Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows is the single point in the 20,000 square miles of Puget Sound where the Washington mainland and the Olympic Peninsula are close. For years, it had been clear to State officials that the Narrows would have to be bridged in order to open up the spectacular and thinly populated Peninsula. Aware of this situation, the Washington State Legislature created the Washington Toll Bridge Authority in 1937, with a mandate to finance, …

…of a large wave. The original bridge was a suspended plate girder type that caught the wind, rather than allowing it to pass through. As the wind's intensity increased, so did Gertie's rolling, cork-screwing motion -- until it finally tore the bridge apart. For the next 10 years, Tacoma and Gig Harbor/the Olympic Peninsula were once again unconnected by bridge. Then after 29 months of construction, a new, much safer Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened on Oct. 14, 1950.