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Galloping Gertie: The True Story of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse - Hardcover | Diverse Reads

Galloping Gertie: The True Story of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse

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This compelling nonfiction picture book captures the story of the infamous collapse of the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State.

The story of Galloping Gertie, the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge, is captured through the eyes of a young boy who not only watches the bridge being built, but also witnesses its spectacular collapse not long after the bridge is opened. Author Amanda Abler tells the bridge's dramatic story in a factual and engaging way that makes the science behind the collapse approachable to young readers. In addition to the narrative, the book concludes with a deeper look into why the bridge collapsed and how engineers continue to learn from this infamous engineering failure.

ISBN-13: 9781632172631

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Sasquatch Books

Publication Date: 08-17-2021

Pages: 48

Product Dimensions: 7.52(w) x 9.85(h) x 0.37(d)

Age Range: 7 - 10 Years

AMANDA ABLER grew up in New Hampshire where she developed a love of snow, being on the water, and maple syrup. Pursuing her interest in science, she earned a B.S. in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She loves writing nonfiction because of all the interesting things she gets to learn and the new people she gets to meet. Amanda lives in Seattle with her family and their small, ferocious dog, Bear. She is also the author of The Spirit of Springer, which is her authorial debut. LEVI HASTINGS is an illustrator and cartoonist based in Seattle. His work reflects his lifelong obsessions with natural science, travel, history, and queer culture. He's been published in a wide range of outlets, from regional papers like the Stranger to national periodicals like the Washington Post Magazine. He is also the illustrator of The Spirit of Springer.

Read an Excerpt

A New Bridge Opens: Tacoma, Washington, August 1940

Dale Wirsing stepped onto the Tacoma Narrows Bridge for the first time in his life. 

Three years in the making, the bridge had just opened the month before, connecting the Kitsap Peninsula to the city of Tacoma, Washington. 

Under Dale’s feet the roadway of the suspension bridge gently rose and fell, like a boat rolling on the ocean. Far below churned the fierce waters of the Narrows.

Through his living room window, Dale had watched with curiosity as workmen built the bridge towers, strung the cables, and then finally pieced the roadway together high above the water. 

How exciting it was to finally walk on the bridge!  

But was it normal for such a mammoth bridge to bob and bounce, even on a calm evening such as this?

A local engineer, Clark Eldridge, had designed the bridge to be lightweight and flexible . . . perhaps a little too flexible. When the wind blew, the center span bounced up and down. The men who built the bridge nicknamed her “Galloping Gertie.” People said they could see the cars ahead of them disappear and reappear as they drove across her. Others claimed it was like riding a roller coaster!

Dale didn’t know this would not just be his first but his only time walking across her. Nor did he have any idea of the tragedy that would soon befall Gertie in just a few months’ time, on his birthday.