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
Tay Rail Bridge Tay Bridge the diagonal bracing was by means of flat bars running from one lug at the column section top (an integral part of the column casting ) to two sling plates bolted to the diagonally opposite lug. Bar and sling plates all had a matching longitudinal slot in them; the tie bar was placed between the sling plates with all three slots aligned and overlapping and a gib driven through all three slots and secured. Two cotters (metal wedges) were then positioned to fill the rest of the slot overlap, and driven in hard to put the tie under