STUART JORDAN recalls the history of the first Tay Railway Bridge.
As we saw in the previous article, a terrible disaster struck the Tay Railway Bridge in December 1879. High winds caused the centre section to collapse while a train was crossing, taking seventy-five lives.
The remains of the first Tay Bridge after the collapse.
Plans were made almost immediately to rebuild the bridge. The North British Railway Company and local merchants insisted that the site was the most ideal for the local area and it was the structural design that was at fault. A civil engineer named Sir James Brunlees submitted a new design for a bridge. His idea was to widen the existing bridge by adding new piers next to the existing piers, allowing the track to be doubled. Brunlees’ design would have had more lateral strength than the original bridge, the Board of Trade did not like the idea of linking to the old bridge, so the design was rejected.
Engineering drawing of the new Tay Bridge.
North British Railway consulted with William Henry Barlow, a well renowned engineer. After a survey, Barlow rejected the idea of using the existing piers. His design, which relied entirely on well-tested design methods, was approved by a House of Commons select committee in May 1881.
The new bridge would consist of 85 spans, held up by brick and concrete piers set in wrought iron caissons. The light iron superstructure design, which would become commonplace on bridges, consisted of graceful arches with lattices. This design would give the bridge a high level of resistance to compression strain.
The new Tay Bridge from the Dundee shore.
Building began in March 1882. Work began on the southern shore, with the bridge sections assembled on the shore. The new bridge was built 18 metres upstream from the original bridge. 25,000 tons of iron and steel were used in the construction, as well as 37,500 tons of bricks and 70,000 tons of concrete. For those counting, around 3 million rivets were used.
Given the fate of the first bridge, the second Tay Bridge was rigorously tested. The bridge was tested beyond expected conditions and was passed for service by the Board of Trade. The first locomotive ran across it 11th June 1887 and the first passenger service crossed the new Tay Bridge on 20th June – which just happened to be the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne.
The bridge is 2 miles 73 yards long, but due to thermal expansion it can be almost 4ft longer. With a £21 million refurbishment project carried out on the bridge in 2003, it remains in use this day.