Münchenstein rail disaster
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The Münchenstein rail disaster on 14 June 1891 was historically the worst railway accident ever to affect
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. A crowded passenger train fell through a girder bridge, killing more than seventy people and injuring many others. The accident occurred on the railway line between Basel and Delémont, near the Bruckgut just below the village centre of
Münchenstein Münchenstein ( Swiss German: ''Minggestai'') is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland. Historical records Münchenstein is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Kekingen''. In 1270, it was ment ...
, as the train was traversing the bridge across the river
Birs The Birs (French: ''Birse'') is a long river in Switzerland that flows through the Jura region and ends as a tributary to the Rhine between Basel and Birsfelden. It is the most important river of the Swiss Jura. Course The Birs has its source i ...
.


Bridge

The single-track bridge had been built in 1874–75 by
Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...
(1832–1923), who went on to build the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...
in 1889. The contract was given to Eiffel & Cie by the Jurabahn (later Jura–Simplon Railway), a private railway company. Eiffel's engineering company had already acquired the necessary experience, having previously planned and built numerous railway bridges and viaducts in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
such as those at Rouzat and
Bouble The Bouble () is a long river in the Allier and Puy-de-Dôme departments in south central France. Its source is at Gouttières. It flows generally northeast. It is a left tributary of the Sioule into which it flows between Saint-Pourçain-sur ...
in the
Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...
. The bridge was composed of
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
lattice girders, with an overall length of 42 metres. It crossed the river some five metres above water level at an angle of 51°, and it was completed and put into use in 1875. There were no reasons for complaint, even after serious local floods on the river
Birs The Birs (French: ''Birse'') is a long river in Switzerland that flows through the Jura region and ends as a tributary to the Rhine between Basel and Birsfelden. It is the most important river of the Swiss Jura. Course The Birs has its source i ...
in 1881, but it was repaired and modified thereafter. One of the
abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...
s was destroyed, leaving the bridge resting on just three points rather than the intended four
pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...
s. As one corner sank under its own weight, serious cracks developed. The affected parts were replaced, and further strengthening was done in 1890 after the introduction of heavier
locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s.


The accident

On June 14, 1891 at 14:15 a train left the main Basel railway station for Delémont. Owing to the large number of passengers, two supplementary passenger carriages and an additional engine had been added to the train in the last moment. Later, in the findings of the examination report it was estimated that the number of travellers aboard was between 530 and 550. The disaster occurred as the passenger train, which had been travelling at full speed, applied its brakes as it approached and crossed the bridge, immediately before entering the Münchenstein railway station. Eyewitnesses said that the bridge appeared to break in the centre as the front wheels of the locomotive reached the further abutment. The train did not completely derail and fly off the track during the collapse. The locomotive at the front, including the two engines, the two additional passenger carriages, a postal carriage, an express carriage and two further passenger carriages, fell into the river. The first two-passenger carriages sank into the river as the following carriages pushed them forwards. A further passenger carriage hung diagonally from the abutment facing downwards towards the river. The final five passenger carriages remained upon the tracks, virtually undamaged. As the first carriages fell into the river, the air brake system pipes were severed and the brakes in the rear carriages were therefore instantly applied, keeping them standing on the tracks. Most of the passengers in the rear part of the train were uninjured. The disaster claimed the lives of 73 and seriously injured 171 people.


Inquiry

The subsequent inquiry focused on the state of the bridge, the quality of the ironwork and the design. A new institute "
Empa The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa, German acronym for ''Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt'') is an interdisciplinary Swiss research institute for applied materials sciences and tech ...
" (''Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology'') started work in 1880. In its first years of activity, "Empa" was involved in wide-ranging quality testing of building and structural materials for the ''Swiss National Exhibition'' of 1883. Intensive research work by the co-founder and first director, Prof.
Ludwig von Tetmajer Ludwig von Tetmajer (14 July 1850, Krompachy, Upper Hungary - 1 February 1905, Vienna, Austria) was a professor at the Eidgenössischen Polytechnikum, the fore-runner of modern ETH in Zurich. Tetmajer was a pioneer in the development of the resea ...
, gave rise to the first publications on the testing and standardisation of building materials and metals. Tetmajer was also commissioned to investigate the cause of the collapse of the Münchenstein railway bridge, which was responsible for what was at that time the worst railway disaster to have occurred in Europe. His investigation of the collapse revealed that
Euler's formula Euler's formula, named after Leonhard Euler, is a mathematical formula in complex analysis that establishes the fundamental relationship between the trigonometric functions and the complex exponential function. Euler's formula states that fo ...
for
buckling In structural engineering, buckling is the sudden change in shape ( deformation) of a structural component under load, such as the bowing of a column under compression or the wrinkling of a plate under shear. If a structure is subjected to a ...
, which had hitherto been used to calculate design loads in such structures, needed to be corrected for ''slender bars''.


See also

*
List of bridge failures This is a list of bridge failures. Before 1800 1800–1899 1900–1949 1950–1999 2000–present Bridge disasters in fiction *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005 novel): the fictional Brockdale Bridge, by the Death Eaters ( ...
*
Lists of rail accidents This is the list of rail accident lists. Lists By year By type * By country * By death toll * Terrorist incidents See also * Classification of railway accidents * Derailment *Rail Transport * Train wreck * Tram accident A tram accident is ...


Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munchenstein Rail Disaster Münchenstein Railway accidents and incidents in Switzerland Railway accidents in 1891 Bridge disasters in Switzerland Bridge disasters caused by engineering error 1891 disasters in Switzerland