remains of the original bridge used today as a fishing pit by locals.
A specific feature of this bridge was it’s very large length to width ratio. It stretched a number of design ideas beyond their previous application. I suppose you could say it was a bridge too far.
However, it’s worth noting that although this bridge collapsed, there was one only one casualty - the dog. If we compare this to other bridges disasters, we can see that, even though this was a design failure, it was a phenomenal safety success. That the bridge gave plenty of warning before it failed, so that nobody was on it at that critical moment. I’ve got some detailed pictures of elements of the bridge and will say that it’s amazing that a structure made of concrete and steel was able to withstand so much twisting and stress for so long.
There's now two spans of the replacement bridges. The older one is still narrow and a tad scary when the wind blows (which is half the year, as I can attest to as a Tacoma resident). It used to have two way traffic and narrow lanes. The newer span opened in the last 15 years or so and allows each span to have one way traffic (and a toll if you're heading southbound). I suspect the newer span probably will survive all windstorms and hopefully whatever earthquakes may come.
Simon, nice job on the pronounciatins. This morning I was flying into a smaller towered airport. Right after I got my landing clearance from ATC, their mic stuck without them realizing... I started hearing your voice. Apparently the air controller was watching one of your videos while monitoring air traffic. (It was not too busy of an airport. I didn’t feel it was a safety concern.). I figured you’d appreciate that. Love your aircraft videos. #SR71.
My father's family came from Tacoma and my great uncle took some of the video shown here, they used it for decades to teach resonance in universities.
Suggestion for this channel - the roads, bridges, and resorts built by the WPA during the Depression. Examples: Columbia River Highway, Vista House, Timberline Lodge on My. Hood ("The Shining"), and amazing stone and wood architecture all over the Western US.
I grew up on an island in the area, and my dad must have told me this story a dozen times lol. Still, a twisty bridge is better than no bridge at all sometimes. When my mom went into labor with my youngest sister, the ferry boats weren't running that late, so she and my dad drove three hours around to the hospital. Another time my other sister got a concussion, and she had to be airlifted into the city. Kind of crazy to think about being so cut-off from basic facilities.
In Victoria we have the big McKillop Bridge over the Snowy River which replaced a smaller structure which was washed away a week before the opening ceremony - um, I can imagine the project team meeting after that one and wonder if the same team built the new one.
However the Snowy River is now tamed by the Snowy Mountains Scheme of dams and hydro electrical power stations and hardly gets any water nowadays.
I love this video! I used to literally live a block away from the Narrows Bridge!
Washingtonian here. U did great with most of the words!
This video was very funny! Thank you for your quirky sense of humor!
Love the video. I grew up in Gig Harbor, it would be like our city to get left out of a video on the Bridge lol
I see this bridge nearly every day. Also, the world's largest octopus lives under it. The Giant Pacific Octopus.
You know your a Puget Sound local when your second thought of the bridge is the giant octopus
Lived there, Tacoma.
Did that, the replacement Narrows bridge, many times.
Loved living there...
Back then...all rhododendrons and mist... good times good friends
💜🙃🖖
And Scotchbroom.
Although suspension bridge construction may have been new and not well understood at the time, the Golden Gate bridge, the Oakland Bay Bridge, the St. John's Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC were all built before the Tacoma narrows bridge and are all still standing.
This is a mind blowing moment. . . . Sideprojects is the channel the covers things not quite mega enough to make it into Megaprojects, but I've now watched 2 videos of subjects Simon's already covered in TIFO. . . . So does that mean that TIFO is like "Forgotten Projects", "Project Prototypes", or "Projects: lite"?
Mega, side, lite; totally relatable sizes in the US. Mega sized is if you're particularly hungry and you missed your afternoon snack. Side is the second part of the meal that's not quite like the main portion. Lite is same subject, half the run time.
On the north end of this same peninsula is another bridge that failed: the hood canal bridge. And while the Bremerton shipyards are a big navy presence there, just a few miles north is naval base Bangor.
I've walked across the bridge a few times, the new one... I'm not that old! Get off my lawn! I don't know where that came from... Apparently there is a Giant Squid that uses the old bridge as it's home.
Uses it as it's home, allegedly
Suspicious...are we sure the squid wasn't involved with the original collapse?
@@lowthg Mebbe it didn't like me telling it to get off my lawn? I don't know if it's supposed to be a giant squid, octopus, or massive cuttlefish... It's allegedly a giant mollusk. I remember they did a dive on the Discovery Channel around 2008 or so, with the guy who built this insane exosuit thing and dove with those crazy squid in the Gulf of Mexico. I think I changed the changed the channel with utmost rapidity.
I may be wrong, But I'm pretty sure It's an Octopus that's down there. I guess the divers that inspect and maintain the concrete pier pads have been seeing it for years. Apparently It doesn't freak out over people.
None of this I have fact checked. Just what I was always told and learned as a Tacoma school kid in the 80's and 90's
I currently live about a mile away from the two spans. I think the new one is ugly and unpleasant to look at compared to the old span. Just my opinion.
Anyway... yeah...
None of that was prolly not helpful to anyone in anyway.
You're welcome.
@@whomyguy1 youre the closest to right. but it isnt *an* octopus. many love down there. and the puget sound happens to be home to the giant pacific octo. which sounds a lot more dramatic than they tend to be.
it is a difficult dive under the bridge because of the currents, but regular folk do dives nearby all the time, myself included.
seeing octopus in tacoma, seattle, around here isnt uncommon, its just tricky since theyre smart and like to hide and way better at swimming.
anyhoo, i love tacoma.
Look into the London millennium bridge, it's quite fascinating what was discovered due to the large pedestrian crowd walking across the bridge. I've felt this type of movement elsewhere on small bridges when I visit heavy tourist areas with a lot of pedestrians.
Sideprojects is starting to turn into the bastard child of Megaprojects and Business Blaze. I like it.
That wave and grin to the those on the plane...priceless!!!
(I literally laughed out loud)
As I stated in the previous video, and considering your paper example, the wind was at just the correct velocity to cause the bridge to reach resonance frequency at both the slower and faster wind speed (most structures and mechanical systems have 2 or more resonance frequencies). As you stated with the paper, it can vibrate excessively at one of the lower frequencies, but will tear itself apart at the higher frequencies due to the larger force input to the system. My point being they should have consulted a team of proper mechanical engineers with vibrations, aeronautics, and fluids backgrounds. They would never have allowed the omission of trusses or blockage of air flow to fly in the design process.
If 10:58 isn't a meme by the end of the day, we've failed as a species
Got the screenshot. Meme in progress.
@@DMJoeBing Legend!
@@billpavloff7799 check Twitter. Tagging Simon.
There is an even taller bridge across the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. I haven't been there, but have heard that crossing it is even more scary. When there is high wind, cars need to be paired with larger, heavier vehicles so they don't get blown off the bridge into the lake. (Superior Wisconsin also has the last example of a whaleback ship, which is something else I should see.)
Yeah old Galloping Gertie. Reminds me of the Silver Bridge collapse that happened in my neck of the woods although that bridge disaster killed 46 people till this date the worst bridging disaster in American history and two of the bodies have never been found.
these days, the scariest part of crossing that bridge in high winds is feeling like your car is going to be blown sideways into the lane next to you. There are huge wind socks on the bridge to show you how strong the winds are so you can prepare to control your vehicle. but still creepy to cross next to a big truck. They built the replacement bridge in the 50's, but by the 90's it just wasn't big enough to handle the booming population. It was built for 30,000 cars per day and was handling 90,000. So in the beginning of the century, they built a second bridge. No more head-on collisions in wind and rain storms, no more 15 miles of traffic to cross the bridge at rush hour. It's a toll bridge one direction, but worth it in the long run!
Fascinating! You should do an episode on the Genoa bridge collapse in 2018. I’m sure it’s got lots of interesting aspects.
Galloping Gertie is famous throughout the Pacific Northwest. There is even a bar & grill by that name near Ft. Lewis, just south of Tacoma. It is decorated with pictures of the old bridge, as well as racehorses.
Every Civil Engineering student, myself included, got to watch the video of the collapse and discuss the reasons for it. There couldn't be a more dramatic demonstration of what happens when Engineering doesn't consider every possible situation a structure might face.
Yes, it's a classic example of a failure to conduct a dynamic analysis in addition to a static one.
When I was little we would go over to Port Orchard for Easter. I would curl up in a ball and close my eyes til we got to the other side.
The most beautiful bridge I've ever seen is St. John's Portland Oregon.
Very informative and funny. Nice one Simon
Can you do a video on the zilwaukee bridge in Michigan? It has a complicated history
Good job with the pronunciations! Many visitors don't fare as well.
Bremerton Navy Yard would make a good subject for Geo feature.
Resonance is a real thing that most certainly played a role in the bridge failure. Once flutter takes hold it can shake the bridge to its resonant frequency, which will amplify the shaking and cause a structural failure.
Since you did a video on the Tacoma narrows, you should do a video on the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, not only is it rooted in tragedy, but also in the mysterious.
I love that *The Blaze* is slipping thru to this channel
enjoy watching this channel could you do a video on snowy moutains hydro scheme theres a lack of doco's about it
Bremerton gets a mention! Thats where I'm from! Puget Sound Naval Shipyard might be worth an ep on one of your channels. Also, ironically, driving over the bridge and taking the ferry to get to seattle take almost an identical amount of time.... OH Washington State Ferry System might be a good megaprojects ep!
Across the way from Edmonds Got Naval family in Bremerton and Banger. Thats where we store our on ready nuclear subs. A great episode idea indeed
As a young kid, I was afraid of crossing the replacement bridge because of the original bridge collapsing. If I'm being totally honest, I was nervous crossing it up into my late teens. That was how dramatic the footage of Galloping Gertie collapsing was for me as a wee kidlet.
I am suspecting to get rick rolled every time the boi links something in the description lol
LIVE IN FEAR
@@Sideprojects I always do... Allegedly
I SCUBA dived the wreckage of the old bridge many times during the 1970s. The fish and crab love it.
It's videos like this that remind me that the Narrows Bridge is infamous outside of Washington too, I always think of it as a local story.
You should do a video on the Hyatt Regency Kansas City sky walk collapse.
I remember watching the seconds to disaster about this before we went to my girlfriends sisters wedding in Kansas 😂😂
Did he not? I thought he had but maybe I'm mixing it up with the 99% Invisible (I think?) episode about it.
@@ewestner I feel like on one of his channels, he could have done it but I don't really wanna look lol
That was horrific.
Lived on the Kitsap Peninsula and commuted to Tacoma for work. Miss that area! Its gorgeous! Windy as fuck though. You really do get blown around on the Narrows Bridge some days.
How about one on the Indiana Bell Building was Rotated 90° in 1930, with staff inside and no interruptions to services.
Now do one on the I-90 floating bridge a few miles north between Seattle and Bellevue. Another wind casualty, the pontoons had been cut open so the water used during a refit could be properly treated and oops a storm filled them up.
I would LOVE a short video of you pronouncing city names is Washington! My favorites are Puyallup, Issaquah, Snohomish, Sequim and (my all time favorite) Enumclaw!
Pu wall up, Issa quah, Sno ho mish, Squim, E num claw?
@@redleg1376 You got most of them pretty well. Puyallup is more "pew al up", though. Good job!
A short list of cool place names I lived in or visited ...
In Washington...Tacoma, Seattle, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Tillicum, Sequim, Enumclaw, Cle Elam, Anacortes, Forks, Cosmopolis, Wenatchee, Chelan, Spokane, Walla Walla, Paradise, Home, Chehalis, Hoquiam, Snoqualmie, Snohomish, Omak, Okanagan...
In Florida...Bagdad, DeFuniak Springs, Ocklocknee, Wewahitchka, Kissimmee, Talquin, Ocoee, Tallahassee, Wausau, Apalachicola, Sopchoppy, Wakulla, Ocala, Okaloosa...
I'm not even going to add the places in California, Texas, Nebraska, Louisiana, Alabama Georgia, Maryland, or Germany...nor any of the other states or countries I've spent less than a day in, since this list would be pages long... EXCEPT my all time favorite name...Intercourse, Pennsylvania.
As there were no human fatalities people could laugh about, and yet good thing was that it was underbudget.
Great video 📹
1:30 - Chapter 1 - The puget sound
3:25 - Chapter 2 - I've got a bridge to sell you
5:45 - Chapter 3 - Galloping gertie
8:10 - Chapter 4 - What happened ?
10:15 - Chapter 5 - A disaster ?
Hi. Very interesting and informative video, thank you. Would it be possible to do a video on the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster of 1879? Thank you for all your hard work to bring us such good and informative videos.
So Proud of you you got that pronunciation just right
The footage of this bridge made me terrified as a child to cross any bridge. Didn't trust them.
I bet you won't even leave your house now...
@@dryroasted5599 uh, no, you couldn't be more wrong.
I'm with you there. Don't research the state of American roadways and infrastructure or you'll decide to stay in a cave.
I'm still not happy crossing bridges because of this one.
"soulless hack" lol. Crap like that is why I love your work, Simon.😄
I drive over the narrows bridge for work in a box van, and when it’s breezy out, the wind pushes and holds my box van lopsided over a few degrees off center. Absolutely terrifying
I really like these videos!
It's hard to believe that the bridge was only open for less than 6 months before it collapsed. I remember seeing that film of the bridge waving and then collapsing when i was a kid, and it horrified me. It made me quite suspicious of bridges for quite a while.
Can't wait for "Well There's Your Problem" to cover this in their next episode!
Definitely was not built rigid enough.
This is the first example shown to engineering/physics students in Vibration Theory classes.