Tacoma Narrows Bridge

The new Tacoma Narrows Bridge just south of Seattle, Washington--the longest new suspension span built in the United States in 40 years—opened in July 2007, on schedule and on budget. The bridge, which crosses over the narrows to connect Tacoma and Gig Harbor, was designed and built by a joint venture of Bechtel and Kiewit Pacific.   

The new bridge is adjacent to bridge built in the 1950s, which replaced a bridge that was destroyed in a 1940 windstorm. The collapse of the earlier bridge, nicknamed “Galloping Gertie,” was captured on film, and the event changed the way suspension bridges were designed. 

The project to build the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge began late in 2002, by which time 90,000 cars a day were crossing the existing bridge, which was designed to handle 60,000. 

Major construction work on the new bridge included installing caissons for a pair of 165-meter-tall towers, building the towers, spinning cables, and assembling the deck. During the final phase, 46 deck sections—each weighing some 450 tons—were lifted and attached to suspension cables.  The entire deck stretches 1,646 meters from end to end, and the main span is 854 meters from tower to tower (see Detail Design).