Tacoma Narrows Bridge history

The first Tacoma Narrows Bridge, also known as "Galloping Gertie," crumbled Nov. 7, 1940. (SEATTLE TIMES ARCHIVE, 1940)

1929

February: Legislature authorizes a Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

1938

November: Construction begins on the first Narrows Bridge.

1940

May: Two months before completion, workers notice a bounce or "galloping" of the bridge in winds as light as 4 mph. Some chew on lemons to combat nausea.

June: Carpenter Fred Wilde dies of a head injury after falling 12 feet. Days later, a bridge worker falls 190 feet into the water and survives.

July: Opening ceremony. Engineers proclaim no danger in the $6.6 million bridge's "bounce." Tolls: 55 cents one-way for car and driver, 10 cents per passenger.

Nov. 7: Just 4 months old, "Galloping Gertie" collapses. In gusts of 42 mph, the roadway at 10 a.m. begins a lateral twisting motion. An hour later, a 600-foot section of road in the western half of the center span breaks free and falls into the water. Minutes later, the rest of the central span falls.

1943

June: The bridge's tear-down and salvage operation is complete. Steel is reused to help relieve shortages during World War II.

1948

April: Construction begins on the second Narrows Bridge.

May: Robert E. Drake, a carpenter working on the west anchorage, is killed when a boom falls on him. His death is the first of four fatalities on the construction project.

1950

April: Lawrence "Stuart" Gale, an ironworker, dies during deck construction when a temporary weld gives way and he plummets 180 feet into the water.

June: Ironworker Glen "Whitey" Davis dies in a fall from the bridge deck.

July: Welder Ray Bradley dies of electrocution or a heart attack.

October: After 30 months of construction and a cost of $14 million, the new Narrows Bridge opens. Tolls are 50 cents for car and driver one-way and 10 cents per passenger.

1951

January-March: The bridge withstands several storms, with winds up to 75 mph.

1965

May: Tolls are removed.

2002

Oct. 5: Groundbreaking ceremony for the new, $849 million Narrows Bridge, to be built south of the 1950 bridge.

2007

July 15: Opening ceremonies. New bridge will carry traffic east toward Tacoma. The old will carry traffic west toward Gig Harbor. First-year tolls are $3 round-trip, cut to $1.75 for motorists who pay electronically with a transponder on the windshield.

Sources: State Department of Transportation and Richard Hobbs, author of "Catastrophe to Triumph: Bridges of the Tacoma Narrows"

The first Tacoma Narrows Bridge, also known as "Galloping Gertie," crumbled Nov. 7, 1940. (JAMES BASHFORD / AP)
The first cars cross the first bridge after its dedication on July 1, 1940. The huge steel towers stand 425 feet above the water. This view looks west from the Tacoma side of the bridge. (AP PHOTO)
The Olympics form a backdrop for the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge as the last section of roadway is installed. (MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES)
The second Tacoma Narrows Bridge was completed in 1950. (RICHARDS PHOTOGRAPHY, TACOMA)