HISTORIC TAY RAIL BRIDGE

Constructed over the river Tay at Dundee, the historic Tay Rail Bridge is one most famous bridge in the United Kingdom. It was constructed in 1887, making it the first longest iron bridge in the world which would carry the rail traffic between Dundee and Fife. The structure of the bridge makes it a very important landmark owing to the incredible strength it holds.

The old historic Tay Rail Bridge was a very important bridge in the trade history of Scotland. By the 1860s there was a competition between different companies to control the routes, because anyone who would be successful in doing so would accrue a huge amount of profit. The river Tay was the first trade route that every company wanted to monopolise, therefore in an attempt to control it, the bridge was constructed by the North British Railway Company.

But the design of the bridge was faulty and on a stormy night in 1878 the bridge collapsed, nobody in the train which was passing the bridge could survive the accident. After this tragedy, the new bridge had slight changes in design pattern, structure, and the kind of material used, and was reconstructed over a period of 5 years. The new innovation of a special bridge with hydraulic legs was introduced in the design of the bridge. The bridge is a great place from where the amazing views of the river and neighbourhood are visible.

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Highlights

• The bridge is a masterpiece for its structural engineering, bringing elements of both the Tay Rail and Ray Road bridges.
• It has iconic sightseeing points from where the awesome views of River Tay, The Law and the Sidlaws are visible.
• The design of the new construction was inspired by the older one, it’s build parallel to the old one to keep the channels of navigation open. Throughout the construction of the new bridge the rubble of the old bridge was used as a ’staging’ for men and materials.