Dundee 110419 110
An Edinburgh bound train crosses the Tay Bridge on 11 April 2019 and is just approaching the 'High Girders', where headroom was provided for the tallest ships when the bridge was completed in 1887, being officially opened on 20 June that year. The bridge is over two miles long.
However, this was not the first bridge to be completed here, the first having been opened on 1 June 1878, although that collapsed in spectacular fashion on 28 December the following year during a storm. There were significant deficiencies in the building of the bridge, together with some substandard materials, but the bulk of the blame was laid at the door of its designer, Thomas Bouch, who did not take sufficient account of the effects of winds being funnelled up the firth. As can be seen in this picture, the stumps of the old bridge piers are still there, clearly visible at low tide.
Major work was undertaken in 2003 to strengthen the bridge, the difficulty of the work being recognised by an engineering award.
Dundee 110419 110
An Edinburgh bound train crosses the Tay Bridge on 11 April 2019 and is just approaching the 'High Girders', where headroom was provided for the tallest ships when the bridge was completed in 1887, being officially opened on 20 June that year. The bridge is over two miles long.
However, this was not the first bridge to be completed here, the first having been opened on 1 June 1878, although that collapsed in spectacular fashion on 28 December the following year during a storm. There were significant deficiencies in the building of the bridge, together with some substandard materials, but the bulk of the blame was laid at the door of its designer, Thomas Bouch, who did not take sufficient account of the effects of winds being funnelled up the firth. As can be seen in this picture, the stumps of the old bridge piers are still there, clearly visible at low tide.
Major work was undertaken in 2003 to strengthen the bridge, the difficulty of the work being recognised by an engineering award.