Marc will present a summary of the original 1941 forensic investigation into the 1940 Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse. The presentation includes:
- Suspension bridge structural principles and load path.
- History of the bridge movement, from design, to construction, to in-service use, through to the day of the collapse.
- Post-collapse structural condition of the bridge.
- Review of original design calculations and the standard of care for design.
- Comparison to other suspension bridges, such as the Golden Gate, and how suspension bridge design evolved.
- Collapse sequence, including videos of the collapse as well as manipulation of a physical model to demonstrate oscillation concepts.
- Dynamic and wind tunnel testing.
- Similar historical suspension bridge failures that pre-dated Tacoma Narrows by up to 100 years.
- Current AASHTO requirements.
- How Tacoma Narrows was rebuilt.
About Marc Sokol
Marc Sokol, M.S., P.E. (CA), S.E. (AZ) has been a structural engineer for 24 years. His experience includes special structural inspection and structural design of commercial, institutional and industrial structures with Paragon Structural Design; forensic investigation and expert witness testimony of structural and foundation failures with Rimkus Consulting Group; and currently as a structural system owner for Intel Corporation.