Tag Archives: tacoma

America’s Car Museum

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The onset of shorter days and less reliable weather (or at least weather that can be relied on to be crummy) means day trips to indoor places.  Nancy thought a trip to Tacoma to look at the LeMay collection in America’s Car Museum would be a good plan and she wasn’t wrong.  I have seen this museum many times as I drive south on I-5 but hadn’t given much thought to it before.  A couple of days before Nancy suggested it, a friend of mine back in California told me he would be going there in the spring so obviously everyone else was thinking about it but me.

The museum is a cool looking structure.  An asymmetric curved roof based one a wooden interior frame, it sits on a hillside next to the Tacoma Dome overlooking the harbor.  The museum is on multiple levels so, while the building doesn’t look to extensive, it provides a lot of space for the large collection of vehicles.  I shall be showing a few specific examples of cars from the collection in upcoming posts but, for the time being, you can get an idea of the overall museum.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge

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wpid10997-AU0E6747.jpgAny engineering student will be familiar with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Built in the early part of the twentieth century, this bridge was susceptible to wind induced oscillations which, in certain conditions could set up a resonance condition. Not too long after it was completed, this got out of hand and the bridge bucked and twisted in dramatic fashion until the materials could take it no longer and the structure disintegrated crashing down into the water below. If you want to see this because you are unfamiliar with it (or because it never gets old watching it), the video below will show you what happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

The bridge was rebuilt and has lasted since that day although it could no longer manage the volumes of traffic so was joined by a second bridge alongside it relatively recently. I have been over both bridges. However, as we flew past Tacoma, I could see them off in the distance. No great architectural photos here but just something for you engineers out there!

Tacoma

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wpid10993-AU0E6763.jpgWhen landing at SeaTac on the northerly approaches, you come across Seattle’s southern neighbor, Tacoma. The approach routing brings you just to the east of the city so, if you are doing this in the morning as I was at some point recently, you get the city nicely illuminated in the early sunlight. The usual issues with shooting through an airplane window still apply but you are lower so the shots can be more forgiving.

wpid10995-AU0E6786.jpgThe city is home to one of the west coast’s major container ports. The view from above clearly shows how the harbor dominates the area. The container terminals and the cranes that make them work are clearly visible along with the transportation connections that take everything out of the port an on to its final destination.

wpid10991-AU0E6749.jpgThe city also has a large dome which is home to many events. It is close to the main freeway from north to south, I-5, and when you drive past it seems to be pretty huge. From the air, it is still clearly seen but somehow it doesn’t have the same impact.