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Blue Plaque to John Smeaton by Tim Green from Bradford, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Historic England (HE) has introduced the ‘Life and Work of John Smeaton’, the ‘Father of Civil Engineering’ and the remarkable feats of engineering by this British civil engineer.
… Smeaton’s engineering masterpiece was an ingenious design…
Historic England writes:
John Smeaton worked during the height of Britain’s Industrial Revolution (1760 to 1840). Over his career as a consulting civil engineer, Smeaton designed more than 100 bridges, water and wind mills, canals, harbours and land drainage schemes, as well as steam-powered engines. He also produced over 200 technical reports. Smeaton had a lifelong interest in astronomy, making his own telescopes and writing scientific papers about his observations. His remarkable research on air pressure to determine lift was used by the pioneers of powered flight, Americans Wilbur and Orville Wright. He is best known for the ground-breaking design and construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of Plymouth, Devon.
Smeaton originated the term ‘civil engineering’ to differentiate it from military engineering, and to raise its then-perceived status as a craft-based occupation to a scientific profession. He defined civil engineering as works for the public good. His designs and plans were unrivalled in clarity and logic, and his revolutionary approach to engineering practice continues to shape civil engineering to this day.
Here are 5 of his greatest engineering achievements.
- Eddystone Lighthouse, Plymouth, Devon
Smeaton’s was the third lighthouse to be constructed on the treacherous Eddystone rocks, 13 nautical miles south-west of Plymouth.The first, octagonal in shape and erected between 1696 to 1699, was washed away in the Great Storm of 1703, taking with it its designer, Henry Winstanley. The second, a conical timber structure by John Rudyard, was completed in 1709 and destroyed by fire 1755. Smeaton was then commissioned to build the third. Smeaton’s engineering masterpiece was an ingenious design constructed of huge granite blocks dovetailed together, including joining the lower course into the rocks, giving it immense strength. The upward-tapering shape of the trunks of grand oak trees inspired its form. His design became the worldwide prototype for all masonry lighthouses built in the open sea.
- Aire and Calder Navigation Canal, West Yorkshire
Canals played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution, especially for the cheap and easy transportation of raw materials such as coal and wool to factories and mills across the country. This made it far quicker than using a horse and cart. The United Kingdom was the first country to develop a nationwide canal network. Its ‘golden age’ was between 1770 and 1830, with the canal network spanning over 4,000 miles. In 1754, Smeaton visited low-lying Holland and Belgium, observing their canal construction and flood defences. The knowledge accrued there stood him in good stead for his future work on the waterways of Britain. He consulted on several canal projects throughout his career, including the Forth and Clyde Canal, with its 39 locks, linking Scotland’s east and west coasts, the Rippon Canal, Birmingham, and the Aire and Calder Navigation in Leeds in 1758.
- Coldstream Bridge, River Tweed, Northumberland and Scottish Borders
The Tweed Bridge Trustees commissioned Smeaton to design this bridge. It was his first of several, exhibiting the simple, functional design that became characteristic of his later bridges. It opened to traffic in October 1766 and still stands today. 3 years earlier, Smeaton had been asked to advise on emergency bridge repairs to London Bridge. The central arch had been widened, but the accelerated volume of water undermined the foundations. Smeaton’s successful solution was to cast tonnes of rubble from the demolished medieval city gates into the river to stem the flow. Smeaton’s only project failure (which devastated him) was Hexham Bridge over the River Tyne, Northumberland, which opened in 1781. The following year, a violent storm and surging torrent caused the foundations to give way, and the bridge collapsed. ‘The news came to me like a thunderbolt’, he supposedly said.
- Wheal Busy (formerly Chacewater Mine), Cornwall
Since the medieval period, Cornwall and West Devon have been major areas in England for mining non-ferrous metals such as copper and tin. The 18th century saw Cornish-mined copper dominating the market. The Chacewater Mine, which produced vast amounts of valuable copper ore, was reputedly known then as ‘the richest square mile on earth.’ The development of new pumping engine technologies marked the century. In 1775, John Smeaton designed and built what was, at the time, the most powerful steam engine ever built to power the mine.
- Royal Harbour, Ramsgate, Kent
In 1744, official discussions took place about establishing a new harbour for large merchant ships and war ships in Sandwich, Kent. However, a violent storm in 1748 forced ships to take shelter in Ramsgate Harbour. Many vessels and lives were saved, and it was decided that Ramsgate should be the site of a new harbour instead. Work began on an east pier in 1749, but within 10 years, sand and mud started silting up the harbour. In 1773, John Smeaton was invited to advise on cleaning and deepening the harbour. He worked on many harbours during his career, including St Ives, Whitehaven, Dover, Bristol and Scarborough. His plans included the construction of a double basin that would fill at high tide and, as the tide ebbed, sluice gates would remove silt and clean out the harbour. Work was completed in 1781. He also designed a dry dock, completed in 1786, for taking in vessels for repair…
John Smeaton’s legacy
Smeaton was buried under the chancel of St Mary’s Church in Whitkirk, West Yorkshire, in the same parish where he was born. A memorial tablet representing arguably his most famous feat of engineering, the Eddystone Lighthouse, was erected. Nearby is an 1862 memorial stained glass window to Robert Stephenson, one of the greatest engineers of the 19th century, who is buried at Westminster Abbey. Portrait medallions at the top of the window depict 6 world-famous British civil engineers, John Smeaton among the likes of Thomas Telford and James Watt. Smeaton founded the Society of Civil Engineers in 1771 (renamed the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers in 1830), the forerunner to the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). His portrait bust is located at ICE’s London headquarters.
