Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The High Girders: Tay Bridge Disaster, 1879
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The High Girders: Tay Bridge Disaster, 1879 (Paperback)

by John Prebble (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


9 used from £7.95
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (2nd Revised edition) 4 used & new from £12.00
Paperback (New Impression) 3 used & new from £8.51
Hardcover (Large Print) 5 used & new from £8.54

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   Bridge Design Seminar opens new browser window
www.Bentley.com/BeConnected/Bridges  -  Learn from the Experts about Bridge Information Modeling. Free Seminar! 
   Girder Bridge opens new browser window
Ask.com  -  Find the Best Results for Girder Bridge! 
   Low Bridge GPS Data opens new browser window
www.lowbridges.com  -  UK Truck / HGV Drivers Low Bridge Data for Sat-Nav 
  
 

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879 (Revealing History)

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879 (Revealing History)

by Peter R Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £11.59
The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground Was Built and How it Changed the City Forever

The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground Was Built and How it Changed the City Forever

by Christian Wolmar
4.3 out of 5 stars (14)  £5.97
The Lavender Hill Mob [DVD] [1951]

The Lavender Hill Mob [DVD] [1951]

DVD ~ Alec Guinness
4.5 out of 5 stars (8)  £4.48
Melody

Melody

~ Sharleen Spiteri
4.0 out of 5 stars (23)  £12.69
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New ed of 2 Revised ed edition (28 Jun 1979)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140045902
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140045901
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 1.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 607,086 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description

On 28 December, 1879, the 13 raised spans at the centre of the Tay Bridge, the "high girders", fell, taking with them 160 yards of the bridge, and a railway train with 75 men, women and children on board. This tragically ended the dream of Thomas Bouch, recently knighted for his work on the bridge, and to some extent the unparalleled reputation of British engineering in works of this kind. This book tells the story of the construction of the Tay Bridge from its planning, through its brief moment of triumph followed by disaster and the grim aftermath. It recreates every character and ingredient of this man-made catastrophe, and evokes the drama of the fatal night.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(21)
(20)
(20)
(17)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on Victorian engineering incompetence, 29 May 2001
By A Customer
John Prebble has written a masterpiece. First he gives the political background why the Tay Bridge was built and then he gives a indepth account of its design and construction.

What puts this book out in front is that he gives a full senario of the accident itself with not only eyewitness accounts but a real build up to as if he was there. He describes in great detail the makeup of the unfortunate train that went over the edge as well as the train crew and many of the passengers.

It doesn't end there as he keeps it up with a full account of the aftermath of the disaster and the inquiry which revealed not only design flaws, but construction flaws, lack of proper supervision in both construction, quality of materials used and rectification of remedial work.

It was a disaster that was bound to happen from the moment Thomas Bouch dreamed up his "masterpiece".

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The High Girders by John Prebble, 10 Nov 2003
This review is from: High Girders: Tay Bridge Disaster, 1879 (Hardcover)
This is a thoroughly enjoyable true life account of the Tay Bridge disaster which occured in 1879. The author gives an indepth account of the people working to build the bridge, the victims and also friends and relatives of those who died. This is a book that once started, you just cannot put down.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book of early civil engineering construction., 13 Dec 2000
By davesellars@msn.com (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
A great book of early civil engineering construction and survey methods. It includes the political background of why the bridge was built and the state of railroad services and competition at that time. The Peace Bridge in Buffalo, NY has a part that is of similar construction. As usual, John Prebble is very thorough.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 130 Years on, this story still grabs one's imagination

I read this book soon after its publication, in 1956, and was captivated from the very first paragraph, with the two railway employees on a stormy night, sharing a can of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Paul Fincham

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting account
This gives a good account of the building of the Tay Bridge, its fall and the aftermath. It's pretty compelling to read, and sheds an unfortunate light on practices of that period... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Catherine Brown

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject














i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.