ABSTRACT
The time of reckoning always comes when a mishap hits the public conscience. There follows a phase where activities stop and a lot of re-thinking is done, which in turn may be followed by a resurgence of experimental research. At the beginning of the 1930s the collapse of the Tacoma Suspension Bridge was due to the accumulation of oscillating energy caused by intermittent wind gusts during a storm. A phenomenon that had never been considered before. This event started experimental research on vibrating properties of structures, which today serve as a basis for many dynamic calculations.
