Show tay bridge in scotland once longest in world the first tay bridge over the es auary of 0 the tay river near dundee scotland was opened to traffic on september 23 25 1877 with a length of two miles it was at that time the longest railroad bridge in the world the foundation stone was laid in july 1871 the bridge consisted of 85 spans varying from 67 07 to feet in length the widest ones near tile the center of the bridge had a height of 88 feet clear above high water the engineer was wag sir thomas bouch who was afterward blamed for the inherent detects defects which produced the disaster relates a writer in the detroit news in a high gale on the th night of december 28 1879 I 1 the central spans were blown down I 1 while a train carrying about ninety passengers was crossing there were no survivors it was claimed that the allowance tor for wind pressure was very much less than was necessary for a bridge in that exposed location A novel by A J cronin HAt hatter tOr 19 castle makes use of the incident of the disaster I 1 A now new bridge was erected between 1883 and 1888 about twenty yards west of the site of its predecessor it has 73 pairs of piers and the double line of rails is 9 92 2 feet above high water |