Archives Treasure #3: 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge drawings

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The third and final Archives Treasure for April is a collection of drawings for one of the most infamous bridges in the world. We’re talking about the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which opened to much fanfare on July 1, 1940, only to collapse four months later during a wind storm on Nov. 7, 1940. A replacement span opened in 1950.
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The State Archives holds more than 10 cubic feet of construction plans of the original 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge. They include the 1938 design plans by the State Highway Department’s lead engineer, Clark Eldridge, showing overall construction details, as well as details of each individual component. The drawings are found in the Archives, under Washington State Department of Transportation, Marine Transportation Files. We’ll begin our online poll for the April Archives Treasures later this week, so be ready to vote!

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