Built to Fail

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster Why Engineers Shouldn't Design for Wind by Guessing

By: Rick Stupart

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Paperback | 5 November 2025

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290 Pages

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21.59 x 13.97 x 1.55

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They called it "Galloping Gertie." Four months later, it was gone.

On November 7, 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge twisted itself to death in a moderate wind-and changed engineering forever.

This wasn't an act of God. It was an act of arrogance.

Built to Fail reveals how a "prettier" design, ignored warnings, and mathematical shortcuts created one of history's most spectacular engineering disasters. Engineer and author Rick Stupart dissects the deadly combination of aesthetic ambition and scientific negligence that turned a revolutionary suspension bridge into a cautionary tale.

Inside, discover:

Why engineers dismissed wind as "just air"
The critical calculations they skipped
How eyewitness testimony exposed design hubris
Lessons that reshaped modern bridge engineering

This isn't just history-it's a warning. When engineers guess instead of calculate, gravity always wins.

For readers fascinated by engineering failures, structural disasters, and the thin line between innovation and catastrophe.

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