River Tay naturally. To aid this process and improve the health and resilience of the population a further 28 beavers will be released in Knapdale between 2017 and 2020, however there are no plans at present to release further beavers into the Tay. In the 19th century the Tay Rail Bridge was built across the firth at Dundee as part of the East Coast Main Line, which linked Aberdeen in the north with Edinburgh and London to the south. The bridge, designed by Sir Thomas Bouch, officially opened in May 1878. On 28 December 1879 the bridge collapsed as a train passed
Inner Tay Estuary Inner Tay Estuary The Inner Tay Estuary, the inner, western part of the Firth of Tay, stretching from the Tay Railway Bridge in the east to the Queen's Bridge over the River Tay in Perth and the bridge in Bridge of Earn on the River Earn. The estuary is one of the largest in eastern Scotland and is up to 2.5 km wide. The estuary consists primarily of inter-tidal sand and mud flats that extend seaward out to the main channel of the estuary, the majority of which lie on the northern shore. Landward of these are saltmarsh and "Phragmite"s