The Tay Bridge Disaster
Description:
On
the 28th of December 1879, a single track railroad connection
between Edinburgh and Dundee, Scotland, collapsed during a violent storm
resulting in the death of 75 people who were passing over the bridge by a
train. The bridge collapsed on the night of a rigorous winter storm associated with a severe wind where the shortage of engineering principles
showed up at that moment. The Tay Bridge was designed by structural engineer
Sir Thomas Bouch, but his design contained many structural deficiencies which
led to the collapse. The bridge was two miles in length and the title “Sir”
was granted to the bridge builder Thomas Bouch by Queen Victoria at that period
of time due to the success of Sir Thomas Bouch in accomplishing many of the
railways and bridges. Although a century has passed following the occurrence of
this disaster, it is still a mystery to this day.
Causes and individual
responsibilities:
Although several
engineering committees tried to interpret the engineering fact behind the
unexpected collapse of the Tay bridge, they all failed due to their delay collecting sufficient information and evidence
right after the collapse. The following
information describes the causes:
1)
The maintenance of the bridge has
been badly maintained especially for the two crossbars in the middle, which were
established in a high manner to allow ships passing under.
2)
Thomas Bouch did absolutely nothing
with regard to the topographic surveys that should be done in the bottom of the
river before the construction of the bridge
3)
Thomas relied on cast iron rather
than steel for the bridge structure so the joints holding the bridge together
were defective; in addition the span formation between piers was increased
because the bedrock lay too deep in certain sections.
Sir Thomas Bouch was held chiefly to blame for the collapse in not making adequate allowance for wind loading.
Ethical Issues involved:
From the ethical aspect if someone
gained a good reputation for his outstanding record, he should keep that
reputation viable in its position by maintaining his continuous effort. Due to
the continuous success, over confidence and the routine work procedures, the
person might do some shortcuts in accomplishing his objectives with less appreciation
with regard to the main important points. Likewise Mr. Bouch had received
advice from several engineers in relation to wind loading of the bridge that a
wind load of 10 pounds per square foot is reasonable for the bridge structure
while in reality a wind load of 20 pounds per square foot was the reasonable
allowance. Due to this error, the piers on the bridge structure became narrower
and weaker which eventually collapsed and formed detrimental effects. In
addition, an inspector in 1878 found after a long inspection that some of
the bridge joints were defective and he didn’t inform Mr. Bouch about it;
therefore he tried to fix that issue by himself. From an ethical point of view,
I could say that this inspector wanted to gain the credibility of fixing what
the famous designer Mr. Bouch designed but unfortunately he addressed the
problem incorrectly and the result was the death of 75 people a year after.
Conclusion:
To
consider the Tay bridge disaster in an ethical aspect, Mr. Bouch tried
to save time and money at the expense of safety for people and the environment. I
believe that people should think of safety issues then agree on using certain equipment
even if the equipment costs them a high amount of money. Being ethical in a
society does not necessarily mean that we are required to do whatever the
society accepts. Usually, most members in a society accept ethical standards
but the standard of behavior in a society can deviate from these ethical
standards and the entire society can become ethically corrupt.
Bibliography:
1) "Tay Bridge Disaster." Tay
Bridge Disaster. McGonagall, 2001. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcgonagall-online.org.uk%2Fgems%2Fthe.
2) "Wikia." Tay Bridge.
N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. http://ethics.wikia.com/wiki/Tay_Bridge_Disaster.
3) "Tom Martin's Tay Bridge
Disaster Web Pages." The Tay Bridge Disaster. N.p., n.d. Web. 17
Mar. 2014. http://taybridgedisaster.co.uk/.
4) The Tay Disaster. Leisure and
Culture Dundee, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leisureandculturedundee.com%2Flibrary%2Ftaybridge.
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