Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridges

I was in Tacoma a couple times during the construction of the new Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridge. There was a viewing area on the beach on the Gig Harbor side. You could walk the beach til you were under the construction. I did that a couple times.

When the voters first approved the building of a new bridge, parallel to the existing one, I thought this would be a very cool looking pair of bridges. The original bridge has always been an impressive thing to see and cross.

I know many years of improved bridge engineering and design have passed since the construction of the first bridge, but I still somehow thought that part of the design criteria would be to somehow make the bridges appear to be twins. Instead they look like distantly related cousins.

They aren't even the same color.

The original bridge's towers are made of steel and painted green. The new bridge's towers are made of concrete and not painted green.

Even though the aesthetics may be a bit off, the Tacoma Narrows Dual Suspension Bridges are still very cool-looking and fun to cross. And they sure did improve the flow of traffic.

One day the older bridge will need to be replaced. I doubt the new bridge built when that day comes will match the look of the current new bridge, but it'd be a nice thing if it did.

You are looking north at the completed new Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridge from a waterfront deck near Steamers seafood restaurant where very good fish, in the form of cod, and chips were found.