Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapses

You've probably seen it in high-school physics class. If you haven't seen it, or you want to see it again, watch it here. Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapses is probably the most expensive practical example of forced resonance ever filmed.

In November 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed due to a combination of high winds and poor construction. The local camera store owner, Barney Elliot, captured the undulating bridge with his Bell & Howell 16mm movie camera just before and as the bridge collapsed. Elliott's footage shows the bridge, nicknamed "Galloping Gertie," waving and twisting for several minutes before finally collapsing into Puget Sound.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapses was added to the National Film Registry in 1998.


 * You Fail Physics Forever: a rare Real Life example of this trope. The bridge was just the right width to literally twist in the wind.