BAZALGETTE, SIR JOSEPH WILLIAM (1819-1891)

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 561 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BAR-BEC

BAZALGETTE, SIR JOSEPH WILLIAM (1819-1891) , English engineer, was born at Enfield on the 28th of

March

1819. At the age of seventeen he was articled to an engineer, and a few years later he began to practise successfully on his own account. His name is best known for the engineering works he carried out in London, especially for the construction of the main drainage

system

SYSTEM

and the Thames embankment. In 1848 the

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

of London drainage, which had hitherto been divided among eight distinct municipal bodies, was consolidated under twelve commissioners, who were in 1849 superseded by a second commission. Under the latter Bazalgette accepted an appointment which he continued to hold under the three successive commissions which in the course of a year or two followed the second one, and when finally in 1855 these bodies were replaced by the

Metropolitan

METROPOLITAN (Lat. metropolitanus, Gr. µnrpoiroXtrns)

Board of Works, he was at once appointed its

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

engineer. His plans were ready, but the

work

WORK

was delayed by official obstruction and formality until 1858. Once begun, however, it was vigorously pushed on, and in 1865 the

system

SYSTEM

was formally opened. It consisted of 83 m. of large intercepting sewers, draining more than loo sq. m. of buildings, and calculated to deal with 420 million gallons a day. The cost was 4,600,000. Almost simultaneously Bazalgette was engaged on the plans for the Thames embankment. The section between Westminster and Vauxhall on the Surrey side was built between 186o and 1869, and the length between Westminster and Blackfriars was declared open by the prince of Wales in 187o. The Chelsea embankment followed in 1871-1874, and in 1876 Northumberland Avenue was formed. The total outlay on the

scheme

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

exceeded 2,000,000. Bazalgette was also responsible for various other engineering works in the

metropolitan

METROPOLITAN (Lat. metropolitanus, Gr. µnrpoiroXtrns)

area, designing, for example, new bridges at Putney and Battersea, and the steam ferry between north and

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

Woolwich. He also prepared plans for a

bridge

BRIDGE

over the river near the Tower and for a tunnel under it at Blackwall, but did not live to see either of these projects carried out. He died on the 15th of

March

1891 at

Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON

;

End of Article: BAZALGETTE, SIR JOSEPH WILLIAM (1819-1891)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/BAR_BEC/BAZALGETTE_SIR_JOSEPH_WILLIAM_.html">
BAZALGETTE, SIR JOSEPH WILLIAM (1819-1891)
</a>

(Previous)
BAZAINE, ACHILLE FRANCOIS (18111888)

(Next)
BAZARD, AMAND (17911832)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email