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The
Tay Bridge was designed by Thomas
Bouch. To allow shipping to pass up the Tay to Perth,
a clearance of about 88 feet was required between the bridge
girders and the high water mark in the middle of the firth.
On the south bank, at Wormit, the land rose steeply to a height
of about 200 feet, and this proved ideal as a jumping-off
point for the bridge.
After
leaving the bank on a short curve, the track climbed gradually
at 1 in 490 until it reached pier 29. It then ran level to
pier 36. After passing pier 37 the track fell rapidly at 1
in 74, until it reached the north bank at Dundee. At pier
53, the track entered a large, sweeping curve that took it
alongside the bank and down to a height of about 40 feet above
high water.
The
overall length of the bridge from bank to bank was over 2
miles, which at the time made it by far the longest bridge
in the world.
This
section includes two interactive diagrams showing Bouch's
bridge design in detail. It may be useful to refer back to
these when analysing the evidence for the disaster.
You will
need to have a Flash Player plug-in to use these interactives.
If you do not have a Flash Player, please download it now.
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