Tacoma Narrows bridge (was: MySQL v. PostgreSQL ...)

[Ben Scott]

On 7/31/07, Bill Sconce <sconce at in-spec-inc.com> wrote:
> (Bridges give us some EXCELLENT examples of
> what happens when an engineer goes a little bit amateur.  You've probably
> seen a video of the Tacoma Narrows bridge coming apart.)

  In fairness to the engineers behind the Tacoma Narrows bridge, I
haven't seen anything which suggested they didn't know what they were
doing.  Everything I've seen stated that the resonance which built up
due to wind was unprecedented in the Civil Engineering world.  It had
simply never been encountered or even considered before.  According to
Wikipedia, the designer of the TN bridge, Leon Moisseiff, was also a
major contributor to the engineering of the Golden Gate Bridge.  So
"Galloping Gertie" is not so much about amateurism, but unforeseen
consequences.  Of course, most of us are familiar with *those*,
too....

-- Ben