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

[Jarod Wilson]

On Tuesday 31 July 2007 01:14:40 pm Ben Scott wrote:
> 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....

Ooh, ooh, everyone who's driven across the Tacoma Narrows bridge multiple 
times raise your hand!

/me raises hand...

Pretty fun getting stuck in traffic on it, out near the middle, and 
remembering that video... :)

-- 
Jarod Wilson
jarod at wilsonet.com