The Sunk Cost Bridge: Tacoma Narrows and the Engineering Gambler's Fallacy
The Mind of the Maker: Psychology of Engineering Failure 1 The Illusion of Invulnerability: How the Titanic's Designers Dismissed the Iceberg Threat 2 The Certainty Trap: Challenger and the Deadly Cost of Overconfidence 3 The Bureaucracy of Denial: Chernobyl and the System That Couldn't Say Stop 4 The Sunk Cost Bridge: Tacoma Narrows and the Engineering Gambler's Fallacy 5 The Automation Paradox: How Boeing's MCAS System Exploited Pilot Trust ← Series Home The Bridge Wobbled. They Saw It. They Fixed It Wrong. On July 1, 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened in Washington state. It was an engineering marvel: a suspension bridge spanning 2,800 feet with the longest center span in the world at that time. The design was revolutionary—the deck was thinner and more flexible than previous bridges, giving it a distinctive, almost delicate appearance. Traffic was modest at first but growing. ...