Thanks Dick, that is very interesting. As a young child I have actually seen troops marching over the bridge, broken step of course.
Dick Bird
24-Apr-2007 05:05
A regiment of infantry would weigh over 40 tonnes (600 well-fed young adult males + equipment), and in 1880 they'd be wearing hobnail boots. Marching in perfect step (as the Guards are supremely good at doing) would be like a couple of articulated lorries bouncing up and down on their wheel rims: not good for a bridge which now has a weight limit of 2 tonnes.
I have seen the film. That bridge was the first incarnation of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which links the Washington state cities of Tacoma and Gig Harbor by spanning a salt water channel called the Tacoma Narrows. This is about 35 miles southwest of Seattle. The bridge's revised design sheds the wind, preventing such oscillations.
Yes Larry, when this bridge was built it was used by lots of troops marching. Chelsea barracks is nearby. The power of hundreds of men marching shook the bridge severely.
