ON THE CAUSES AND ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE^1)

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed just four months after its completion. The main cause of the collapse is wind-induced flutter. In addition, there are many explanations. This paper briefly introduces the causes of the collapse from the aspects of design, construction, collapse process, accident investigation, and various scientific researches on the bridge, and it also summarizes the enlightenment of the accident on the design and construction of bridge after the accident.