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Line 57: The first Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened to traffic on July 1, 1940. Its main span collapsed into the Tacoma Narrows four months later on November 7, 1940, at 11:00 AM (Pacific time) due to a physical phenomenon known as [[aeroelasticity#Flutter\|aeroelastic flutter]] caused by a {{convert\|67\|km/h}} wind. The bridge collapse had lasting effects on science and engineering. In many undergraduate physics texts the event is presented as an example of elementary forced resonance with the wind providing an external periodic frequency that matched the natural structural frequency (even though the real cause of the bridge's failure was aeroelastic flutter<ref name="BillahScanlan91">{{cite journal\|last=Billah\|first=K.\|coauthors=[[Robert H. Scanlan\|R. Scanlan]]\|year=1991\|title=Resonance, Tacoma Narrows Bridge Failure, and Undergraduate Physics Textbooks\|journal=American Journal of Physics\|volume=59\|issue=2\|pages=118–124\|url=http://www.ketchum.org/billah/Billah-Scanlan.pdf\|format=PDF\|doi=10.1119/1.16590}}</ref>). Its failure also boosted research in the field of bridge aerodynamics/aeroelastics which have themselves influenced the designs of all the world's great long-span bridges built since 1940. No human life was lost in the collapse of the bridge. However, a ~~[[Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940)#Life lost\|~~small dog perished]] after it was abandoned in a car on the bridge by its owner, Leonard Coatsworth, and by another man, both of whom were bitten by the terrified dog when they attempted to remove it. The collapse of the bridge was recorded on [[16mm film]] by Barney Elliott, owner of a local camera shop, and shows Leonard Coatsworth leaving the bridge after exiting his car. In 1998, ''The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse'' was selected for preservation in the [[United States]] [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." This footage is still shown to [[engineering]], [[architecture]], and [[physics]] students as a [[cautionary tale]]. Dismantling of the towers and side spans—which survived the collapse of the main span but were damaged beyond repair—began shortly after the collapse and continued into May 1943. The United States' participation in [[World War II]] as well as engineering and finance issues delayed plans to replace the bridge.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge: Difference between revisions