The railroad from Montlucon to Eygurande, which is being constructed by
the state engineers, crosses the valley of the Tardes in the environs of
Evaux (Creuse).

At the spot selected for the establishment of the viaduct the gauge is
deep and steep. The line passes at 300 feet above the river, and the total
length of the metallic superstructure had to be 822 feet. To support this
there was built upon the right bank a pier 158 feet in height, and, upon
the left, another one of 196 feet. The superstructure had been completed,
and a portion of it had already been swung into position, when a violent,
gale occurred and blew it to the bottom of the gorge. At the time of the
accident the superstructure projected 174 feet beyond the pier on the
right bank, and had to advance but 121 feet to reach the 33 foot
scaffolding that had been established upon the other pier.

It blows often and violently in this region. For example, a gale on the
20th of February, 1879, caused great damage, and, among other things, blew
the rear cars of a hay train from the top of the Louvoux viaduct to the
Bouble.

The superstructure of the Tardes viaduct had already withstood the tempest
of the 23d and the 24th of January, 1884, and neither any alteration in
its direction nor any change in the parts that held it upon the pile could
be perceived. But on the night of January 26-27 the storm doubled in
violence, and the work was precipitated into the ravine. No one was
witness of the fall, and the noise was perceived only by the occupants of
the mill located below the viaduct.

The workmen of the enterprise, who lived about 325 feet above this mill
and about 650 feet from the south abutment, heard nothing of it, the wind