Description

Fragment of cast iron removed in 2013 from the former Union Street rail over bridge in Dundee.

Note from the donor:

This item was removed from the former Union Street rail over bridge (Bridge 189) when it was demolished in 2013 in preparation for the Waterfront Development being constructed by Dundee City Council. The bridge carried Union Street over the East Coast North railway adjacent to the current Dundee Station. The bridge deck was a mixture of wrought and cast iron beams transverse (to the railway) with jack arches supporting the road. Following demolition most of the metal went to scrap but these small fragments were retrieved by the Network Rail Asset Protection Team out of historical interest. The Union Street bridge was built c.1875 under the same overall contract as the original Tay Rail Bridge by the North British Railway and opened up competition with the Caledonian Railway on passenger and freight services between London and Aberdeen. It is believed that the mixture of wrought and cast iron beams may have been, to some extent, surplus elements from the Tay rail bridge with the cast iron made at the same foundry at Wormit as used for the original rail bridge castings. The Union Street bridge was built at the same time as the original Tay rail bridge and was presumably designed by Thomas Bouch.