Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse. Always was amazed by how the road bends like it was made of rubber.

One of the first pics I ever took with my first real (non-disposable) camera, and very likely the best pic I'll ever take in my life (despite lots of trying).

Where/who is that? Looks scary if that's the view for 360 degrees. Im guessing not though.

It's a suspension bridge so it's mostly just hanging in place by gravity and it's own weight. You can see there is a long expanse of area in which it is not fixed from below. What happened was the winds came at the same interval of the bridges natural period of vibration, so the 2 worked in unison and forced the bridge to wobble until it broke. Similar to how we gain momentum on a swingset.

There's a great book called "Why Buildings Fall Down" by a legendary structural engineer named Salvatori. He talks about this bridge in detail. This book helped me a ton in passing my 2 structural exams for my architecture license.

aaand the story behind these pictures
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008...bsence-of.html

Grown from the roots of a rubber tree, the Khasis people of Cherapunjee use betel-tree trunks, sliced down the middle and hollowed out, to create "root-guidance systems." When they reach the other side of the river, they're allowed to take root in the soil. Given enough time a sturdy, living bridge is produced.











see stories and rest here
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009...hitecture.html

LOL

Why are 5 people taking a pic of that cat?

wow anyway many mroe cool pics in that link

more:
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009...es-part-5.html

this one is gold

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008...es-part-3.html




http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008...s-of-2007.html