The Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Essay

When bridges are poorly constructed, they may fail due to load they carry, collision by derailed trains or even by vehicles that lose control leading to catastrophic incidences. However, if bridges are well-constructed, the chances or injury are greatly minimized in the event of an accident. Discussed in the subsections are the requirements of AS 5100 standards in relation to cable-stayed bridges and include design requirements for bridges, bridge aesthetics, bridge functional requirements, bridge component design requirements and bridge construction

Tacoma Narrows Bridge was opened to the public on July 1st 1940 after being in construction for 2 years. The structure was built 5,939-foot-long with a span of 2800 feet in order to bridge the gap between Tacoma and Gig Harbour in the state of Washington, USA. It became known as “Galloping Gertie” due to the fact that the bridge

Sometimes the wind would not be perpendicular, in which the oscillation of the bridge was less, but there was still some oscillation. On November 7th, 1940, the Tacoma Bridge collapsed because the oscillation of the bridge became extreme. The oscillation of the bridge was caused by a wind speed of 42 mph (HistoryLink.org). After, approximately, an hour of a corkscrew like motion, the bridge collapsed into Puget Sound. This marked a huge turning point in the design of suspension bridges from that point in time to current time.

The final primary component of a suspension bridge is the deck, or the roadway upon which cars drive and pedestrians walk. The deck is built from massive pieces of steel-reinforced concrete hoisted into the air and laid into place upon the bridge. Deck pieces are connected with bolts and rivets, then suspension cables connect each section of deck to the main

There are many differences between our bridge and other bridges. One being location. Another one being that thing that was sacrificed for it. Another one being cost. Also another difference would be weight and capacity, and the size or length.

In the spring of 1989, the construction of the new bridge began. The base of the Trent River was a flotilla of barges carrying the workers, cranes and equipment needed to prepare the temporary pillars that would support the new bridge, as well as maneuver the huge steel girders into place for the new bridge. It was an awesome sight for the entire town, as we watched barges float the steel girders into the harbour, one section being 74 meters in length and two more that were 54 metres each. The new steel box girder bridge had a total length of 182 metres and weighed 2,950 metric tonnes (Anderson & Trenkler, 1991). Temporary cement pillars were poured to support

The Pratt truss bridge was originally founded by Caleb and Thomas Pratt in 1844. It is mainly used to carry trains. The biggest advantage of this bridge was its low costs for construction and the materials to construct a truss bridge are minimal. It also use materials that is cheaper and light in weight. We can easily identify a pratt truss by detecting its diagonal members, which (excluding for the very end ones) all slant down and in toward the center of the span. The pratt truss was designed by applying few laws that related to the mechanics of materials concept. The bridge is mainly built using steel girders to support the construction of the structure. The below part of bridge weight is high so, it need an enough support to prevent from

•September/2016 - After the layout of the gravel and topsoil has been accomplished the next process is to begin the building of any bridges over waterways and boardwalks to include low, wet spots that were unable to be dugout. Due to the use of equestrian or ATv usage the bridges will need to be structurally strong using items such as steel or high strength treated lumber.

Although the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is oft considered “the most spectacular failure in bridge engineering history”, it was far from being the first unsuccessful suspension bridge. There were ten prior suspension bridges that failed due to unaccounted wind/oscillating forces. However, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed 50 years after the last bridge, and it was the most expensive and longest- more than double any previous bridge- that is the reason why its failure is so significant. The remains of this bridge now serve as “one of the world’s largest manmade

In 1919, a study was begun to see if it would be possible to build a bridge across the Golden Gate. Michael O’Shaughnessy was the San Francisco city engineer. He was in charge of the rebuilding of the city after the devastating 1906 earthquake that destroyed much of the city. O’Shaughnessy knew the need for the city to have bridges. Most said it could not be done and others said it could be done but “it would cost about $100 million to build it” (Barter 23). O’Shaughnessy and Strauss, both wanting the same thing, got together. After the two consulted, they figured the only way to bridge the channel was to use a suspension bridge.

Hecox (2011) says that the arch structure of the Tillman Bridge makes the canyon walls hold the weight of both vehicles and the bridge itself. In addition, the arch structure allows a better vision of the canyon for the drivers, which was a request of the population to the engineers of the project. In the other hand, according to Jones (2015), the truss structure of the new St. Anthony Bridge also was requested by the population because they wanted to keep a truss bridge in that place. The author also affirms that the St. Anthony Bridge is a truss, but the project team proposed adding a posttensioned concrete bottom chord to the steel truss in order to reinforce it. The project team made this choice because one bridge in Minnesota has collapsed in 2007, and the engineers wanted to lessen the fracture-critical issues to avoid a new catastrophe. In addition, this posttensioning approach wiil make the structure redundant for both resiliency and long-term durability. In conclusion, both bridge's structures were right chosen in order to provide safety and beauty in both

On the 15th October, 1970, during its third year of construction, the Westgate Bridge collapsed killing 35 men. The section of the bridge that collapsed was a 128 meter span that was being worked on at

The bridge has a very well designed ‘sustainability’ concept, relying on upcycled materials to complete the bridge. These upcycled materials consist of the wood, the fishing net, the oil barrels and the plastic shielding for the barrels. These materials can be used for functional roles in the design, such as platforms, floatation, safety lines across hand rails, and so on. The bridge’s sustainability concept can be further supported by the ease of replacing materials, and not throwing them in the bin. The materials such as wood, plastic and pieces of metallic bolts and nuts can be recycled and reused for other purposed such as furniture, storage or completely recycled back into a molten form for the metallic objects.

The width of the bridge is 35 meters and usually for bridges with widths this large the deck is supported by arches on the outside of each deck. Steel suspender cables are used to connect the deck and arch in 8-meter intervals. Reinforced concrete is used underneath the deck as the arch structure and this is also integrated into the pier. 10.5 meter cantilevers extend from the structures box girders which is how the superstructure is able to span 37.5 meters wide. The most unique aspect of the bridge is that there are no interlocking members, but instead utilizes a substance called neoprene. The full dimensions of this bridge are six 3.75 meter wide lanes, two 2.5 meter wide sidewalks, 666 meters in total length, 37.5 meters in total width, and gives a 12 m clearance form bridge to water. It is composed mainly of steel and concrete.

The bridge is a self-anchored suspension bridge. It combined the reverse curvature of the deck, inclined towers and suspension cables to balance the forces in the system. The total length of cable used was 4.5 kilometers. The use of construction material was mainly steel, and the structure weights 1000 tonnes. There is a 150mm gap at each end of the bridge to permit the expansion of steel during the summer.