Scale Model of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Posted bysaemiller April 5, 2022 A 1:50 scale model of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, assembled for tests in a specially designed wind tunnel at the University of Washington. Von Kármán, who was called in as a consultant to investigate the bridge’s failure, showed that the torsional oscillations could be explained by his own 1911 work on vortex patterns.