Pre-Sessional English Programme

Written Assignment First Draft

Student Number : 160388677

Student Name : Adriansyah Pami Rahman Siregar
Group : PSP 202

Assignment title : The collapse of Tacoma Narrows Bridge has

had a profound impact on the field of civil
engineering

Assignment title number: 52

Word Count: 1147 words

DECLARATION

This assignment is my own work. I have shown clearly in my work if I have used
ideas and words from other sources. I have given references for any quotations or
materials that come from the work of other people. I have shown if I have worked
with someone else.

Signed: Date: August 7, 2016

The collapse of Tacoma Narrows Bridge has had a profound impact
on the field of civil engineering

There are a lot of masterpieces which have been built by civil engineers along the history
of human race. Many of which were successfully built; however, some others were failed. Some
of famous disasters which were well known all over the world were Chernobyl Nuclear Power
Plant (1986), Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion (1944), and Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse
(1940). This essay will focus on the collapse of Tacoma Narrows Bridge, as well as the effects
which emerge due to the catastrophe on the field of civil engineering. Firstly, It will describe a
short history of Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse and then, will consider if this has had a
profound impact on the field of civil engineering. This essay will argue that there was
insignificant impact on civil engineering field as the implication of this disaster.
Tacoma Narrows Bridge was firstly open to public on 1 July 1940. It is located in U.S.
state of Washington. The bridge connects Tacoma to Kitsap Peninsula. Since it was being
constructed, the bridge behaved unusual movement. The workers entitled it as Galloping
Gertie due to vertical motion of the bridge. On 7 July 1940, which was exactly 4 months and 6
days after it was opened for traffic, the bridge collapsed. The wind blew 64 Km/hour and
undermined the main slender span. Fortunately, there was only a dog killed due to this
catastrophe. The replacement of Galloping Gertie was opened to public in 10 years after it
collapsed which is 14 October 1950.
There were various opinions prevailed among the citizen due to this catastrophe. Some
people believed that the failure gave profound impact on the field of civil engineering, while
others definitely argued that it brought insignificant impacts. One argument for saying that it
gave insignificant impact is that issues concerning this failure can be mitigated by the strength of
persuasion. The role of mass media and government were crucial at this part. Catherine and Greg
(2013) considered that media accounts have important roles either legitimizing action or creating
of faith for social policies. Mass media and government can persuade and change people
perception in civil engineers, which we know as the strength of persuasion. Mass media issued
the explanation of why Tacoma Bridge failed and stated that it did not fully derived from
engineers fault. There was another unpredicted factor which took a part in this problem. That is
natural factor. This collapse was caused by wind condition which blew the structure with a speed
of 64 km/h (Wikipedia; Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940)). Another news came from The Tacoma
News Tribune stated that this failure was caused by wind which destroyed middle span. People
would change their perception after they read this news, and they must have not blamed on
engineers.
Everyone has second chance in their life. If someone failed and committed mistake in
former situation, they will strive to fix the problem and show to people that he can do better. This
change will return peoples faith on him. It has been established that people changed after being
hated and self-disclosure conduct is crucial on this stage (Voncken and Dijk ,2013). This
situation was used by the engineers after this disaster happened. Engineers issued solution for
this problem, and ensured people that it would not be a catastrophe for the second time. They
rebuilt the bridge and finished it in 10 years after it collapsed. Ultimately, they returned peoples
faith on their masterpiece without letting this problem emerged worse issues in civil engineering
field.
It is widely accepted that inevitably, people need civil engineers. Even though the bridge
had collapsed, people must have relied on civil engineers any way. A situation that citizens are
compelled to rely on civil engineers is that people definitely need a bridge to travel from a land
to another land. If a river has no bridge on it, It will intrude a journey; moreover, it will be
difficult, risky, and sometimes impossible for people to reach another land (Leonardo, 2015).
This reflects the data of structurally deficient bridges in Washington by year built from U.S
Department of Transportation in 1943-1947, 1948-1952, and 1953-1957 which increased
respectively 10, 32, and 36. This data gives us rough description on increasing bridge which was
built in that period of time. These evidences depict that there was no impact due to bridge failure
on a civil engineering work, as people need civil engineers.
Some people argued that they should not have believed graduated civil engineering
anymore. This is true, but it depends on each individual who finishes the study and the quality of
a university itself. If a university has good facilities and experienced lecturers, the graduates will
have capacity and proficiency in civil engineering. Universities help them to build their skills in
engineering, in the meantime students struggle to do their best. This is supported by Steve,
LaVonne, and Melody (2010) that students must struggle and do their best in the university, and
the role of lecturers take part in it, so they will graduate and success in the future. According to
survey which was carried out by The Complete University Guide, some of the best universities in
UK graduate their civil engineering students in 2010 with high prospects which means either the
students have jobs or have further studies. Some of the universities are Sheffield, Imperial
College, and Newcastle University. The percentage of graduate prospects for each university are
98%, 96%, and 94% respectively. This reflects that graduated civil engineering are still believed,
so they are able to have jobs.
Some state that the implication of this catastrophe effected on employment in civil
engineering worksites. However, this statement was not strongly proved by history. This is
contrary to the data from United States Census Bureau about fulltime street and highways
employees in Washington. Highway employees include engineers who deal with infrastructure in
highway including building and maintenance bridges. This data shows that employees from
1992, 1993, and 1994 was increasing. They were 6,063; 12,071; and 12,314, unit in people, for
each year. This increase proved that this catastrophe did not effect on civil engineering
employment.
To conclude, first, this essay presents the impacts of Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse on
civil engineering field. Secondly, one of the limitations of this essay is that had to get the closest
data to the year of the catastrophe happened. The third conclusion is government and mass media
have important roles to calm down the public issues about the collapse of Tacoma Narrows
Bridge. The next conclusion is that people might have hesitated on civil engineers as the result of
this catastrophe; however, inevitably, society needs civil engineers to satisfy peoples needs in
infrastructure. Overall, the collapse of Tacoma Narrows Bridge has had insignificant impacts on
the field of civil engineering.
References
Bain, S., Fedynich, L., & Knight, M. (2010). The successful graduate student: a review of the
factors for success. Journal of Academic and Business Ethics. 3 (7), pp. 1-9.
Happer C., & Philo G. (2013) Journal of Social and Political Psychology. The Role of the
Media in the Construction of Public Belief and Social Change. 1(1), 321336
Narrows Bridge Collapses. (1940, November 8). The Tacoma News Tribune, p.1.
Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 31,2016, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940)
The Complete University Guide. University subject tables 2010, civil engineering. Retrieved
from http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?
s=Civil+Engineering&y=2010
Troyano, L. F. (2015). Bridge Engineering: A Global Perspective. London: Thomas Telford.
E-book.
United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). State Government Employment and Payroll Data:
1992,1993,1994. Retrieved from
https://www.census.gov//govs/apes/historical_data_1994.html
U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. (n.d.). Deficient
Bridges by Year Built. Retrieve from http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/structyr.cfm
Voncken M.J., and Dijk K. F.L., (2013). Socially Anxious Individuals Get a Second Chance
After Being Disliked at First Sight: The Role of Self-Disclosure in the Development of
Likeability in Sequential Social Contact. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 37:717