Recluse,
Isn't the Tacoma Narrows Bridge the one that fell into the river, or did they rebuild it? I'm a New England guy; I really don't know.
[obscure history lesson]
The Tacoma Narrows is a mile-wide salt-water channel in Puget Sound South of Seattle where there are very swift tidal currents, as all the water for the rest of Puget Sound flows through at every change of the tide. After years of ferry service, a two-lane bridge was built in 1940, and after just a few months, fell into the sound during a windstorm. It seems the engineers did not take the wind into consideration, and the bridge deck acted like an inefficient wing, and rocked wildly when the winds kicked up, which they often do through the Narrows. Every school kid in Washington State has seen the black and white footage of the road deck falling into the water.
A new four-lane bridge opened up in 1950, with an open truss structure that lets the wind flow through. After years of increased traffic, a second bridge was built just a couple years ago. Now both bridges handle traffic just one-way.
So, I guess there are actually three bridges. the first one good only for great fishing and scuba diving, as the wreckage laying on the bottom is the largest man-made object ever lost at sea.
[/obscure history lesson]
