Back to work after “Galloping Gertie” collapsed…
Those who have traveled across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge for years had a close-up view of the construction of the new Narrows Bridge for Highway 16’s eastbound traffic. But not many people were around when work began to build a new span after the original bridge (nicknamed “Galloping Gertie”) collapsed during a wind storm on November 7, 1940, just four months after opening.
This photo shows a worker walking atop one of the bridge cables on November 16, 1940, just a week after the original bridge fell.
Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives.
One thought on “Back to work after “Galloping Gertie” collapsed…”
As if it wasn’t harrowing enough with the road deck below! I think this guy could be an honorary member of The Flying Wallendas!
The steel remains of the original bridge were salvaged for the war effort, so perhaps this worker was there as part of preparations to dismantle what was left standing.
For anyone interested in seeing more archival photos of the bridge, both the Tacoma Public Library and the University of Washington have large collections of images online.
TPL: http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?krequest=subjects+contains+Tacoma%20Narrows%20Bridge%20and%20Tacoma%20
UW: http://content.lib.washington.edu/farquharsonweb/
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