Sir Benjamin Baker
Benjamin Baker as a young engineer
Personal information
Name	Sir Benjamin Baker
Nationality	British
Birth date	March 31, 1840(1840-03-31)
Birth place	Bath
Date of death	19 May 1907 (aged 67)
Place of death	Pangbourne, Berkshire, England
Education	Apprenticed to Messrs Price and Fox at the Neath Abbey Iron Works
Work
Engineering Discipline	Civil engineer Structural engineer
Significant projects	Forth Bridge, First Aswan dam

Sir Benjamin Baker, KCB, KCMG, LLD, FRS (31 March 1840 - 19 May 1907), English engineer, was an eminent civil engineer who worked in mid to late Victorian Britain. Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Pangbourne is a large Village and Civil parish on the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire. Berkshire (ˈbɑːkʃə or /ˈbɑːkʃɪə/ say Baak-shuh/-sheer sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a Home County in the South England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A civil engineer is a person who practices Civil engineering, one of the many engineering professions Structural engineers analyze design plan and research structural components and Structural systems Their work takes account mainly of technical economic and environmental For the nearby road bridge see Forth Road Bridge. The Forth Bridge is a cantilever Railway Bridge over the Aswan (Assuan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year A civil engineer is a person who practices Civil engineering, one of the many engineering professions He helped develop the early underground railways in London with Sir John Fowler, but he is best known for his work on the Forth Bridge. Sir John Fowler 1st Baronet KCMG ( 15 July 1817 &ndash 10 November 1898) was a Railway Engineer in For the nearby road bridge see Forth Road Bridge. The Forth Bridge is a cantilever Railway Bridge over the He made many other notable contributions to civil engineering, including his work as an expert witness at the public inquiry into the Tay Rail Bridge disaster. Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built An expert witness is a Witness, who by virtue of Education, Training, Skill, or Experience, is believed to have Knowledge The Tay Bridge (sometimes unofficially the Tay Rail Bridge) is a Railway Bridge approximately two and a quarter miles (three and a half kilometres Later, he helped design and build the first Aswan dam. Aswan (Assuan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt.

Career

Cleopatras Needle from the River Thames, London

He was born near Bath in 1840, and, at the age of 16, Benjamin Baker became an apprentice at Messrs Price and Fox at the Neath Abbey Iron Works. Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year After his apprenticeship he spent two years as an assistant to Mr. W. H. Wilson. Later, he became associated with Sir John Fowler in London. Sir John Fowler 1st Baronet KCMG ( 15 July 1817 &ndash 10 November 1898) was a Railway Engineer in London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. He took part in the construction of the Metropolitan railway (London).

Forth Bridge

He designed the cylindrical vessel in which Cleopatra's Needle, now standing on the Thames Embankment, London, was brought over from Egypt to England in 1877-1878. Cleopatra's Needle ("L'aiguille de Cléopâtre" in French is the popular name for each of three Ancient Egyptian Obelisks re-erected in London The Thames Embankment is a major feat of 19th century Civil engineering in central London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Year 1877 ( MDCCCLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Bridges

He published a timely book on Long Railway Bridges in the 1870s which advocated the introduction of steel, and showed that much longer spans were possible using this material. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 The book is remarkably prescient for the way the properties of steel could be exploited in structures.

Stability of the cantilever

In 1880, he was called as an expert witness to the inquiry into the Tay Rail Bridge disaster. An expert witness is a Witness, who by virtue of Education, Training, Skill, or Experience, is believed to have Knowledge The Tay Bridge (sometimes unofficially the Tay Rail Bridge) is a Railway Bridge approximately two and a quarter miles (three and a half kilometres Although he was acting on behalf of Thomas Bouch, the builder of the first railway bridge across the Tay, he performed his role with independence and tenacity. Sir Thomas Bouch (ˈbaʊtʃ ( 25 February 1822 - 30 October 1880) was a Railway Engineer in Victorian Britain His testimony was against the theory that the bridge was simply blown over by the wind that fateful night. He made a meticulous survey of structures at or near the bridge, and concluded that wind speeds were not excessive on the night of the disaster.

He also said in his statement to the court that he had built over 12 miles of railway viaduct, referring to his design of the elevated railroad in New York in 1868, some of which still survives in Manhattan (unused). A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway or metro(politan system is an electric passenger railway Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York By this time he had already made himself an authority on bridge construction, and shortly afterwards he was engaged on the work which made his reputation with the general public: the design and erection of the Forth Bridge in collaboration with Sir John Fowler and William Arrol. For the nearby road bridge see Forth Road Bridge. The Forth Bridge is a cantilever Railway Bridge over the Sir John Fowler 1st Baronet KCMG ( 15 July 1817 &ndash 10 November 1898) was a Railway Engineer in Sir William Arrol (1839&ndash1913 was a Scottish Civil engineer, Bridge builder and Liberal Party politician It was an almost unique design as a large cantilever bridge, and was built entirely in steel, another unprecedented development in bridge engineering. A cantilever bridge is a Bridge built using Cantilevers structures that project horizontally into space supported on only one end Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 Stiffness was provided by hollow tubes which were riveted together so as to make sound joints. Baker promoted his design in numerous public lectures, and arranged demonstrations of the stability of the cantilever by using his assistants as stage props.

A street railway in New York 1876

Aswan dam

On the completion of this undertaking in 1890 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG),^[1] and in the same year the Royal Society recognized his scientific attainments by electing him one of its fellows. The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George Prince Regent (later George The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 Twelve years later at the formal opening of the Aswan Dam, for which he was consulting engineer, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). Aswan (Assuan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath) is a British Order of chivalry founded by George ^[2] He served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers between May 1895 and June 1896. Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE is an independent Professional association, based in central London, ^[3]

Baker also played a large part in the introduction of the system widely adopted in London of constructing underground railways in deep tubular tunnels built up of cast iron segments, obtained an extremely large professional practice, ranging over almost every branch of civil engineering, and was more or less directly concerned with most of the great engineering achievements of his day. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. He was also the author of many papers on engineering subjects. He died at Pangbourne, Berkshire and buried in the village of Idbury in Oxfordshire. Pangbourne is a large Village and Civil parish on the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire. Berkshire (ˈbɑːkʃə or /ˈbɑːkʃɪə/ say Baak-shuh/-sheer sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a Home County in the South Idbury is a village in Oxfordshire, England. Sir Benjamin Baker,English engineer notable for his work on the Forth bridge, Victoria Station ^[4]

In 1872 Baker wrote a series of articles titled, "The Strength of Brickwork. " In these articles Baker argued that the tensile strength of cement should not be neglected in calculating the strength of brickwork. He wrote that if the cement was neglected then several structures of his time should have collapsed.

References

Bibliography

• B. Baker, Long-span Railway Bridges, Spon (1873).
• Hammond, Rolt, The Forth Bridge and its Builders. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode (1964).
• Peter R. Lewis, Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879, Tempus (2004), ISBN 0-7524-3160-9.
• Charles McKean Battle for the North: The Tay and Forth bridges and the 19th century railway wars Granta (2006), ISBN 1-86207-852-1
• John Rapley, Thomas Bouch : the builder of the Tay Bridge, Stroud : Tempus (2006), ISBN 0-7524-3695-3
• PR Lewis, Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847, Tempus Publishing (2007) ISBN 978 0 7524 4266 2

External links

• Sir Benjamin Baker information at Structurae