East Midlands Branch

THE INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS

The Tay Bridge Disaster: Act of God or Gross Negligence

A talk by

Peter R Lewis

Open University

Tuesday 13 November 2007

starting at 7.30 pm

Queens Building, City Campus,

De Montfort University, Leicester

http://www.dmu.ac.uk/aboutdmu/campuses/maps/leic_campus.jsp

Abstract

In 1879 the Tay Bridge was the longest bridge in the world, spanning two miles across the Tay estuary in southeastern Scotland. On the evening of December 28, 1879, the central part of the span—the so-called high girders—suddenly collapsed, leaving a gap of well over a half-mile. Most disturbing was that the two-year-old bridge collapsed while an express passenger train from Edinburgh was making its way across. The resulting accident claimed the lives of 75 victims, making it one of  the most catastrophic structural failures in Britain’s history.

More than 125 years later the cause of the disaster seems to remain in doubt. In a recent book, “Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay” (Tempus Publishing), we have attempted to put an end to the uncertainty. By re-examining the wealth of surviving evidence - in particular the photographic archive and the records from the formal accident investigation of 1880 - we have re-assessed the various theories of how and why the bridge came down. Notably, the Tay Bridge disaster inquiry pioneered systematic investigation and recording of the evidence visible at an accident site. Other accidents of the railroad age were systematically investigated prior to the late 1880s, but the Tay Bridge was probably the first time a systematic photographic survey was made for an accident investigation. The photos have proved to be an invaluable archive, which has enabled re-examination of the disaster with the benefit of modern knowledge of likely failure modes.

No charge is made to attend meetings, non-IMA members are welcome

This talk has been arranged in collaboration with the IMECHE

The talk is coordinated by East Midlands Branch Secretary, Dr Stephen Hibberd, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, email: stephen.hibberd@nottingham.ac.uk.

Details of East Midlands Branch activities: http://www.ima.org.uk/EMidBranch/ima.html