Tay Bridge disaster
Encyclopedia
The Tay Bridge disaster occurred on 28 December 1879, when the first Tay Rail Bridge
, which crossed the Firth of Tay
between Dundee
and Wormit
in Scotland, collapsed during a violent storm while a train was passing over it. The bridge was designed by the noted railway engineer Sir Thomas Bouch
, using a lattice grid that combined wrought and cast iron. Major engineering flaws were the cause of the collapse, and the disaster ruined Bouch's reputation as an engineer.
on the evening of 28 December 1879, the centre section of the bridge, known as the "High Girders", collapsed, taking with it a train that was running on its single track. All 75 people believed to be on the train including 5 staff were killed, a figure which was only established by a meticulous examination of ticket sales, some from as far away as King's Cross. There were 60 known victims, but only 46 bodies were found, two of which were not recovered until February 1880.
s shorter than 200 feet (61 m), and had not followed this up for his new design with longer girders.
The section in the middle of the bridge, where the rail ran inside high girders (through trusses), rather than on top of lower ones (deck trusses), to allow a sea lane below high enough for the masts of ships, was potentially top heavy and very vulnerable to high winds. Neither Bouch nor the contractor appeared to have regularly visited the on-site foundry
where iron from the previous half-built bridge was recycled. The cylindrical cast iron
columns supporting the 13 longest spans
of the bridge, each 245 ft (75 m) long, were of poor quality. Many had been cast horizontally, with the result that the walls were not of even thickness, and there was some evidence that imperfect castings were disguised from the (very inadequate) quality control inspections.
In particular, some of the lug
s used as attachment points for the wrought iron
bracing bars had been "burnt on" rather than cast with the columns. However, no evidence of the burnt-on lugs has survived, and the normal lugs were very weak. They were tested for the Inquiry by David Kirkaldy
and proved to break at only about 20 LT rather than the expected load of 60 LT. These lugs failed and destabilised the entire centre of the bridge during the storm.
The official enquiry was chaired by Henry Cadogan Rothery
, Commissioner of Wrecks, supported by Colonel Yolland
(Inspector of Railways) and William Henry Barlow
, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
. They concluded that the bridge was "badly designed, badly built and badly maintained, and that its downfall was due to inherent defects in the structure, which must sooner or later have brought it down. For these defects both in the design, the construction, and the maintenance, Sir Thomas Bouch is, in our opinion, mainly to blame."
There was clear evidence that the central structure had been deteriorating for months before the final accident. The maintenance inspector, Henry Noble, had heard the joints of the wrought-iron tie-bars "chattering" a few months after the bridge opened in June 1878, a sound indicating that the joints had loosened. This made many of the tie-bars useless for bracing the cast-iron piers. Noble did not attempt to re-tighten the joints, but hammered shims of iron between them in an attempt to stop the rattling.
The enquiry destroyed Bouch's professional reputation: "The chief blame for this casualty rests with Sir Thomas Bouch" wrote the chairman, albeit noting that it was his decision alone to lay the blame publicly. The enquiry recommended the Board of Trade to impose a rule catering for wind loading of 50 or 55 lb per square foot in future structures.
The locomotive, NBR no. 224, a 4-4-0
designed by Thomas Wheatley
and built at Cowlairs
Works in 1871, survived the disaster, being salvaged from the river and repaired. It remained in service until 1919, acquiring the nickname of "The Diver"; many superstitious drivers were reluctant to take it over the new bridge.
poet William Topaz McGonagall
commemorated this event in his poem The Tay Bridge Disaster
. Likewise, German
poet Theodor Fontane
, shocked by the news, wrote his poem Die Brück' am Tay (with allusions to William Shakespeare
and Friedrich von Schiller). It was published only ten days after the tragedy happened. Hatter's Castle
, the 1931 novel of Scottish
author A. J. Cronin
, includes a scene involving the Tay Bridge Disaster, and the 1942 filmed version
of the book dramatically recreates the bridge's catastrophic collapse. The bridge collapse figures prominently in Barbara Vine's 2002 novel The Blood Doctor
. Scottish author Sorche nic Leodhas wrote a story The Tay Bridge Train, about a man who survives because he is warned not to take the Tay Bridge train.
Tay Rail Bridge
The Tay Bridge is a railway bridge approximately two and a quarter miles long that spans the Firth of Tay in Scotland, between the city of Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife ....
, which crossed the Firth of Tay
Firth of Tay
The Firth of Tay is a firth in Scotland between the council areas of Fife, Perth and Kinross, the City of Dundee and Angus, into which Scotland's largest river in terms of flow, the River Tay, empties....
between Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
and Wormit
Wormit
Wormit is a small town located on the banks of the Firth of Tay in north east Fife, Scotland. It is most famous for its location at the southern end of the Tay Rail Bridge. Its railway station was on a closed branch line which left the main line railway immediately at the south end of the Bridge...
in Scotland, collapsed during a violent storm while a train was passing over it. The bridge was designed by the noted railway engineer Sir Thomas Bouch
Thomas Bouch
Sir Thomas Bouch was a British railway engineer in Victorian Britain.He was born in Thursby, near Carlisle, Cumberland, England and lived in Edinburgh. He helped develop the caisson and the roll-on/roll-off train ferry. He worked initially for the North British Railway and helped design parts of...
, using a lattice grid that combined wrought and cast iron. Major engineering flaws were the cause of the collapse, and the disaster ruined Bouch's reputation as an engineer.
The disaster
During a violent stormEuropean windstorm
A European windstorm is a severe cyclonic windstorm associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure that track across the North Atlantic towards northwestern Europe. They are most common in the winter months...
on the evening of 28 December 1879, the centre section of the bridge, known as the "High Girders", collapsed, taking with it a train that was running on its single track. All 75 people believed to be on the train including 5 staff were killed, a figure which was only established by a meticulous examination of ticket sales, some from as far away as King's Cross. There were 60 known victims, but only 46 bodies were found, two of which were not recovered until February 1880.
Causes
Investigators quickly determined many faults in design, materials, and processes that had contributed to the failure. Bouch claimed to have received faulty information regarding wind loading, but his later statements indicated that he may have made no allowance for wind load at all. Bouch had been advised that calculating wind loads was unnecessary for girderGirder
A girder is a support beam used in construction. Girders often have an I-beam cross section for strength, but may also have a box shape, Z shape or other forms. Girder is the term used to denote the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams...
s shorter than 200 feet (61 m), and had not followed this up for his new design with longer girders.
The section in the middle of the bridge, where the rail ran inside high girders (through trusses), rather than on top of lower ones (deck trusses), to allow a sea lane below high enough for the masts of ships, was potentially top heavy and very vulnerable to high winds. Neither Bouch nor the contractor appeared to have regularly visited the on-site foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
where iron from the previous half-built bridge was recycled. The cylindrical cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
columns supporting the 13 longest spans
Span (architecture)
Span is the distance between two intermediate supports for a structure, e.g. a beam or a bridge.A span can be closed by a solid beam or of a rope...
of the bridge, each 245 ft (75 m) long, were of poor quality. Many had been cast horizontally, with the result that the walls were not of even thickness, and there was some evidence that imperfect castings were disguised from the (very inadequate) quality control inspections.
In particular, some of the lug
Lug
-Places:* Lug , a Croatian village in Herzegovina* Lug, Bilje, a settlement in Croatian Baranja* Lug, Germany, a municipality in Germany* Ług, Łódź Voivodeship, a village in Poland* Lug , a village in Serbia-Transportation:...
s used as attachment points for the wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
bracing bars had been "burnt on" rather than cast with the columns. However, no evidence of the burnt-on lugs has survived, and the normal lugs were very weak. They were tested for the Inquiry by David Kirkaldy
David Kirkaldy
David Kirkaldy was a Scottish engineer who pioneered the testing of materials as a service to engineers during the Victorian period. He established a test house in Southwark, London and built a large hydraulic tensile test machine, or tensometer for examining the mechanical properties of...
and proved to break at only about 20 LT rather than the expected load of 60 LT. These lugs failed and destabilised the entire centre of the bridge during the storm.
Official enquiry
Henry Cadogan Rothery
Henry Cadogan Rothery was an English lawyer and commissioner of wrecks , especially remembered for chairing the inquiry into the Tay Bridge disaster in 1879.-Life:...
, Commissioner of Wrecks, supported by Colonel Yolland
William Yolland
William Yolland CB, FRS was an English military surveyor, astronomer and engineer, and was Britain’s Chief Inspector of Railways from 1877 until his death...
(Inspector of Railways) and William Henry Barlow
William Henry Barlow
On 28 December 1879, the central section of the North British Railway's bridge across the River Tay near Dundee collapsed in the Tay Bridge disaster as an express train crossed it in a heavy storm. All 75 passengers and crew on the train were killed...
, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
. They concluded that the bridge was "badly designed, badly built and badly maintained, and that its downfall was due to inherent defects in the structure, which must sooner or later have brought it down. For these defects both in the design, the construction, and the maintenance, Sir Thomas Bouch is, in our opinion, mainly to blame."
There was clear evidence that the central structure had been deteriorating for months before the final accident. The maintenance inspector, Henry Noble, had heard the joints of the wrought-iron tie-bars "chattering" a few months after the bridge opened in June 1878, a sound indicating that the joints had loosened. This made many of the tie-bars useless for bracing the cast-iron piers. Noble did not attempt to re-tighten the joints, but hammered shims of iron between them in an attempt to stop the rattling.
The enquiry destroyed Bouch's professional reputation: "The chief blame for this casualty rests with Sir Thomas Bouch" wrote the chairman, albeit noting that it was his decision alone to lay the blame publicly. The enquiry recommended the Board of Trade to impose a rule catering for wind loading of 50 or 55 lb per square foot in future structures.
Aftermath
Some authors have claimed that the final carriages were blown off the line and hit the girders, and caused the collapse. The theory was put forward by Bouch in his defence. It was discredited at the official enquiry, and fails to address the question of why the bridge would be weak enough that it could fail due solely to a derailment. It also fails to explain why over half a mile of bridge was destroyed rather than just the part where the train derailed.The locomotive, NBR no. 224, a 4-4-0
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
designed by Thomas Wheatley
Thomas Wheatley (locomotive engineer)
Thomas Wheatley was born in Micklefield, Leeds in 1821. He became an apprentice with the Leeds and Selby Railway and later worked for the Midland Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. Subsequently, he was Locomotive Superintendent for the Southern Division of the London...
and built at Cowlairs
Cowlairs
Cowlairs is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, part of the wider Springburn district of the city. It is situated north of the River Clyde. Cowlairs F.C. represented the area...
Works in 1871, survived the disaster, being salvaged from the river and repaired. It remained in service until 1919, acquiring the nickname of "The Diver"; many superstitious drivers were reluctant to take it over the new bridge.
Works of literature about the disaster
The VictorianVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
poet William Topaz McGonagall
William Topaz McGonagall
William Topaz McGonagall was a Scottish weaver, doggerel poet and actor. He won notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of or concern for his peers' opinions of his work....
commemorated this event in his poem The Tay Bridge Disaster
The Tay Bridge Disaster
The Tay Bridge Disaster is a poem written in 1880 by the Scottish poet William McGonagall, who has been widely acclaimed as the worst poet in British history...
. Likewise, German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
poet Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...
, shocked by the news, wrote his poem Die Brück' am Tay (with allusions to William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and Friedrich von Schiller). It was published only ten days after the tragedy happened. Hatter's Castle
Hatter's Castle
Hatter's Castle is the first novel of author A. J. Cronin. The story is set in 1879, in the fictional town of Levenford, on the Firth of Clyde. The plot revolves around many characters and has many subplots, all of which relate to the life of the hatter, James Brodie, whose narcissism and cruelty...
, the 1931 novel of Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
author A. J. Cronin
A. J. Cronin
Archibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known works are Hatter's Castle, The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years, all of which were adapted to film. He also created the Dr...
, includes a scene involving the Tay Bridge Disaster, and the 1942 filmed version
Hatter's Castle (film)
Hatter's Castle is a 1941 British film adaptation of the 1931 novel by A. J. Cronin, which dramatizes the ruin that befalls a Scottish hatter set on recapturing his imagined lost nobility. The film was made by Paramount British Pictures and stars Robert Newton, Deborah Kerr, James Mason, and Emlyn...
of the book dramatically recreates the bridge's catastrophic collapse. The bridge collapse figures prominently in Barbara Vine's 2002 novel The Blood Doctor
The Blood Doctor
The Blood Doctor is a novel by British writer Ruth Rendell, written under the pseudonym Barbara Vine.- Plot summary:Lord Nanther embarks on a biography of his great-grandfather, the first Lord Nanther, physician extraordinary to Queen Victoria and an expert on blood diseases...
. Scottish author Sorche nic Leodhas wrote a story The Tay Bridge Train, about a man who survives because he is warned not to take the Tay Bridge train.
See also
- David KirkaldyDavid KirkaldyDavid Kirkaldy was a Scottish engineer who pioneered the testing of materials as a service to engineers during the Victorian period. He established a test house in Southwark, London and built a large hydraulic tensile test machine, or tensometer for examining the mechanical properties of...
- Harry WattsHarry WattsHarry Watts was a Sunderland sailor and diver, who rescued over 40 people from drowning during his lifetime - and assisted in the rescue of another 120 people.-Early life:...
- List of structural failures and collapses
- List of bridge disasters
- List of wind-related railway accidents
External links
- Tom Martin's engineering analysis of the bridge disaster
- BBC website devoted to the Tay bridge disaster
- Reappraisal of the Tay Bridge disaster Open UniversityOpen UniversityThe Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
- Recent review of book on the disaster — go to Failure Magazine; select "Archives" & then search for Tay Bridge.
- Dundee local history centre page on the disaster
- Tay Victims listing {reference only}
- Firth of Tay Bridge Disaster 1879: Worst Structural Disaster in British History at Suburban Emergency Management Project