Was Disaster Built into the First Tay Bridge?

We were delighted to receive a donation from William (Bill) Dow recently. The gift was a volume of Bill's research into the collapse of the Tay Rail Bridge which happened in December 1879 with the loss of over seventy lives. Bill Dow believes that vital information in the form of correspondence was not revealed to the original enquiry and his volume details this.

This is one of several gifts to the archives by Bill Dow who was principle lecturer in physics and head of science at Dundee College of Education, now part of the University. Bill is well known in Dundee for his extensive knowledge of local history as well as his enthusiasm for physics, stemming from his work on radar in the Second World War.

 The University Archives have a number of items relating to the Tay Bridge disaster which can be consulted. For more information contact archives@dundee.ac.uk or visit our website and type Tay Bridge into our online catalogue.