The suspension bridge that is shown in most "disaster" TV shows in the Tacoma Narrows bridge– and it fail because of an engineering flaw.
Engineers where trying to be build lighter and "more elegant" bridges. The goal was strong, lightweight bridges. Reducing the weight meant smaller anchorages, and less maintenance
The bridge design was fine for supporting weight– but its light weight design had trouble coping with the high winds in the Tacoma Narrows gorge. It was high winds that caused the failure. The bridge start falling faster than gravity– since it wasn't so much rising and falling as it was oscillating.. The oscillation eventual (with in minutes once they really got going) destroyed the bridge.
The same engineering company used almost the same design for the Whitestone bridge across the East River connecting the Bronx to Long Island. After the failure of the Tacoma bridge, the Whitestone bridge was "improved" with new structural steel, in the form of triangular bracing. (Since the design was excellent for downward stress/weight, the bridge could carry the load.) This was installed in what was original the pedestrian pathways. The Whitestone bridge is still pretty bouncy it's 'interesting' to drive over when there are heavy winds. – but it's close to 70 years old, and still carries a heavy volume of traffic.
But some bridges have failed because of rhythmic stress of humans, not wind. Back in the 70, and again in the 80's, "Walkways" in malls and hotels have failed when a number of dancers, all moving to the same beat, caused sympatric vibrations. And the NY Marathon has rules about the number and speed of runners on the Verrazano Bridge- at the start of the race. So the is something to it.
