Tacoma Narrows Bridge Photo Album

1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Slender, elegant and graceful, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge stretched like a steel ribbon across Puget Sound in 1940. The third longest suspension span in the world opened on July 1. Only four months later, the great span's short life ended in disaster. "Galloping Gertie" collapsed in a windstorm on November 7, 1940. The bridge became famous as "the most dramatic failure in bridge engineering history." Now, it's also "one of the world's largest man-made reefs." The sunken remains of Galloping Gertie were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 to protect her from salvagers.

Construction photos from the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge completed in 1940.

Click on any thumbnail for enlarged image and description.

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