An unusual feature of New Zealand railway bridge engineering as a result of a disaster in Scotland is described. Was it necessary or was it an over reaction?Work started on the original Hamilton railway bridge over the Waikato River in November 1881. By October 1882 all four cylinders had been sunk. On 15 November that year the N Z Herald reported that the Public Works Department Resident Engineer at Hamilton had for some time been of the opinion that, considering the enormous height of the iron cylinders above the water level supporting the bridge, there would not be sufficient strength to withstand the lateral pressure of a gust of wind and that the Tay bridge disaster might someday be repeated on a smaller scale in New Zealand.
展开▼
