Tay Bridge disaster Tay Bridge disaster During a violent storm on Sunday 28 December 1879, the first Tay Rail Bridge collapsed as a train from Wormit to Dundee passed over it, killing all aboard. The bridge—designed by Sir Thomas Bouch—used lattice girders supported by iron piers, with cast iron columns and wrought iron cross-bracing. The piers were narrower and their cross-bracing was less extensive and robust than on previous similar designs by Bouch. Bouch had sought expert advice on wind loading when designing a proposed rail bridge over the Firth of Forth; as a result of that advice he had made no explicit
Inner Tay Estuary reedbeds. There are two large islands: Mugdrum Island opposite Newburgh and Moncreiffe Island immediately below Perth. The narrow form of the estuary and the large volume of freshwater from the Rivers Tay and Earn restrict the influence of salt water west of the Tayport narrows. Much of the tidal water in the estuary is freshwater or mildly brackish. The 20 km or so stretch between the railway bridge and the confluence of the Rivers Tay and Earn is a site of special scientific interest. The current SSSI was notified in August 1999 and extends to 4,115 hectares or thereby. Scottish