The Royal S ociety of Edinburgh

The 250th Anniversary of the birth of Thomas Telford

The RSE: Educational Charity & Scotland’s National Academy 22-26 George Street Edinburgh EH2 2PQ e-mail: [email protected] Collected papers from a commemorative Tel. 0044 (0)131 240 5000 Minicom: (0)131 240 5009 conference held on 2 July 2007 www.royalsoced.org.uk

Cover Image: Esk or ‘Metal’ Bridge (1822-1916) on the Glasgow to Carlisle Road [10th Report of Commissioners for Repair of Roads and Bridges in Scotland. House of Commons, 25 March 1824] CONTENTS

Acknowledgements...... 2

Preface...... 4

Editorial...... 5

Programme...... 6

Speakers’ Papers...... 8

Appendix One: Biographies ...... 51

The 250th Anniversary of the birth of Thomas Telford: 2 July 2007 Conference organiser: Mr Duncan Welsh

© The Royal Society of Edinburgh: July 2007

ISBN: 978 0 902198 40 1

Requests to reproduce all or part of this document, larger print versions or more copies, should be submitted to: Stuart Brown The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George Street Edinburgh EH2 2PQ

e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0044 (0)131 240 5000 Minicom: 0044 (0)131 240 5009

www.royalsoced.org.uk

Opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily represent the views of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, nor its Fellows. 1 The Royal Society of Edinburgh wish to acknowledge the support of

2 and thank the Organising Committee:

Mr Bob Kibble Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh

Mr David Lockwood Dumfries and Galloway Council

Professor John Mavor FRSE FREng (chairman) Vice-President, The Royal Society of Edinburgh

Mr Graeme Munro Former Director and CEO, Historic Scotland

Professor Roland Paxton FRSE Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

3 Preface

Thomas Telford FRS FRSE (1757-1834)

Thomas Telford was a pioneering civil engineer, whose enormous legacy of roads, bridges, canals and harbours, has stood the test of time and is still in widespread use by the travelling public today. Born the son of a shepherd in Eskdale, Dumfriesshire, in 1757 and honoured by being buried in Westminster Abbey in 1834, he led a productive life constructing impressive structures across Britain – from the Caledonian Canal in Scotland to the Menai Suspension Bridge in Wales – to projects further afield, in Sweden, Poland, Panama, Canada and India. Telford was a key figure in the establishment of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in 1818, he became its first President in 1820.

In recognition of his prolific genius, Telford became a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) in 1803, having been nominated by three Fellows – Professors John Playfair and Dugald Stewart, and Dr. James Gregory – all associated with the Scottish Enlightenment, and the founding of the Society in 1783 for the “advancement of learning and useful knowledge”. They would have been truly impressed with his ability to turn then unimaginable feats of engineering into awe-inspiring realities, through his vision and practical skills.

The RSE decided to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of its most famous Fellows in a Conference, having broad appeal to experts and the public alike, and devoted to his achievements. This booklet contains summaries of the papers read by the speakers at this celebratory event, and is a keepsake for the delegates.

A small group, under my direction, helped to plan the Conference – within the context of UK-wide Telford celebrations, coordinated by Michael Chrimes, Head of Knowledge Transfer at the ICE – once the Meetings Committee of the RSE, chaired by Professor David Ingram, had given the go-ahead. The technical programme was under the direction of Professor Roland Paxton, FRSE, FICE, Honorary Professor at the School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, and Vice-Chairman of the ICE’s Panel for Historical Engineering Works. Others who contributed to my organising group included: Professor Quentin Leiper, then Senior Vice president of the ICE; Graeme Munro, Former Director and CEO, Historic Scotland; Alan Muirden, RCAHMS; Michael Chrimes, ICE; Nat Edwards, Education & Interpretive Services Manager, National Library of Scotland; David Lockwood, Museums Manager, Dumfries & Galloway Council; and, Lia Brennan, former Events Officer at the RSE.

Professor John Mavor FRSE FREng Vice-President, RSE (Physical & Engineering Sciences)

4 Editorial

In drawing up this conference programme, hopefully to attract the informed general public, the emphasis has been not only to promote and add to knowledge of Telford’s immense achievement from recent research, both nationally and internationally, but also to review its present-day relevance and significance, all within the incredibly tight limitations of a one-day event.

The first session is almost entirely on the theme of identifying and managing Telford’s thriving canal legacy in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Canada.

The second session commences with a overview of the work of the Royal Commission of the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland [RCAHMS], Scotland’s premier body for recording the historic built environment in Scotland. The Commission has cooperated with the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Panel for Historical Engineering Works [PHEW], on the recording of such Telford works as land reclamation, canals, roads, bridges, harbours, and water supply. This overview is complemented by presentations on Telford’s harbour work and Highland churches.

In the third session the theme is more general, commencing with an American perspective on Telford’s bridge work and its influence, and continuing with a review of his London to Holyhead Road, the equivalent of a modern motorway, which fundamentally influenced road construction for 1½ centuries. This session concludes with an overview of Telford’s ubiquitous Scottish road and bridge work, including his largest Highland bridge at Dunkeld.

The final session outlines Telford’s iron bridge mastery in extending bridge spans by means of a standard, light-weight cast iron arch, and the achievement of landmark structures at Pontcysyllte Aqueduct on the Llangollen Canal and the world’s first great suspension bridge at Menai Straits which increased bridge spans some six-fold.

Menai Bridge established the suspension bridge as the means of achieving the longest spans. This is exemplified today by the world’s longest span suspension bridge at Akashi Straits, the subject of the closing keynote lecture from Japan.

The Society is greatly indebted to the speakers, all leading authorities on their subjects, for coming, for their outstanding contributions and for providing, instead of the usual abstracts, these so much more acceptable mini-versions of their lectures. Also for making them available in time for publication at the conference.

I should also like to acknowledge the invaluable support in implementing the programme from our chairman Professor Mavor, the Society’s supporting staff, not least Duncan Welsh in preparing this publication, and our eminent chairmen from the Institution of Civil Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Professor Roland Paxton FRSE Honorary Professor, Department of Civil & Offshore Engineering, Heriot-Watt University Vice-Chairman, ICE Panel for Historical Engineering Works

5 CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

08.45 Registration and Coffee

09.05 Opening Remarks and Introduction of the President Professor John Mavor FRSE FREng, Vice-President, Royal Society of Edinburgh

09.10 RSE Welcome Sir Michael Atiyah OM FRS HonFREng HonFMedSci HonFRSE HonFFA PRSE

THEME 1: CANALS

Chairperson: Professor Quentin J Leiper President, Institution of Civil Engineers

09.20 Refurbishing Telford’s Legacy on the Caledonian and Crinan Canals George Ballinger Head of Engineering - Technical, British Waterways

09.45 Preservation of Pont Cysyllte Aqueduct - Supreme Structural Achievement of the Canal Age Mark Duquemin, Asset and Programme Manager, British Waterways, Wales and Border Counties

10.10 Von Platen and Telford’s Gotha Canal, Sweden, 175 Years On Claes-Göran Österlund Director, AB Göta Kanalbolag

10.35 Telford’s Canadian Work Alistair MacKenzie Past-President, The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

11.00 Tea and Coffee

THEME 2: GENERAL AND HARBOURS

Chairperson: Drew Hill Chairman, Institution of Civil Engineers East of Scotland Region

11.20 Recording Telford’s Work for the National Monument Record of Scotland Dr Miles Oglethorpe Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

11.45 Telford’s Harbours from Northern Scotland to St Katharine’s Dock, London Mike Chrimes Head of Knowledge Transfer, Institution of Civil Engineers

6 12.10 Telford’s Highland Churches and Manses The Very Rev Allan Maclean of Dochgarroch

12.35 Lunch

THEME 3: GENERAL AND ROADS

Chairperson: Allen Beene Representative of the President, American Society of Civil Engineers

13.40 An American Perspective on Telford Professor Henry Petroski Chairman, ASCE History and Heritage Committee, Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University

14.05 Telford’s London to Holyhead Road Richard Turner Inspector of Ancient Monuments, CADW

14.30 Dunkeld Bridge and Telford’s Highland Road-Making Christopher R Ford Retired Consulting Engineer

14.55 Tea and Coffee

THEME 4: BRIDGES

Chairperson: Alan G Simpson Chairman, Institution of Civil Engineers, Glasgow and West of Scotland Region

15.20 Telford’s Iron Bridge Mastery Professor Roland Paxton FRSE School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

15.45 The World’s Longest Span Suspension Bridge at Akashi Straits, Japan Professor Hiroshi Isohata Dept of Civil Engineering, College of Industrial Technology, Nihon University, Japan

16.20 Panel Discussion

16.45 Close

7 Refurbishing Telford’s Legacy on the Caledonian and Crinan Canals George Ballinger Head of Engineering - Technical, British Waterways

Introduction

The creation of the Caledonian Canal was the equivalent in the art world of the painting of the Mona Lisa. Twenty nine locks gracefully ascend and descend the rugged terrain through Scotland’s Great Glen – in itself a magnificent construction of Mother Nature.

Built for military purposes it was a government funded job creation project which has become an economic success story – contributing in excess of £15m/annum to the local Highland economy.

Telford’s task was to create a waterway from Fort William to Inverness using locks the scale of which would dwarf anything previously built, in an area governed by a clan system where local feuds were the order of the day and where construction skills were in short supply.

That it was built at all is nothing short of a miracle. That it has survived for nearly two hundred years is a tribute to Telford and our ancestors.

The Modern Canal

You might think the canal would have been radically altered during its life but apart from the bridges, little has changed over the years.

However, by the 1960’s the canal was slowly dying of neglect. It had never really carried the expected volume of trade and the original construction was deteriorating rapidly with collapses becoming a regular occurrence. Emergency repairs and unplanned stoppages disrupted traffic and the apparent neglect failed to enhance its reputation as a tourist attraction. No funds were available to rectify the problems and no technique had been developed to effectively and economically repair the crumbling masonry structures. Manpower was also being cut back with mechanised steel gates installed in the 1970’s chiefly as a labour saving exercise.

8 Corpach Collapse 1964

The photographs of the collapse at Corpach are the most dramatic but further collapses at Laggan and Kytra emphasised the need for either abandonment or an affordable solution.

Some monies were found in the 1980’s to undertake repairs to Kytra and Cullochy but these works were expensive and repairing the staircases at Banavie and Fort Augustus would simply be unaffordable using these techniques. The canal would also have had to be closed for several years and the loss of business would be the death knell for the whole canal corridor.

The Solution

The construction of the walls and a failure to maintain them over the years was the main reason for the deterioration in the structures. The following slide shows the effect of the washout of material in the centre of the 6 ft. thick walls. With large voids in the centre of the walls they could no longer support themselves and bulges would form as a prelude to catastrophic collapse. At the quoins the constant movement of the gates and the loss of mortar had led to stones moving and cracking in these areas. The timber cills had long since rotted making operation of the locks haphazard and time consuming. There were so many leaks that water cascaded down in to adjacent properties and down nearby roads.

9 Washout of Centre of Wall Inducing Collapse

British Waterways Scotland worked with WT Specialist Grouting and RJ McLeod (Contractor) to develop a repair technique which is illustrated in the accompanying slide. The grouting techniques required specific types of grout injected under pressure in to the centre of the wall structure. This was trialled in 1995 on a 6m wide section of wall at Fort Augustus before perfecting the technique and using the method on two chambers the following year. This work led to £20m worth of funding being secured to restore the whole canal.

Cross Section Showing Repair Technique

The cills were rebuilt in concrete and the quoins were rebuilt in stone – much of it reclaimed. The detail of the quoin was altered to include a cast iron insert to protect the stone. This was a detail used by Smeaton on the Forth & Clyde Canal and this “old technology” was adapted for this modern refurbishment.

The old gates had buoyancy tanks to help them “float” but these tanks had deteriorated over time to the point where they were actually full of water and were overloading the wall at the top. New gates were built and these were filled with polystyrene to make sure that they would retain their buoyancy.

The repair technique was so successful that it was used in the refurbishment of other structures on the canal such as Moy Bridge (an original Telford bridge) and Loy Sluices.

Loy Sluices Restored

10 The walls were all surveyed to determine the extent of replacement stonework that was required and the type and colour were closely matched to the original specification. The works were all undertaken in a planned sequence of winter closures over a ten year period and involved close liaison and communication with the hugely supportive Historic Scotland. This meant that local business still had the summertime tourist trade but also had a winter construction trade to boost the economy of the area.

Innovation, ingenuity and teamwork have been the hallmarks of this project and Thomas Telford would have had to rely on those attributes to build his original masterpiece and it is, therefore, right and fitting that those traditions have carried on into this magnificent restoration.

Banavie, View from bridge

To stand on the arched stonework of the lock floors with their moss filled joints, or look up the dewatered Neptune’s Staircase is a privilege and helps one fully appreciate not just the scale and breathtaking magnificence of these structures but the inspirational vision of Thomas Telford who not only planned such an undertaking but went on to construct it in such an artistic and graceful manner.

11 Telford’s Harbours from Northern Scotland to St Katharine’s Dock, London

Michael Chrimes Head of Knowledge Transfer, Institution of Civil Engineers

Telford is generally remembered, in terms of his engineering achievements as a builder of roads and bridges. This is understandable given the mileage of roads he surveyed, and the iconic bridges he designed. He was, however, active in all branches of the profession, not least in docks and harbours. His first position of real responsibility, as clerk of works on the Commissioner’s House at Portsmouth Dockyard, provided him with the opportunity to observe work there.

Telford’s involvement with the British Fisheries Society followed soon after, from 1790. This resulted in his surveying the coast of Scotland for suitable harbour sites, and an early opportunity to demonstrate his interest in innovative use of materials when he advised on the suitability of various cements for harbour works, specifically at Stein (Skye) reporting on the pozzolanic qualities of Parker’s cement – one of the first ‘artificial’ or ‘Roman’ cements to come on the market as a rival to natural pozzolan or trass. The Fisheries Society work led directly to Telford’s reports on the improvement of communications in the Highlands more generally as a means of economic revitalisation. He strongly advocated the development of Wick and Peterhead as well as the Caledonian Canal. Generally, however, the consequent harbour works were modest – landing piers and the like.

Fig. 1. Ardrossan Harbour Pier

Fig. 2. Banff Harbour in background and Smeaton’s Banff Bridge (1779)

Certainly Telford’s early practical experience does not stand comparison with that of his mentor William Jessop – Engineer for Dublin, Bristol and West India Docks – or his great rival John Rennie, engineer for London Docks, and the great naval dockyard improvements of the Napoleonic period. This said, Telford’s work with Jessop on the Caledonian Canal involved the design of the great sea-locks at Corpach and Clachnacarry. Work around the coast of Scotland would have provided Telford with plenty of opportunity to observe the combined forces of tide, wave and wind. By the mid-1820s when he was appointed Engineer to the St Katharine Docks, Telford’s had designed schemes for harbours including 12 Ardrossan (1805-10) [Fig. 1], Banff (1814-19) [Fig. 2], and Peterhead (1816-23) [Fig. 3], and on a larger scale at Dundee (1814-34) and Aberdeen (1801-15 & 1829-34) [Fig. 4].

Fig. 3. Peterhead Harbour – distant view from near Buchan Ness Lighthouse c.1840

Fig. 4. Aberdeen Harbour c. 1840 – North Pier in middle ground

At Aberdeen the key North Pier was extended from 1811-16 and the first South Breakwater and part of Waterloo Quay constructed, all to Telford’s design. At the North Pier he adopted inclined masonry courses using two cranes moving on rails, then state-of-the-art practice [Fig. 5]. The same technique was adopted afterwards at Peterhead. At both harbours Telford’s highly competent resident engineer was John Gibb. At Aberdeen extensive further work was carried out from 1829 costing more than £160,000, but Telford’s plans, in particular the floating harbour, were not finalised and fully implemented until after his death.

Fig. 5. Aberdeen Harbour – North Pier under construction (Telford’s Life 1838, pl. 37)

13 Dundee was an outstanding piece of work, as Robert Southey noted in 1819: “Before breakfast I went with Mr Telford to the harbour, to look at his works, which are of great magnitude and importance, a huge floating dock and the finest graving dock I ever saw.” More than £150,000 was spent in harbour improvements at Dundee, [Fig. 6] Only the pier lighthouse [Fig. 7] and part of the Ferry harbour serving as the dock for ‘Discovery’ now survive.

Fig. 6. Dundee Harbour c. 1840

Fig. 7. Dundee Harbour – pier lighthouse in 2007 [courtesy of Roland Paxton]

Telford also reported on work at Folkestone, King’s Lynn, Bude, and Glasgow, and succeeded Rennie at Fraserburgh (1808), Holyhead, Howth and Dublin (1821). Overseas he advised on facilities at Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Causeways in Bombay, and proposals for a Darien or Panama ship canal, as well as Gotha. By 1824 he was well experienced both as a manager of large projects, and with maritime works.

The labour-intensive construction of the St Katharine Docks (1826-1830) [Fig. 8] marks the end of the first great phase of dock construction in the Port of London, which had begun in February 1800 with the commencement of the excavations for West India Docks, and by 1833 had resulted in the provision of 250 acres of enclosed water in the Port of London. In terms of water acreage the, St Katharine Docks were a relatively modest scheme, but in terms of engineering challenges construction is of considerable interest. It was also the largest dock scheme designed by Thomas Telford.

14 Fig. 8. St. Katharine’s Docks under construction.

15 Preservation of Pont Cysyllte Aqueduct - Supreme Structural Achievement of the Canal Age

Mark Duquemin Asset and Programme Manager, British Waterways , Wales and Border Counties

Designed by Thomas Telford, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct gets its name from the road bridge over the River Dee upstream of the aqueduct; translated it means the bridge that connects the river. The first stone was laid on 25 July 1795 and it was opened 26th November 1805 at a cost of circa £45,000 and the loss of one life.

Fig. 1. Portrait of Thomas Telford with Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in the background

The aqueduct is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade 1 Listed structure and is also considered to be a worthy contender for a prospective World Heritage Site.

The aqueduct spans 307m (126ft) on 18 tapered masonry piers and stands at 38.5m (126ft) above the surface of the River Dee below. The canal is channelled through a cast iron trough supported by 19 arches of 15.8m (43ft) span which spring from masonry corbels on the piers. Each trough span consists of 11 segmental pieces bolted together with wrought iron bolts. The trough is 3.6m (11ft 10”) wide by 1.6m (5ft 3”) deep; the towpath structure extends 1.2m (4ft) over the water surface, reducing the navigable width of the trough. The 18 ashlar sandstone piers taper as they rise, measuring 4m x 2.3m (13ft x 7ft 6”) at the top and 6.1m x 3.7m (20ft x 12ft) at the base.

Fig. 2. Plan and West Elevation of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct 16 Fig. 3. Span 11, West Elevation (Typical Section)

The only major repairs to the aqueduct in its 202 year history are due to settlement and water loss in both of the abutments. Settlement was a continuing problem in the early years after the construction completion, which led to significant damage to the southern abutment and most southerly pier, 19, and fractures in the cast iron ribs of the arch, bay No 18. Remedial works were undertaken in 1866 that involved extending bay No 18 trough into the embankment, the exact same works were under- taken in 1868 to the north abutment; bay No 1.

In 1975 it was discovered that bay No 18 arch ribs were sheared in 2 places, following a detailed inspection it was found that the trough was spanning from the south abutment to pier 19 unsupported by the arch ribs. Repairs quickly followed which entailed the replacement of the original arch with a steel replica and the installation of tie bars to stop any potential buckling.

The masonry piers have required very little maintenance and repair, which is clear evidence to show the quality of the stone used and craftsmanship. Pier 18 is the only pier to have suffered from settle- ment in the past.

Major repairs to the towpath structure have taken place over the aqueduct’s history. The original timber structure was replaced using wrought iron buckle plates which were subsequently replaced with trench sheets laid horizontally and at the same time new cast iron standards were fitted.

Fig. 4. Use in 2004, note steel replacement towpath plates (courtesy of Roland Paxton) 17 Restoration Works 2003/2004.

A trial refurbishment was carried out on bay 10 of the aqueduct over the winter of 1999/2000 to identify appropriate refurbishment techniques and materials.

During the trial bolts were removed from the whole structure systematically and replaced with temporary mild steel bolts, samples of jointing materials were also taken from the base and side walls of the trough. These materials were analysed to reveal their makeup. The samples revealed that hemp and tar was used to seal the external trough walls, whilst lead wool and tar was used to seal the internal trough walls. Replica bolts were made to match the existing following chemical analysis.

During the trial refurbishment the cast iron trough surface was both grit blasted and mechanically wire brushed to prepare the surface for painting. In consultation with CADW it was discovered that the areas of iron that had been grit blasted had developed pin holes, whilst areas that had been prepared by mechanically wire brushing (therefore less destructive) appeared to be in excellent condition.

Mechanical wire brushing and a bitumastic paint system similar to that applied in 1965, which had provided excellent protection, were approved by CADW.

The towpath is the only significant part of the structure that hasn’t survived from the original structure. It was eventually agreed with CADW that mild steel buckle plates would be used for the replacement adding to the historical authenticity of the structure.

The parapet was in excellent condition, with only 4 lengths of 2.4m handrail sections replaced. This was due to fracture damage as a result of the original expansion joints being removed and welded up over the history of the aqueduct.

The corbels were generally in good condition, however a small number had been damaged due largely to freeze thaw action.

Damaged corbels were replaced with matching masonry sourced locally from the original quarry. The main masonry blocks forming the piers were in excellent condition only requiring very minimal repairs.

The internal trough bolts had suffered extensive corrosion with 12% (508 from 4180) complete assemblies and a further 750 nuts and washers being replaced. A minimal number of external bolts were replaced as they were generally in excellent condition.

The joint integrity was extremely good, with slight leakage evident at the north and south abutments. The joints were reinforced with additional material, and where necessary, joints were raked out and completely replaced. Materials used in the original construction were used to preserve the historical authenticity of the structure.

Conclusions.

· Not all maintenance work will have been recorded over the years but it appears that very little maintenance has been undertaken during the aqueduct’s history. · The main problem of water ingress into both abutments occurs due to the interface of the trough and abutment, which has caused continual settlement of the abutments. · The majority of maintenance undertaken has been due to this settlement. · The 2003/2004 restoration revealed that the aqueduct is generally in a good condition.

References.

International Significance of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct: Published by Wrexham County Borough Council and British Waterways; November 2005.

18 Pontcysyllte Aqueduct Conservation Management Plan: Prepared by David Viner, National Service Unit (British Waterways); October 2004.

Fig. 5. Wax impression from Telford’s seal on letter of 1817 (courtesy of Roland Paxton)

19 Dunkeld Bridge and Telford’s Highland Road-Making

Christopher R Ford Retired Consulting Engineer

Although by 1750 communications in the Lowlands of Scotland were fairly well established, matters were very different in the Highlands where there were effectively no roads north of the Great Glen. Military roads had been built by General Wade and his successors earlier in the century but they were for the movement of troops and did not serve the needs of civil commerce. They only linked the various forts and relied on ferries to cross rivers. By the late 18th century the Government was concerned about the state of the economy in the Highlands and the rate of emigration. They concluded that there was a need to improve the road system and develop the harbours for the fishing industry. Therefore in 1801 they commissioned Telford to report on the means of improving the infrastructure of the country by building roads and bridges and promoting the fisheries of the East and West Coasts. Telford responded to this with his usual vigour and energy and as a result built some 1200 miles (1900 km) of roads and 1,076 bridges between 1801-23. While doing this work he built numerous harbours and the Caledonian Canal.

The roads were to be funded partly by a government grant and partly by the local landowners. The procedure was for the local proprietors to make an application for a road through their area and agree to pay half the cost. Telford would then arrange to have the line surveyed and an estimate prepared from which the proprietors would deposit their share before the tenders were invited. In this way the Government assured that the roads were justified and the private finance secured.

All the roads and masonry bridges would be built to a standard specification. Based on this contracts were let after competitive tendering by approved contractors. In this Telford laid the foundations of modern procurement methods. During construction Telford relied on close supervision by inspectors that he had selected and trained himself.

The roads were largely constructed in mountainous countryside where there was frequent stormy weather. Telford paid great attention to the drainage of the roads to prevent them being washed out by floods. They were however constructed primarily for the movement of horses and cattle and not for wheeled vehicles. Therefore, they had only a gravel surface and not one metalled with compacted stones. Telford considered it did not justify the additional capital cost until wheeled vehicles came into use. It did however mean that substantial maintenance costs was incurred. The final cost was some £400 per mile but maintance was £4.5 per mile per year.

20 Section of the Rhiebuie Road in Glen Shiel Shiel Bridge 19.8m (65ft). Built 1817 as it exists today showing what it might have looked like in 1820

As well the many smaller masonry bridges the road network involved four crossings of principal rivers, over the Tay at Dunkeld, over the Spey at Craigallechie, over the Beauly and over the Conon near Dingwall of which he considered the Dunkeld Bridge to be of the first importance for the central Highlands.

The Tay at Dunkeld is approximately 450ft (137m) wide and was served by two ferries, owned by the Duke of Atholl, which were inconvenient and dangerous. Telford identified a site for the bridge just downstream of the town and estimated the cost as £15,000. He also advised that the Duke of Atholl would be prepared to meet half the cost of the bridge if he could recover this cost by charging tolls. This was agreed and after the necessary Acts were passed, work started in early 1805. However the site appears to have been moved to line up with the main street of Dunkeld and the size increased by increasing the spans by ten feet.

Telford set out the objects of a bridge were:- The passage for water under the bridge The making of a perfect road over it The decorations.

Dunkeld Bridge met these criteria.

The bridge has seven spans, one of 90ft, two of 84ft, two of 74 ft and two land spans of 20ft. Telford considered that, to allow for the obstruction of the piers in the river the length between abutments should be greater than the natural breadth of the river channel by twice the width of the piers. Applying this formula to the river width of 450ft the length should be 570ft (173.6m). It is in fact just short of that at 546ft (166.4m).

Detail of Dunkeld Bridge from the Telford Atlas 21 Although the riverbed is not rock, the piers are not piled but founded on a raft of larch timber cut from the local woods. The arches are segmental rings with 120-degree arc giving a span to rise ratio of approximately a third, which appears to have been Telford’s preferred proportion. The span of the arches provides a road profile of 1:24, which is an easy gradient for horse drawn traffic. The voussoirs are the comparatively small stones preferred by Telford, which he had found caused little settlement when the falsework was struck. The settlement at Dunkeld was apparently only 3ins (75mm). In considering the theoretical analysis of arches of the time the sprandels should be backfilled with a material of varying density increasing substantially towards the springing. At Dunkeld the lower part is backfilled with rubble masonry and above that are two internal spandrel walls transferring the thrust from arch to arch. Telford had been aware of the advantage of such internal walls since they did not apply a horizontal pressure to the outerwalls.

Water Colour painting showing the construction of the bridge

The bridge has more decoration than many of the Highland bridges and the style with half towers, mock castellations cruciform slits and protruding voussoirs exemplifies Telford’s fondness for Gothic arcitechture and may have been influenced by the Duke.

Dunkeld Bridge

The bridge was opened to the public in October 1808 at a cost of £34,000 of which the government contributed £7,000 leaving the Dukes of Atholl to collect £27,000 from tolls

22 The World’s Longest Span Suspension Bridge at Akashi Straits, Japan

Professor Hiroshi Isohata Department of Civil Engineering, College of Industrial Technology, Nihon University, Japan

Akashi Bridge is the world’s longest suspension bridge with clear span of 1991m, and total length of 3,911m. This bridge was open in April 1998 at Akashi Straits near Kobe as one of the bridges composing the route connecting between Honshu and Shikoku in western Japan.

The completion of this suspension bridge at the end of the 20th century is an achievement of the world modern suspension bridge development which started two centuries ago in North America and European countries including the UK where Menai Bridge had exercised significant influence.

Fig.1. General View of Akashi Fig.2. Akashi Bridge, August 2006 Bridge

Prelude

Akashi Straits, 4km wide at the narrowest is located at the east of the Inland Sea of Japan. Bridging over Akashi Straits was just a dream for long time because of severe local conditions such as high tidal velocity up to 4.5m/sec. and deep sea water from 50m to 110m.

Fundamental surveys had been started in the 1950s, followed by substantial surveys towards the construction in 1970 when the Bridge Authority was established. It was December 1985 that Government had formally decided to commence the bridge project.

The location of the bridge was selected at the narrowest in the Straits and the type of the structure was a 3 span suspension bridge of truss girder with 1990m centre span and 3910m bridge length. This project was most challenging and ambitious because of the clear centre span of 1990m which was 550m longer than that of Humber Bridge with 1440m centre span as the longest suspension bridge in the world at that time. The commencement ceremony was carried out in April, 1986

Construction Foundations.

The towers stand on the foundations based on a 60m deep sandstone sea bed in the straits. The foundations are cylindrical steel armored concrete islands with a diameter of 80m.

23 Fig. 3. Steel Caisson in floating (Source; JBEC) Fig. 4. Construction of Tower (Source; JBEC) Towing 80m diameter “tub” Steel blocks were “piling up”

Steel caissons were fabricated in ship yards as a whole and towed floating by tug boats to the locations. They were sunk down on the sea bed excavated in advance, into which mass concrete was poured. Marine construction works were challenging under the conditions of deep sea water, strong tidal flows and busy sea traffic.

Tower

Cables of suspension bridges hang down with parabolic shape from towers to centre. The “Sag Ratio”, sag to span is usually between 1/8.5 to 1/11 and is 1/10 in case of Akashi Bridge. According to 1990m span and 100m road elevation from the sea level, almost 300m tower height is required. The towers must be erected vertically with accuracy of 1/10,000 to guarantee the safety and durability against 80m/s typhoon wind and 120,000 t cable load.

Cables

Cables are anchored at both sides and supported by towers at the top to transmit the whole bridge loads to the ground. One strand is composed of 127 of wires with a diameter of 5.23mm and 290 strands make a cable with a diameter of 112cm. The world record breaking diameter cable produced a lot of challenging technologies in its erection.

Since cables are the most important part of a suspension bridge, preventing cables from corrosion is a hot issue in maintenance. Conventionally the cables of suspension bridges are pasted for first layer and banded by wrapping wires and finally painted against water or moisture. It is known through actual examples that the conventional system is not effective for a long time period. In the case of Akashi Bridge, pressured dried air is injected to keep the inside relative humidity below 60%. This is based on many experiments which show galvanized steel wire corrodes very little in the

Fig. 5. Cable Erection (Source; JBEC) Fig. 6. Girder Erection (Source; JBEC) Spinning wires/strands Truss girders were jetting out 24 atmosphere of 60% relative humidity. This dehumidification system was developed and installed in Akashi Bridge 5 years after completion.

Girders

Stiffening girders suspended by cables carry the carriageway and also, importantly, provide stability against wind. There are two types of stiffening girders. Truss girders with high rigidity and enough openings against horizontal wind flows as widely practiced in the USA after the Tacoma Narrows Bridge disaster in 1940. The other, a box girder of streamlined cross-section was developed in the UK for Severn Bridge (1966) and followed others including Humber Bridge (1983). In the case of Akashi Bridge, a truss girder was adopted as results of numerous studies.

Great earthquake

It should be specially mentioned that a great earthquake struck Akashi Bridge under construction. When cable erection was progressing in the final stage, after foundations and tower erection, Akashi Bridge was struck by an earthquake with magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter Scale in the morning of 17 January, 1995. The epicenter was in the straits. Damage due to the earthquake in Kobe City was serious. The fatalities were 6,434, wounded 43,792, about 250,000 houses were damaged and the total cost of the damages was ten trillion yen.

The earthquake forced the south side tower foundation and anchorage to move 1m respectively southwards, which required the clear span to be increased from the 1990m of the original design to 1991m. Fortunately there were no structural failures and this occurred because the top of the both towers were supported by the cables (Fig.8). If cable erection had not been finished and the towers had stood independently, the bottom part of the towers would have been damaged. Members of the truss girders under fabrication were quickly changed to conform to “design change order” by nature!

Fig. 7. Earthquake disaster in Kobe Fig. 8. Akashi Bridge after cable erection (source; JSCE) (Source; JBEC) Tower tops were supported by cables when the earthquake struck

Fig. 9. Deformations due to earthquake (Source; JBEC) Centre span expanded one meter

25 Progressive development

The first half of the 200 year history of the modern suspension bridge started in North America, Britain and France. Development of the iron industry in these countries supplied malleable iron chain and wrought iron wire and enabled the suspension bridge to fulfill its potential as the best solution for the longest spans.

The second half of the history was crowned by Brooklyn Bridge (1883) using steel wire, followed by major development in the USA in the 20th century. Akashi Bridge was completed as an achievement based on the accumulated skills of two centuries stemming from Menai Bridge by Thomas Telford.

Year Span(m) Name 1826 176 Menai 1855 244 Niagara 1883 486 Brooklyn 1926 526 Ambasador 1931 1067 George Washington 1937 1280 Golden Gate 1964 1298 Verrazano Narrows 1981 1410 Humber 1998 1991 Akashi

Fig.10 Development of major suspension bridges from Menai to Akashi

Acknowledgements

This paper is written on behalf of all people who had been involved in Akashi Bridge Project. The author wish to acknowledge the help received from Mr.Takasi Yamanaka, director of Akashi Bridge Museum, JBEC who supplied useful information to develop this paper. Finally I express sincere thanks to Professor Roland Paxton who recommended the author to write this paper for this important conference on the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Thomas Telford.

References

1) Honshu-Shikoku Bridges –Steps to the 21stt Century-, Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority, 2001. 2) Kakyo Kumikyoku, Akashi Kaikyo Ohashi, JBEC, 2000. 3) Roland Paxton, Menai Bridge 1818-26, Evolution of design, pp.84-116, “Thomas Telford, Engineer”, 1980. 4) Thomas Telford, Menai Bridge, “Life of Thomas Telford”, pp. 217-229, 566-584, 1838. 5) Henry Petroski, Engineers of Dreams, Great bridge builders and the spanning of America, 1996.

26 Telford’s Canadian Work

Alistair MacKenzie Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science, Ryerson University, Toronto

By the 1820’s Thomas Telford’s reputation was such that his opinions on Civil Engineering Projects were sought after internationally. Canada was no exception to this need for knowledge and although Telford never set foot in Canada his influence on early Canadian Civil Engineering Works was very significant.

Telford’s influence was felt in three ways. The first was in Projects where he had been directly involved in providing reports or other advice, especially on proposed canal works. The second was in the application of Telford’s methodologies to particular problems. Much of this information was becoming widely known through publications such as Telford’s “Atlas”. It is, however, in the third way that Telford’s influence was most enduring. This was through the continuing work of a number of engineers who had either been “apprenticed” to Telford or who had worked extensively with him and learned the great man’s skills and methods. The two most influential of these were Francis Hall and Nicol Hugh Baird. Some of the work in which Telford was directly involved originated through requests from these engineers.

Projects in which Telford was directly involved a) Baie Verte Canal, New Brunswick – This project appears to be the first Telford link with Canada. On March, 24, 1824, the Lt. Governor of New Brunswick, wrote to Telford requesting advice on a proposed Canal between Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy. Telford recommended Francis Hall as engineer and subsequently analyzed Halls proposals in a report to the Government of Nova Scotia in 1826. The canal was never built. b) Shubenacadie Canal, Nova Scotia: In 1825, Francis Hall produced plans for the proposed canal. Telford reviewed and approved them and appears to have been so impressed with the project that he became a shareholder, investing £450 in 20 shares.

Photo: CSCE Archives Shubenacadie Canal – restored Lock 3 at Port Wallace c) Welland Canal – in 1828, when William Hamilton Merritt was in London trying to raise money for the Welland Canal, he submitted plans to Telford for his opinion. He received a reply in which Telford and Alexander Nimmo expressed their approval. Telford is recorded as subscribing 20 shares for £225 and Nimmo 10 shares for £112.10.0

27 Photo: A.D. MacKenzie All that remains of the First Welland Canal – Lock 24 (Excavated in 1987, then backfilled to preserve the timber walls) d) Sydney Harbour, Nova Scotia: In 1833, the General Mining Association was constructing a new coal-loading wharf in North Sydney. Apparently at the request of John Buddle, who was carrying out this work for the GMA, Telford was consulted regarding a breakwater to protect this wharf. Telford’s diary records that he spent 7 full days in 1833 on this work.

Application of Telford’s methodology

References can be found in several Government documents that attest to Telford influence on the engineering of Canadian Road Works. For example, an extract from the Journals of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada in 1837 reads, in part, “it was proposed to do the work upon the plan of Mr. Telford, a celebrated Civil Engineer, in London, by whom it is recommended as greatly preferable to the plan of Mr. Macadam.”

Work of Telford’s “apprentices”

As noted earlier, two of Telford’s “apprentices” were to make a significant impact on early Canadian Civil Engineering. a) Hall arrived in Canada in 1823. Telford apparently thought highly of him and in referring to Hall’s involvement in the Shubenacadie Canal, wrote “having for several years, previous to his leaving Britain, employed Mr. Hall, very extensively, I have a perfect confidence …..” Hall continued his association with Telford and frequently sought his advice on several projects such as the Welland, Shubenacadie, Baie Verte, Burlington Bay, Desjardins, and St.Peter’s Canals. b) Baird came to Canada in 1828, with a letter of recommendation from Telford and was quickly appointed Clerk of Works on the Rideau Canal. In appointing Baird, Lt. Col. John By noted “from the handsome manner that Mr. Telford speaks of this Gentleman’s abilities, I have no doubt that he will answer my purpose”. Baird had an extensive career in Canada and was to be involved in many significant works, notably, the Chambly and Beauharnois Canals, the Trent-Severn Waterway, harbours at Cobourg and Whitby, and the Presq’ile and Gull Island Lighthouses.

Thus even in the colonies of North America, the influence of the master was clearly felt and Telford methodologies provided a firm foundation for subsequent Civil Engineering works as the new country of Canada developed.

28 Telford’s Highland Churches and Manses

The Very Rev Allan Maclean of Dochgarroch

An Act was passed in 1823, amended in 1824, to build churches and manses in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, in places, with a sufficiently large population, remote from their parish churches. The Commissioners for building Highland Roads and Bridges were given the added task of undertaking this work. They were required to make the arrangements for choosing sites, and to design and erect buildings, within the agreed budget of £1500 per site.

Fig. 1. Church and Manse, Steinscholl, Skye

Thomas Telford, whose major work in the Highlands and Islands was by this date virtually over, was their Chief Surveyor, or Consulting Engineer, and he supervised their work through a network of trusted surveyors, in particular John Mitchell in Inverness. However, Mitchell died in September 1824 and Telford replaced him with three separate surveyors, each of whom he knew well; Joseph Mitchell [John’s son], William Thomson and James Smith. He asked each to produce plans for a church and a manse, capable of being built within the restraints of the very tight budget. He then chose the most suitable and revised the plans and specifications ‘with much care’, so as to produce designs that were both economical and suitable for the climate, but also ‘superior’ to the usual building work in the area, so as to avoid ‘future dilapidation’. As is shown elsewhere in his work, Telford proved that a good and economic constructional design can bring its own elegance, but the churches and manses have been criticized for their extreme austerity and their lack of good design and proportion, despite the church’s slight Gothic flourish (see Fig.2, overleaf).

Telford chose the church design of William Thomson of the Crinan Canal. The plan, without doubt drawn up according to Telford’s brief, was such that it could easily be adapted, by raising the walls so that galleries could be included, or by dispensing with the aisle, where the population was smaller. His revisions included incorporating all the stairs to the galleries within the structure, so that the building work was complete, whether or not the galleries were by then actually fitted. Fewer door openings would also eliminate some draughts, and lower the cost. The design of the six windows was altered, and the size was standardized, so that they could be made in a large number off site, but no provision was made for ventilation. The belfry was also improved.

The result was a variable plan, that was within the Scottish Presbyterian tradition, centred on the pulpit, and with a long communion table on the main axis of the building. It could incorporate from 250 to 312 people on the ground floor, and 492 if all three galleries were built. The intention was that there should be no local deviations from the specifications or the ‘standard design’, but in practice, not least because some churches were started before the design was finalized, there is a considerable variety.

29 Fig. 2. Plans and Elevations of Church and Manses [6th Report, Highland Churches, House of Commons, 1831]

30 Fig. 3. Pulpit, Stoer Church, Assynt, Highland, 1971. [demolished] © Allan Maclean

For the Manses, it was recommended that there should be a choice from two designs, depending on the site, with an alternative internal arrangement in the two storey house. The single storey house was ‘usually deemed more suitable to the situation and climate’, but both were considered ‘convenient and perfectly suitable for the residence of a Minister’.

Single storey Manse, Plockton, Highland.

Initially, Telford’s brief to the surveyors was to design a three/four bedroom house, with parlour and kitchen. Smith designed a single storey house with a hip-roof on an H plan, but Mitchell designed a very meagre two storey building. Apart from enlarging the byre, Telford did not adapt Smith’s design, which he left as the choice for an exposed or unprotected site. However, he virtually redesigned Mitchell’s plan, incorporating some of Smith’s ideas, including a long corridor at the back, and thus unusually, but sensibly, placing the entrance at one side, matched by a false door on the other side. This allowed an extra room in place of the traditional main door in the middle front. He also showed that the plan could be adapted, depending on whether a smaller kitchen with a pantry was preferable to a smaller parlour and study. There is a slight flourish in the pediment to the front door.

When the Commissioners task was completed in 1835, there were 32 churches built and 41 manses, 23 single storey and 18 two storey, ranging from Shetland to Islay. The total cost was £54,422, with a further £12,384 for the Commissioner’s and surveyor’s costs, which included Telford’s own charges of £400.

31 Recording Telford’s Work for the National Monument Record of Scotland

Miles Oglethorpe Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh

As the celebrations relating to the 250th anniversary of Thomas Telford’s birth gather momentum in 2007, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) is preparing celebrations of its own. In 2008, RCAHMS and its sister body in Wales (RCAHMW) will be 100 years old, the English Royal Commision have merged with English Heritage in 1999. The Commissions’ primary purpose was the recording of historic buildings and monuments, and they set about achieving this aim on a topographic basis, publishing summaries of their survey work in a sequence of county inventories. Unfortunately, the RCAHMS initial remit explicitly excluded the recording of sites dating from after 1707, thereby systematically ignoring hugely important industrial and engineering sites from its survey programmes.

This restriction was relaxed gradually in subsequent decades, but the recording of industrial and engineering sites did not become a formally recognised component of survey activity until the 1960s when major industrial structures, such as Carron Ironworks, were included in the Stirlingshire Inventory. From this time on, some of Scotland’s most important industrial monuments were included with increasing frequency within survey programmes, sometimes because they were threatened with imminent destruction as de-industrialisation accelerated throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Fig. 1: Longitudinal section, axonometric cut-away view and ground floor plan of Carron Ironworks by Geoffrey Hay, 1960, SC357953, © Crown Copyright: RCAHMS

At this time, survey activities benefited hugely from the work of the late Geoffrey Hay, who pioneered very detailed measured survey techniques which, with the collaboration of staff in the RCAHMS drawing office, resulted in the production of informative and beautiful drawings of often complex and large structures. This was typified by work on a number of historic engineering works, including the erecting shop at Fairfield Shipyard (which still survives as part of BAe Govan), and the Randolph & Elder marine engine works in Tradeston, Glasgow, which was subsequently demolished.

32 Fig. 2: Drawing completed in 1973 showing the west and south elevations of the Randolph & Elder Engineering Works, Glasgow, with axonometric view and plan by Alan Leith, SC357928, © Crown Copyright: RCAHMS

In the early 1980s, attention turned to recording Telford’s Craigellachie Bridge in Speyside. It was built in 1812-15 and is one of the finest cast-iron bridges in Britain. It comprises a single 45.7m arched span, with 4 ribs (4.6m apart) supported by rustic ashlar abutments, with a pair of castellated rustic ashlar towers at each end, each 15.2 metres high. The ironwork originated from Plas Kynaston in Denbeighshire, Telfords favoured iron founder, and the total cost of construction was £8,200. It was restored in 1964 by Banff, Moray and Nairn County Councils, and subsequently bypassed when the A941 road was diverted onto a new adjacent bridge in 1972.

Fig. 3: Photograph of Telford’s Craigellachie Bridge in 1980, SC944773, © Crown Copyright: RCAHMS

The results of the survey included a sequence of drawings that portrayed elements of the bridge’s structure in intricate detail. A selection of the images was included in the book, Monuments of Industry, co-authored by Geoffrey Hay and his colleague, Geoffrey Stell, which was published by RCAHMS in 1986.

Fig. 4: Drawing of Craigellachie Bridge, published in 1838 in the Atlas to the Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer, SC367749, © Crown Copyright: RCAHMS

33 Fig. 5: Details of half elevation, principal structural features, sections and plans of Craigellachie Bridge, drawn by Geoffrey Hay in 1982, SC367467, © Crown Copyright: RCAHMS

Other Telford structures in Scotland were included in RCAHMS’s survey programmes, but not on a systematic basis, and not usually in great detail. For example, photographic surveys were generated for the Dean Bridge in Edinburgh, Lothian Bridge at Pathead in Midlothian, Dunkeld Bridge in Perthshire, a number of harbours, and the Caledonian Canal. However, perhaps the best overall coverage of Telford’s work was provided by Professor John R Hume who donated the photographs from his extensive surveys of Scotland’s industrial heritage (completed from the 1960s to the 1980s) to RCAHMS. Most of these images can be now be accessed online via Canmore at rcahms.gov.uk.

Fig. 6: Telford’s Dunkeld Bridge in Perthshire, photographed by RCAHMS in 2003, SC 1035763, © Crown Copyright: RCAHMS

In the meantime, the extent to which civil engineering structures in general have been comparatively overlooked in past RCAHMS survey programmes was recently revealed by collaborative work with the Institution of Civil Engineers on the forthcoming Scottish civil engineering Heritage volume, the last in a series of books produced by the Panel of Historic Engineering Works covering Britain and Ireland. The collaboration revealed the extent to which some very important engineering structures in Scotland are poorly represented in the RCAHMS collections.

34 The opportunity has therefore been taken to embark upon a long-term recording programme of Scotland’s civil engineering heritage. This will include all the major Telford structures that currently are under-represented in the archive. Survey will include ground and aerial photography, and in selected cases, measured survey. In the case of photography, even where fine historical images exist, there is often a need for up-to-date imagery, particularly now that digital colour photography has replaced black and white film as the principal recording medium.

As part of the programme, work is already under way on Telford’s ‘Fleet Mound’ in Sutherland. This structure was built in 1814-16 and comprises an embankment with a bridge at the northern end, spanning the mouth of Loch Fleet. The bridge was originally of four-arch form, but had two further arches added in 1837. The six arches are fitted with non-return wooden flap valves to prevent seawater from penetrating into Loch Fleet. There are small stone buildings on each side which house winding- gear to raise the flaps thereby permitting fish to pass to and from the loch. The new recording work will include measured survey, as well as ground and aerial photography.

Fig. 7: ‘The Mound’, Telford’s project at the mouth of Loch Fleet in Sutherland, DP013857 2006, © Crown Copyright: RCAHMS

In the long-term, therefore, the aim is to ensure that the works of Thomas Telford are covered appropriately, and that with the assistance of new technology, images and information from our collections can be made available to a wider audience, particularly through the RCAHMS Canmore web service.

35 Thomas Telford and the Göta Canal, Sweden, 175 Years On

Claes-Göran Österlund Canal Director, AB Göta Kanalbolag

There had been thoughts of building a canal across Sweden ever since the sixteenth century but different things always seemed to come in the way of realizing those plans. In the early days the technique was inadequate and the many wars which Sweden was involved in took all the finances and manpower. There was simply nothing left for canal projects. The first Swedish engineer, Christoffer Polhem, made an attempt to bypass the great falls at Trollhättan in the early eighteenth century, but it was aborted and Lake Vänern did not acquire a navigable outlet to the Baltic Sea until the year 1800.

The construction of Göta Canal became a reality when Baltzar von Platen got hold of the proposed and surveyed line done by Daniel af Thunberg and Elias Schveder in the 1780s. He was the right man to get the job done, not was he only an admiral but also a great inspirer and with his connections in the noble society he had the means to convince the right people that this was a project which was doable. He got the approval of the Swedish King Gustav IV Adolf who then asked for at more detailed survey of the line and the costs and timetable of the project. On the behalf of the king, Baltzar von Platen wrote to Thomas Telford and invited him to Sweden.

th Thomas Telford arrived in Sweden on the 8 of August 1808. He met von Platen at Sätra bruk and they almost immediately started the survey. It took Telford and Platen a remarkably short time, only twenty days, to mark out the Göta Canal which stretches 190 kilometres between Lake Vänern and the Baltic Sea. Telford stayed at Frugården, Platen’s manor to write his report. During that time Telford made friends for life with the Count and his wife Hedvig.

Baltzar von Platen had no trouble finding unqualified labour within the country but he needed to recruit technically qualified personnel from other parts of the world. Since Great Britain had taken a tremendous industrial stride during the end of the eighteenth century it was natural that he turned his attention there. In order to transfer technology from Britain to Sweden the Göta Canal Company had to solve a series of problems. Today it’s difficult to imagine the reality that von Platen and his associates had to master in order to find the right producers for the right products in Britain. Their knowledge of the British state of affairs was fragmented and often out of date even if their interest in Britain was genuine. Thomas Telford had a built up a network of contacts and he generously supplied the Göta Canal Company with all the new technology they needed to buy. The Göta Canal Company bought for instance two pairs of lock gates made of cast iron and shovels, picks and wheelbarrows were imported as models so that these could be mass produced within the country. The legal issues were most certainly influenced by the political aspects during this period. Sweden was formally in war with Britain, but this did not seem to affect the negotiations between the two countries.

Thomas Telford came back to Sweden in 1813 to inspect how the building of Göta Canal progressed. He recommended that they from this point should concentrate the work on certain points so that some lengths of the canal could be opened to navigation as soon as possible. This same year James Simpson and John Wilson were sent, as the two first British workmen, to Sweden. British masons and craftsmen were being employed in Sweden during the years to follow; in 1817, for example, 13 were employed. Their wages varied from £70 a year to more than £200, plus travelling and living expenses. That was really good pay in these days.

Gustaf Adolf Lagerheim and Johan Edström were two young and intelligent men whom Baltzar von Platen had taken personal interest in and they were chosen to visit Britain to learn from the great engineer Thomas Telford himself during a nine month long stay. Thomas Telford inspected all the different building locations which he was in charge of and the two Swedes learned a great deal during this time.

36 In March 1822 Baltzar von Platen visits Thomas Telford in Britain and together they make a tour. Platen stays for five weeks and in a letter he writes to Telford, while waiting at Harwich for a fair wind home, he says: “Yes, my dear friend I shall leave this shore perhaps for ever but certainly these last 5 weeks of stay in England will be remembered for ever by me as an immense augmentation on the considerable debt I already stood in with You, to whom I own all the Success of latter years; nay more, the strength of fighting the obstacles thrown in my way; but You are no friend of words and so no more of the subject…”

From the start Thomas Telford and Baltzar von Platen recognised each other as kindred spirits. Through the letters we can tell that they were very fond of each other and Telford often supported Platens ideas and comforted him when he was in despair over different hardships during the building of Göta Canal. Telford became an important person whom Platen could confide in and though he was a man of few words, he always seemed to find just the right ones to ease Their friendship lasted until the day von

Platen’s life ended on 6th of December 1829 in Christiania, Norway.

The Göta Canal 2007

The Göta Canal is one of Sweden’s best known and most popular tourist attractions, and has been named the Swedish Construction of the Millennium. The canal was built between 1810 and 1832, employing a total of 58,000 conscripted soldiers. Construction was initiated and headed by Baltzar von Platen.

The Göta Canal stretches between Sjötorp on Lake Vänern and Mem at the Baltic Sea, with 58 locks along the way. The total length of the canal is 190 km, which only 87 km are man-made. The canal’s highest point, 91, 8 m above sea level, is Lake Viken. The Göta Canal is open for traffic from 2 May-23 September 2007.

Each year over 5 000 pleasure boats populate the Göta Canal and over 3 million people visit the Canal and its surroundings.

AB Göta kanalbolag (AB Göta Canal Company) was formed in 1810 in connection with the start of the canal construction. Construction of the canal was completed in 1832. The canal was in private ownership until 1978, when the company was taken over by the Swedish state. The Swedish

37 parliament considered it was the business of the state to take responsibility for the future running and repair of the Göta Canal so that its value as a culturally-historical structure and a tourist attraction could be maintained. The state will continue to own the company in future where it, the canal property and the company’s forests will continue to be a coherent unit. Financing of the canal’s repair will be ensured by the government.

AB Göta kanalbolag runs the canal and property business. The activities directly connected to the canal business include laying up boats and shipyard work, external work, bridge maintenance, sales and museum activity. The property business includes management of forests, land and property connected to the canal for both historical and practical purposes.

The canal company also operates comprehensive maintenance and repair activities. Development work occurs in close cooperation with municipalities, county councils, regions, county administrative boards and businesses along the canal.

There are 23 employees at AB Göta kanalbolag and each year, the company employs approximately 120 lockkeepers and bridge guards during the sailing season in order to look after our visitors on the Canal.

AB Göta kanalbolag will maintain and develop the Göta Canal, our country’s greatest cultural-historical construction, and properly maintain the company’s properties, land and forest holdings to a high level of quality, and showing consideration to the environment and nature. The Göta Canal will be Sweden’s leading tourist waterway and visitor destination.

Classic passenger ship M/S DIANA runs on the Gota Canal between Goteborg and Stockholm

38 The famous flight of locks at Berg which lifts the boats 18.8 metres

39 Telford’s iron bridge mastery

Professor Roland Paxton MBE FRSE School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

In 1778, at the time Telford was working as a young stonemason on Langholm Bridge with its three 40 ft (12 m) span masonry arches, there was no alternative to the use of stone for permanent bridges. The longest spans achievable using masonry were about 100 ft (30 m), because of the difficulty in supporting the weight of the arch-stones whilst the arch was being formed. Telford’s destiny was to increase bridge spans some six-fold, through his mastery in the innovative use of iron at the limits of practicability to become the ‘Pontifex Maximus’ of his time.

Three years later, the world’s first significant iron bridge, with a span of 100½ ft (30.6 m), was completed at Coalbrookdale, an event which stimulated Telford from 1794-1826, by then a civil engineer, to harness the potential of improved iron technology to his canal and road practice.

Fig. 1-1 Telford’s design for Pontcysyllte Aque- duct in March 1794 [Science Museum Library, London, No. 110, 592/ 61]

Fig. 1-2 Pontcysyllte Aqueduct as built. [TELFORD T. ‘Navigation Inland’. Edin. Ency., 1830, XV, 311, pl. CCCCXV (part). First issue 1821]

On canals Telford implemented state-of-the-art, user-beneficial, practice. From 1794, to obviate the use of bulky masonry aqueducts and end locks, he used iron to achieve high-level light aqueducts on the Ellesmere Canal. The earliest known iron aqueduct drawing is Telford’s 1794 design for crossing the Dee at Pontcysyllte, near Llangollen [Fig 1-1]. Completed in 1805, at about 1,027 ft (313 m) long and up to 126 ft (38 m) high, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct represents the supreme structural engineering achievement of the canal age [Fig. 1-2]. It is still in constant use.

Telford’s ironwork design was based on, intuition, experiment, attention to detail and traditional timber

40 practice, combined with invaluable advice and high quality ironwork from ironmasters Wm. Reynolds and Wm. Hazledine. Before Pontcysyllte Aqueduct design was finalised, Telford and Reynolds proved the iron aqueduct concept in use at Longdon-on-Tern on the Shrewsbury Canal in 1796. The structural principle of both was a combination of a U-section beam and arches.

On roads – cast iron bridges. Telford improved on the near semi-circular arch at Coalbrookdale in 1795-96 when, following the destruction by flood of old Buildwas Bridge, he replaced it in iron [Fig. 2- 1]. In his design he adopted the Swiss ‘Schaffenhausen’ timber arch principle, that is, using outer suspending ribs to give extra support to the main bearing ribs with their rise of only 13% of the span. Telford thus achieved a 30% greater span than at Coalbrookdale for half the weight of ironwork, demonstrating that using cast iron enabled a flatter and more economical arch to be achieved. The bridge, opened in June 1796, became the world’s longest span cast iron bridge until the completion of Sunderland Bridge soon afterwards.

Fig. 2-1 Buildwas Bridge (1796-1905) [Telford’s design in Plymley’s Shropshire, pl. 4, 1803, and TELFORD T. ‘Bridge’. Edin. Ency.,1830, IV, 538-41, pl. XCII. First issue Feb.1812]

In 1800-01 Telford proposed a bold cast iron arch replacement of 600 ft (183 m) span for old London Bridge [Fig. 2-2]. Although not executed this design contains the embryo of the bracing and rib elevation of his landmark light-weight lozenge lattice bridge type, the first arch of which, of 150 ft (45.7 m) span, was erected at Bonar Bridge over the Kyle of Sutherland in 1811-12.

Fig. 2-2 Telford’s iron arch proposal for London Bridge [Rep. Sel. Com. on Improvement of Port of London. House of Commons, 3 June 1801]

The innovative light-weight Bonar structure, with the whole arch and superstructure acting as one frame, combined elegance with economy and strength to an unparalleled degree [Fig. 2-3]. Its success encouraged iron bridge-building generally and established Telford and Hazledine’s leading reputation in this art. Of the seventeen cast iron road bridges exceeding 32 m span in service by 1830, sixteen were in Britain, of which nine were by Telford, and one each by Rennie and others. Telford also developed a smaller span open-frame radially-oriented iron bridge type.

41 Fig. 2-3 Bonar Bridge (1812–92). [6th Rep. Highland Roads & Bridges, House of Commons, 1813]

Other bridges of the basic Bonar genre erected, mostly of 150 ft (45.7 m) span, included Craigellachie (1814), now Scotland’s earliest surviving iron road bridge; Betws-y-coed (1815), carrying the A5 on a 105 ft (32.1 m) span; Esk or ‘Metal’ Bridge (1822), near Longtown, [Fig. 2-4]; Eaton Hall Estate Bridge (1824), Chester; Mythe Bridge (1826), Tewkesbury, of 170 ft (51.8 m) span, with more structurally efficient vertically orientated lozenges [Fig. 2-5]; Holt Fleet (1827); and Galton Bridge (1829) on the Birmingham Canal, the last of the genre for which Telford was the engineer. All except Bonar and Esk are still in use to varying extents. The lozenge elevation influenced elegance in many later bridges, for example, at St. Nicholas St. Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne (1848) and Carron Bridge (1863) over the Spey.

Fig. 2-4 Esk or ‘Metal’ Bridge (1822-1916) on the Glasgow to Carlisle Road [10th Report of Commissioners for Repair of Roads and Bridges in Scotland. House of Commons, 25 March 1824]

Fig. 2-5 Mythe Bridge, Tewkesbury, 1826 © Mike Winney 2004

42 On roads – suspension bridges. Telford had proposed using wrought iron bars in suspension as early as 1811 to support centring from above for a large cast iron arch at Menai Strait. But it was not until 1814 that he began designing suspension bridges in earnest, conducting more than 200 strength ex- periments, the results of which were widely disseminated from 1817. Telford also erected and load- tested the first iron wire bridge [Fig. 3-1]. It was a 50 ft (15.2m), one-twentieth scale, model of a 1000 ft (305m) span he was proposing to erect across the Mersey at Runcorn.

Fig. 3-1 Telford’s wire bridge model 1814 preserved at Ellesmere ca. 1906, and cross-section at a support showing 0.1 in (2.5 mm) wire positions [British Waterways Archive, Gloucester Docks, WP 64/53]

Although not executed, work on the Runcorn project, and into the next decade for Menai Bridge, formed part of a more or less continuous design process to the completion of Menai Bridge in 1826. Telford’s masterpiece at Menai, the first great suspension bridge, was then the world’s longest. It is 1388 ft (423 m) long with a main span of about 580 ft (176 m). In 1940 its deck and ironwork were replaced to cater for modern traffic, with minimal loss of character, under the direction of Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners. The bridge now carries the A5 traffic without weight limit [Fig. 3-2]. Conwy Bridge (1826), of 327 ft (100 m) span created with the same technology, has its original ironwork. It is now is owned by the National Trust and is no longer in vehicular use. For both bridges, ‘Merlin’ Hazledine was the ironfounder and Telford’s key assistants were William Provis and Thomas Rhodes.

Menai Bridge, which combined elegance and functionality to an unprecedented extent, was a landmark in suspension bridge development. Despite wind-induced deck oscillation problems which exercised the skills of Provis and others from 1839, it fundamentally influenced the use and development of the type, and established its role as the most economic means of achieving the longest spans, now exemplified at Akashi Straits Bridge, Japan, with a span eleven times greater.

Fig. 3-2 Menai Bridge © Chris Morris [On tour with Thomas Telford. Tanner’s Yard Pr., Longhope, 2004]

43 An American Perspective on Telford

Professor Henry Petroski, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, Durham, USA

Thomas Telford and his works were well known in America in the mid-nineteenth century, and his influence on American bridge building was wide and profound. Allusions and direct references to “the famous Menai bridge by Telford” or simply “Telford’s bridge” were commonly encountered in books and articles on suspension bridges published in America, as were references to his 1800 proposal for an iron arch bridge spanning six hundred feet and providing sixty-five feet of clearance over the Thames at London. This latter structure, while never realized, proved to play an important role in the design of the first bridge to cross the Mississippi River at St. Louis.

American-born James Buchanan Eads was not a bridge builder himself, but he was to be the mastermind behind the great bridge across the Mississippi that would come to bear his name. As was common in America at the time, Eads learned a good deal about engineering through self-directed reading, trial and error, and studying and improving on the prior art. Among Eads’s first efforts at engineering was the development of a salvage vessel and diving bell by which he could explore the Mississippi River bottom and retrieve valuable lost cargo from it. His success at the enterprise brought him wealth and influence in St. Louis, and when that city was threatened with losing railroad traffic to Chicago, Eads led a committee appointed by the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce to determine what restrictions should be placed on a bridge to satisfy the interests of both marine and land transportation.

Fig. 1. James Buchanan Eads (1820-1887)

In the course of his reading engineering literature, Eads undoubtedly came across repeated references to Telford and his bridges, both realized and not. In 1866, nearly echoing Telford’s half-century-old proposal, Eads recommended that legislation granting a concession for a bridge at St. Louis specify a minimum distance of 600 feet between piers and a minimum headroom of 50 feet above high water. These constraints were believed to provide a sufficiently wide channel and high clearance to accommodate the heavy riverboat traffic on the Mississippi and, incidentally, to stave off some opposition from those whose business would be adversely affected by a bridge. These latter included especially the operators of lighters that ferried transshipments between the railroad terminals on either side of the river.

The legislation that finally was passed required only a clear span of 500 feet, a specification that could be satisfied by a suspension bridge or a tubular bridge, both of which types had either achieved or approached such a span length in the 1850s. However, the legislation specifically excluded the use of a suspension bridge, perhaps because so many early nineteenth-century examples—including Telford’s own Menai crossing—had had their decks destroyed in the wind. Tubular bridges—notably Robert

44 Stephenson’s Britannia—had quickly gained a poor reputation for their lack of economy and environmental shortcomings, and so that form was not judged appropriate for a St. Louis crossing. Eads’s own proposal employed a metal arch, with the main river crossing comprising three arch spans bearing a strong resemblance to those of the railroad bridge across the Rhine at Coblenz, to which Eads referred in discussing his plan. Eads’s bridge design also bore some resemblance to Telford’s 1822 Esk Bridge on the Glasgow to Carlisle Road. In its multiple masonry arches of the approach spans, Eads’s bridge also evoked those of Telford’s Menai Strait suspension bridge.

Fig. 2. Telford’s Esk Bridge (courtesy of Roland Paxton)

At the time, no arch span constructed anywhere in the world exceeded 400 feet. There was thus some skepticism expressed that Eads, who had theretofore neither designed nor built a bridge (let alone a record-setting one), had proposed something achievable. In response to his critics, Eads invoked Telford’s six-decades’-old proposal for a 600-foot arch as providing “some ‘engineering precedent’ to justify a span of 100 feet less in 1867.” To Eads, the advances in bridge-building experience and in the strength of materials (cast steel was more that eight times as strong as cast iron in compression) that had been made since Telford’s proposal, made it “safe to assert that the project of throwing a single arch of cast steel, two thousand feet in length, over the Mississippi, is less bold in design, and fully as practicable” as Telford’s of cast iron. The Eads Bridge stands today as a monument to its engineer and to his consultant-in-spirit, Telford.

Fig. 3. Eads Bridge (from an 1880s Merchants Exchange of St. Louis stock certificate)

Eads was not the only American engineer who drew inspiration and resolve from Telford’s structures. Although the weaknesses that the Menai Strait and other suspension bridges exhibited in the wind caused British engineers to shy away from the form, the German-American John A. Roebling found valuable lessons to be learned from studying the failures. He observed that heavy winds were “unquestionably the greatest enemies of suspension bridges” and concluded that “weight, girders, trusses, and stays” were necessary to obviate damage during storms. Following his own prescription, Roebling designed and built over the Niagara Gorge the first suspension bridge (1854) to carry railroad trains. He went on to design the 1,110-foot-span suspension bridge over the Ohio River at Cincinnati, which is interpreted to be a model for his masterwork, the Brooklyn Bridge, with its 1,595-foot main span. Though Roebling did not live to see this great bridge built, his son Washington Roebling and his wife Emily Warren Roebling oversaw its construction through to completion, which occurred in 1883.

45 Both of these bridges might be seen to owe an inspirational and aesthetic debt to Telford’s Menai Strait masterpiece.

Fig. 4. Brooklyn Bridge

46 Telford’s London to Holyhead Road

Richard Turner Inspector of Ancient Monuments, Cadw, Welsh Assembly Government

Introduction The science which has been displayed in giving the general line of the road a proper inclination through a country [Wales] whose whole surface consists of a succession of rocks, bogs, ravines and precipices, reflects the greatest credit upon the engineer who had planned them.’

So wrote the Parliamentary Commissioners in 1819 when Thomas Telford was four years into what was his greatest project, the building of the London – Holyhead Road. The icons of this road, the Menai and Conwy Suspension Bridges are world-famous. In this paper, I will set out the historical background to the building of the Holyhead Road, how Telford became involved and imposed his personality on the project, and how efficiently he organized and delivered this remarkable engineer feat. The Holyhead Road was the best road built in Britain since the Romans, and it was to become the model for major th road building throughout the world in the 19 century. To a very large extent it remains a major road in use and to end this paper I will describe how attitudes towards its improvement and maintenance have recently changed.

Historical Background In 1800, Britain had been at war with France for seven years. In 1798, the United Irishman rose against the government in the hope of French support. The rebellion was brutally suppressed and an Act of Union was passed which combined the Irish and British parliaments in Westminster. This reinforced the need for fast, reliable communication between London and Dublin. Initially work was focussed on improving the harbours at Holyhead and Howth under John Rennie’s supervision, but in 1810 a Parliamentary Select Committee was established to improve the road link, between London and Holyhead. They appointed Thomas Telford, who had proved his skill in building the Highland Roads, to survey and report on the options. Work did not begin until 1815 (Fig. 1) and the final link, the Menai Suspension Bridge was not closed till 1826.

Fig. 1. The Waterloo Bridge from Telford’s Atlas.

47 Fig. 2. Plan of Telford’s works in north Wales from his Atlas

Thomas Telford When Telford undertook the survey of the Holyhead Road through the mountains of Wales in the winter of 1810-11 he was at the height of his career. Since 1788 he had been county surveyor for Shropshire and, from 1793, engineer of the Ellesmere Canal, culminating in the building of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. These links ensured that the new road passed through Shrewsbury, and that he was not frightened of taking on the challenging topography of north Wales (Fig. 2).

Characteristically he set himself the challenge of reducing the journey time from London – Holyhead from 42 hours to 28 hours. This was only achieved by the Government buying out the interest of the six turnpike trusts, which controlled the road from Shrewsbury to Holyhead, and the Bangor and Conwy Ferries. Telford made radical improvements to the existing roads, by producing an all-weather road surface and building a succession of embankments, cuttings and bridges to achieve a gradient of no more than 1:20 despite the terrain. It was Telford’s willingness to set previously unattainable standards, as well as demanding construction of the highest quality, which assured his objectives were met.

Fig. 3. Details from the specification for Lot III. 48 Project Management During these early days of civil engineering, what is most remarkable is Telford’s efficiency as a project manager. The Holyhead Road Commissioners placed enormous trust in Telford to manage the works and the costs. He placed similar trust in a handpicked team of assistants, many young protegés who had worked for him on other projects. During the survey and construction, Telford was constantly on the move working throughout England and Scotland and advising on projects in Ireland and Sweden. He travelled by coach and issued instructions by letter.

The work in Wales was divided into 123 lots. For each, a comprehensive yard-by-yard specification of work was written accompanied by a professionally-surveyed map, and plans and elevations of any significant structures (Fig. 3). The lots were subject to fixed price tenders from a number of contractors. The work was managed by two resident engineers, William Provis, his effective deputy, and his younger brother John Provis. They had four inspectors of works who ensured that the standards and detailed specifications were applied rigorously (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Diagram showing the organisation and management of the building of the Holyhead Road.

So effective was this system that it is impossible to see the join between individual lots. Characteristically Telford tackled the hardest lots first, beginning with the Nant Ffrancon Pass (Fig. 5). He recognised the problem of hiring workmen and establishing a construction camp in this remove valley.

Fig. 5. Telford’s embankment in the Nant Ffrancon Pass.

49 The three major structures, the Menai and Conwy Suspension Bridges, and the Stanley Embankment were treated differently. Here the contracts were placed with Telford’s most trusted contractors, under the direct supervision of William Provis.

Fig. 6. Robert Stephenson’s Britannia Bridge after its conversion to road and rail use.

Holyhead Road Today The rapid rise of the railways saw the newly-completed Holyhead Road fall into disuse. By 1837, the mails went via railway to Liverpool, and 1850 saw the completion of the Chester-Holyhead Railway. From that date regular maintenance of the road in Wales was suspended. Not until the rise of the motor car and lorry after the First World War did the Holyhead Road become an important transport link again. In 1935-6, new tunnels were dug through the Penmaenmawr headlands and in 1938-40, the chains and deck of the Menai Suspension Bridge were replaced. Following a fire, Robert Stephenson’s Britannia Bridge was modified and re-opened in 1980 to carry road and rail traffic (Fig. 6). Major improvements were planned and undertaken on the A55 along the north Wales coast and across Anglesey in the 1980s and 1990s. However in 1997, the government recognised the importance of the mainland A5 as a living industrial monument and an historic route. The decision was made to make the traffic fit the road; not the road fit the traffic. This was a revolutionary idea at the time and a more conservation-based approach to engineering repairs is now taken, as at the Nant Ffrancon embankment and Pont Padog bridge.

50 APPENDIX ONE BIOGRAPHIES George Ballinger stations. The team includes civil, structural, Head of Engineering – Technical, mechanical and electrical engineers, along with British Waterways architects, landscape architects and community affairs specialists. George worked with W.A. Fairhurst and Partners ( Civil & Structural engineers) from 1973 to 1993. Before joining DART, Mr. Beene was director of He started as a graduate engineer and became public works for Dallas County, Texas. He is highly an Associate Partner in 1991. He worked on many respected throughout the civil engineering large projects including the Moat House Hotel on community for his communication, organizational the Glasgow Waterfront before leaving to join and planning skills. British Waterways Scotland as Chief Engineer. There he developed the project to restore the Mr. Beene has been recognized by his peers as Caledonian Canal and took the initiative to restore the Outstanding Young Engineer in South Texas - the Lowland Canals from concept to conclusion, 1983 & 1984; the Dallas Branch ASCE Outstand- culminating in the opening by the Queen in may ing Achievement Award – 1997; and the Texas 2002 of the magnificent and innovative Falkirk Section Professional Service Award - 1998 Wheel. He has now been promoted to Head of He has authored or co-authored several papers Engineering for British Waterways and oversees and articles including Determining the Optimum the engineering side of the business. Level of Quality Management Effort, Co-author, ASCE Construction Congress 1991 Proceedings, Allan Beene Cambridge, MA; “Sweeter Air Deep in the Heart Representative of the President, of Texas” Co-author, Public Works Magazine, April American Society of Civil Engineers 1997; Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River Texas Section Meeting Proceedings, Fall 1999, Mr Beene is a Project Manager with Facilities Midland, Texas; “John William Smith - Civil Engineering at Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Engineer and Texas Patriot” Texas Civil Engineer, He received his bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Fall 2000, Volume 70, Number 4 & Journal of Texas A&M University and his master’s in Business Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Administration from Corpus Christi State Practice, April 2001, Volume 127, Number 2; “Light University. He is a licensed professional engineer Rail Heads North” Co-author, Texas Section in Texas and Oklahoma. Meeting Proceedings, Spring 2002, Arlington, Texas; International Transit Studies Program Mr. Beene has been active in the civil engineering Report on the Spring 2001 Mission Design-Build community for 30 years. His commitment to the Transit Infrastructure Projects in Asia and Australia profession and his leadership through service are Transportation Cooperative Research Program exemplified by his work within ASCE at all levels. Research Results Digest November 2002 - Number He served the Texas Section as president, 53 - Contributor. vice-president for Educational Affairs and chaired several section committees. He served as Corpus His civic involvement includes Transportation Christi Branch president and section director from Committee - North Dallas Chamber of Commerce; the Dallas Branch. He chaired the ASCE Stemmons Corridor Business Association; March Government Engineers - Policy Issues Committee of Dimes Board - WalkAmerica Advisory and currently serves as Director for District 15 Committee; Dallas County Employees Credit (Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma) to the Union Board;Past President Irving Area A&M Club; Society Board of Direction. IntroDallas - Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce;Haskell Boulevard Alignment Study As a corridor manager for DART, he leads a Executive Committee; Engineering Mentor for multidisciplinary team providing design and design FutureCity Competition; Life Member Alpha Phi support during construction in an expansion project Omega National Service Fraternity; that will add 17.6 mi (28.3 km) of service to DART’s Member Highland Park United Methodist Church 42 mi (67.6 km) Light Rail System, including 12 new

51 Mike Chrimes Border Counties business unit of British Waterways Head of Knowledge Transfer, with responsibility for major engineering works and Institution of Civil Engineers asset management across 560km of canals and navigation. Mike Chrimes was born in Neston, where his parents still live, and educated at local primary Christopher R Ford schools and Wirral Grammar School. He has lived Retired Consulting Engineer in London since 1972 and been working in the Library at the Institution of Civil Engineers since Chris Ford is a civil engineer who practised as a 1977, and been Head Librarian there since 1987. consulting engineer with Scott Wilson and later as The Library was the first engineering library in the a Director of JMP consultants Ltd. specialising in United Kingdom and is one of the largest roads and bridges. After working on the M1 in the collections of civil engineering information in the Midlands and the M6 in the Lake District he has world. Professionally he has been committed to spent most of his career in Scotland where he has improving access to the Library collections by the designed bridges for the Glasgow Ring Road and use of new technology, most recently by digitising the Tummel and Cluny bridges for the Pitlochry ICE Proceedings back to 1836 for web access. By-pass. In Inverness he designed Friars Bridge across the River Ness and replaced Joseph He has written and lectured extensively on the Mitchell’s railway bridge across the river when it history of civil engineering. The author of Civil En- collapsed in the floods of February 1989. He was gineering 1839/1889: A Photographic History, he closely involved in the siting and procurement of has edited four other books. In October 2003 he the privately funded Skye Bridge. He has also acted contributed three chapters to Robert Stephenson: as Arbiter in a considerable number of The Eminent Engineer, edited by Michael R Bailey construction disputes. (Ashgate, 2003). He is currently researching arti- cles for a Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers Since retirement he has spent much time in of Great Britain and Ireland, 1830-1890. He has Dunkeld and the presence of the Telford’s bridge an interest in the economic aspects of the growth there has reawakened his interest in that great of civil engineering since mediaeval times, and is engineer. keen to promote an awareness in the contribu- tion of civil engineers to economic growth among Drew Hill the general public. Chairman, Institution of Civil Engineers East of Scotland Region Mark Duquemin Asset and Programme Manager, Drew is a Senior Engineer with Transport Scotland. British Waterways – Wales and Border He is keenly involved in inclusion, sustainability, Counties noise, and research issues. A Chartered Civil and Structural Engineer, he is the chair of the East of Mark worked with Binnie & Partners from 1988 to Scotland Region of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1996 starting as a graduate engineer and (ICE) for 2007 to 2008. His objectives for the year becoming an engineer in 1994. He initially worked are to develop links with schools, build on links on a range of projects including work on tidal with academia, work with others to develop a power feasibility and modelling. Subsequently he library of materials to demonstrate Civil spent three years working on a wide variety of Engineering Skills, and explore further projects to correct the effects of mining opportunities for evening meetings. subsidence on various rivers and structures in Nottinghamshire and a period of secondment as a His career to date has involved periods with senior project manager with the Environment contractors, consultants, local authorities, and now Agency. In 1997 Mark joined British Waterways central government. He has been involved in a and worked for their internal design consultancy variety of project types. These have principally been for six years before becoming a project manager transport related but have included, building on a range of projects including the refurbishment renovation, harbour renewal, and large of Hayhurst Swing Bridge and the replacement of earthmoving. Taking forward a PhD on British Waterways’ workboat fleet. He is currently Sustainability issues at Glasgow Caledonian, Asset & Programme Manager within the Wales & organised a recent Sustainability debate

52 “Legislation – Is it the only answer”. environmentalist.

Professor Hiroshi Isohata He spent 16 years working for specialist Dept of Civil Engineering, College of Industrial sub-contractors in foundations, ground treatment Technology, Nihon University, Japan and geotechnical engineering before joining Carillion in 1991. Some of the major projects he Hiroshi Isohata, born in 1947 received his B.Sc. in has worked on include Canary Wharf and Canada 1971 from College of Industrial Technology of Water stations, Tees Barrage and the Nihon University, Japan. Since 1971 to 2004 he Copenhagen Metro. Since 2000 Quentin has also has been working in Steel Structural Division of been responsible for environmental issues and he NKK Corporation (now JFE Engineering initiated and led Carillion´s sustainability strategy Corporation), Japanese steel making company. In and corporate responsibility programme. This 2004 he moved from JFE Engineering Corporation programme was recognised nationally by Business to Civil Engineering Department, Nihon University in the Community, who awarded Carillion their as a professor. After graduating University, he had Impact on Society Award and named them as their been involved in professional practice as bridge Company of the Year in 2003. design engineer for 14 years, and then he was appointed the Manager & Civil Engineer of NKK Quentin has been involved in a wide range of London office in 1985. During his two and half year committees, forums and awards panels in the stay in London he started his research work on construction industry, including leading the historical aspect of civil engineering including iron formation of and serving as chairman of the BGA and steel bridges. After he returned to Tokyo, he (British Geotechnical Association). was appointed Senior Manager and has been involved in some bridge projects including Tokyo He is a former director and Council Member of Transit Bay Road , Honshu- Shikoku Bridge Project CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and In as a head of the business section. His study on formation Association) and a member of two civil engineering history has been continued and British Standards committees. More recently he his papers and articles on the study exceed more has been a member of two working groups set up than 50. He published 9 books including the by the Sustainable Procurement Task Force and Japanese version of “Iron Bridge” in 1989 and “100 the UK Construction Industry Sustainability Forum. years of the Forth Bridge” in 1993. He is a member of Japan Society of Civil Engineers. He Quentin was a member of the Engineering and received his doctoral degree in 1996 from College Physical Sciences Research Council´s Built of Science & Technology of Nihon University, Environment College and a number of research Japan. He is now a chairman of Committee on the steering groups. He has published almost 50 Study of Repair and Strengthening of Historical papers and articles on a range of subjects, Steel Bridges JSCE, Committee on Civil including; sustainability, environmental and supply Engineering Library, JSCE and vice chairman of chain management, the training and development Committee of Civil Engineering History, JSCE. of engineers, earthworks, construction, foundations, piling, reinforced soil and ground Professor Quentin J Leiper radar. President, Institution of Civil Engineers He was the founding editor of ICE´s Proceedings Professor Quentin Leiper is the director for journal Engineering Sustainability, and a former engineering and the environment at Carillion plc. member of the ICE Proceedings journal, where he is responsible for leading Carillion´s Geotechnical Engineering editorial panel. sustainability programme and for reporting, technical engineering, research and links with Since 1998, Quentin has been a Visiting Professor professional institutions and universities. in the School of Civil and Environmental Quentin has over 30 years experience in both Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, where operational management and technical roles in the he is involved in both teaching and research and is construction industry. He graduated in civil chairman of the School Advisory Board. He has engineering in 1975 from Glasgow University, has also served on the civil engineering Advisory Boards an MSc in Geotechnical Engineering, and is a of Nottingham, Southampton and City chartered civil engineer and a chartered Universities. He is a regular lecturer and speaker

53 at universities and conferences. He has been a Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, been judge for the Science, Engineering and Chairman of the Argyll Friends of the National Trust Technology Student of the Year Award since the for Scotland, and is at present on the Building award inception in 1997. Advisary Committee of the .Diocese of Edinburgh. He is also the editor of The Edge, the Journal of Alistair MacKenzie the Diocese of Edinburgh. Past-President, The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Dr Miles K Oglethorpe Royal Commission on the Ancient and Graduate of the University of Aberdeen, started Historical Monuments of Scotland his engineering career as a construction engineer on Hydro Electric Power Projects in Scotland and Miles Oglethorpe manages the Architecture and was thereafter employed by George Wimpey PLC. Industry recording programmes within the Survey in a variety of Design and Construction roles on & Recording division of the Royal Commission on major Civil Engineering and Building Projects in the the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland UK, followed by Senior Management (RCAHMS). Whilst completing his PhD at the appointments in the UK, Middle East, United States University of Glasgow, he joined the Scottish and Canada. Industrial Archaeology Survey at Strathclyde University, transferring to RCAHMS in 1985 where Following a spell as a Consulting Engineer, was he specialised in historic industrial and appointed Associate Professor in the Faculty of engineering heritage. He is a member of the Engineering, Architecture and Science at Ryerson Executive Committee of the Business Archives University, Toronto in 1991, subsequently serving Council of Scotland, and of the English Heritage as Programme Director, Department of Industrial Archaeology Panel. He is also the British Architectural Science, and Programme Manager National Representative on The International of the Project Management Certificate Committee on the Conservation of the Industrial Programme in Ryerson University’s G. Raymond Heritage, and has edited, authored and Chang School of Continuing Education. co-authored a number of books and papers relating to industrial heritage. The latest is a book Retired as Professor Emeritus in 2003, but entitled, ‘Scottish Collieries’, which was published continues to teach on a part time basis in the Civil in partnership with the Scottish Mining Museum Engineering Undergraduate programmes at both in 2006. Ryerson University in Toronto and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Claes-Göran Österlund Director, AM Göta Kanalbolag President of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, 2005-2006. Chair of the CSCE Claes-Goran Osterlund studied Ecomomics,Law National History Committee, 1997-2004. Chair of and History in Stockholm. In the early 1970’s he CSCE Publicity and External Communications travelled to Zermatt in Switzerland working as a Committee 1998-2000 and Chair of CSCE 2005 ski intructor. On his return to Sweden he started Annual Conference in Toronto. an outbound Travel Agency located in Stockholm which had an operating office in New York. Claes President of the Southern Ontario Chapter of the also travelled all over the USA to promote Project Management Institute, 1998-1999. Scadinavia as a tourist destination. In Sweden he managed three hotels at Are, a famous ski resort The Very Rev Allan MacLean of Dochgarroch in the north, and five years later bought his own hotel, Hotel Ekoxen located in Linkoping. Claes The Very Rev Allan Maclean of Dochgarroch was also established a private Medical Centre,Rehab awarded a first class honours degree in Scottish Centre and a wonderful Senior Centre, for people Historical Studies from Edinburgh University in above 55 years of age. In 1999, after planning to 1972, partly for his work on Telford’s Highland retire, he sold everything but was subsequently Churches. More recently he was, for fifteen years, hired to become CEO for Gota Kanal. Managing Provost [Dean] of St John’s Cathedral, Oban. this wonderful historic canal and tourist attraction has taught Claes a great deal about the founders He has served on the National Council of the Mr Balzar von Platen and Mr Thomas Telford. 54 Professor Roland Paxton MBE FRSE Professor Henry Petroski School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt Chairman, ASCE History and Heritage University, Edinburgh Committee, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University Roland Paxton, born in 1932, was educated in civil engineering at Manchester and then Heriot-Watt is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil University where he obtained his PhD. He is a Engineering and a professor of history at Duke fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers [ICE], University. He has written often on the topics of Since 1975 he has served on the Institution’s Panel design, success and failure, and the history of for Historical Engineering Works (chairman 1990- engineering and technology. Among his dozen 2003, now Vice-Chairman), engaged on books on these subjects are To Engineer Is knowledge promotion, recording, advising, and Human, which was adapted for a BBC-television encouraging excellence in conservation of such documentary, and Engineers of Dreams, a history works, since 1998 as chairman of the Institution’s of American bridge building. His books have been Historic Bridge and Infrastructure Awards Panel. translated into a variety of languages, including Chinese, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Italian, From 1955-90 he worked on highways and Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. drainage with large local authorities. Since retiring from Lothian Regional Council as a senior He also lectures frequently, both at home and principal engineer in 1990, he has engaged in abroad, and has delivered numerous keynote teaching and research in engineering history and addresses at national and international conservation at Heriot-Watt University and conferences. Among the scores of distinguished lectured extensively at home and abroad, gaining lectures he has delivered have been the Easter awards including the ICE’s Garth Watson medal Holiday Lecture for the Institution of Structural and the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Engineers, the McLaughlin Lecture for the I History and Heritage award and an Honorary nstitution of Engineers of Ireland, and a series of Doctorate of Engineering three Vanuxem Lectures at Princeton University, which formed the basis of his most recent book, Professor Paxton is a trustee of the James Clerk Success through Failure: The Paradox of Design. Maxwell Foundation; chairman of the Forth Bridges He has been an eminent speaker for the Visitor Centre; from 1992-2002 was a Structural College of the Institution of Engineers, commissioner on the Royal Commission on the Australia, lecturing throughout that country. Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland; He is a professional engineer licensed in Texas and and, from 1992-99, he initiated and served on the a chartered engineer registered in Ireland. He has Laigh Milton Viaduct Conservation Trust, which held fellowships from the Guggenheim raised £1.1m, bought for £2, and successfully saved Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, the National the world’s oldest surviving viaduct (1811) on a Endowment for the Humanities, and the National public railway near Kilmarnock. Humanities Center. Among his other honors are the Washington Award from the Western Society Professor Paxton’s publications relate mainly to of Engineers, the Ralph Coats Roe Medal from the historical engineering works of which twelve American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and articles and papers on various aspects of Telford’s the Civil Engineering History and Heritage Award work include, his entry on Telford in the new from the American Society of Civil Engineers, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and, the whose history and heritage committee he chairs. ‘Introduction’ and ‘Cast iron bridges’ in ‘Thomas He is the recipient of four honorary doctoral Telford: 250 years of inspiration’ comprising the degrees, as well as distinguished engineering May Special Issue of Proceedings of the Institution alumnus awards from Manhattan College and the of Civil Engineers – Civil Engineering, 2007. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is an honorary member of the Moles and a member of the American Philosophical Society and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

55 Alan G Simpson Chairman, Institution of Civil Engineers, Glasgow and West of Scotland Region

Alan Simpson has over 30 years experience since graduating with a degree in Engineering Science and Economics. For the past seventeen years he has been a partner with W.A. Fairhurst & Partners in Glasgow responsible for civil engineering projects particularly in the transportation and water sectors. He has been involved in many major bridges and roads schemes and has carried out many projects on the Forth Road Bridge including the strengthening of the main towers and the replacement of the hangers. He is now investigating how to replace the main cables on the bridge. In the water sector he has been responsible for many water supply and sewerage schemes as well as flood alleviation projects including the flood management strategy for the River Clyde through Glasgow.

He is Chairman of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Region of the ICE and is a past member of Council. He is Chairman of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, serves on the Court of Stirling University and is a Deputy Lieutenant for Stirling and Falkirk.

Richard Turner Inspector of Ancient Monuments, CADW

Richard Turner studied both engineering and archaeology at Cambridge University. He has worked as an archaeologist for Lancaster University, British Gas and Cheshire County Council before taking up his current post of inspector of ancient monuments with Cadw, the Welsh Assembly Government’s historic environment division. As part of his role as advisor to Transport Wales, he set up the first archaeological survey of Thomas Telford’s Holyhead Road and has used the results to shape the future management of this living civil engineering icon.

56 The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is an educational charity, registered in Scotland. Independent and non-party-political, we are working to provide public benefit throughout Scotland and by means of a growing international programme. The RSE has a peer-elected, multidisciplinary Fellowship of 1400 men and women who are experts within their fields.

The RSE was created in 1783 by Royal Charter for “the advancement of learning and useful knowledge”. We seek to provide public benefit in today’s Scotland by:

• Organising lectures, debates and conferences on topical issues of lasting importance, many of which are free and open to all

• Conducting independent inquiries on matters of national and international importance

• Providing educational activities for primary and secondary school students throughout Scotland

• Distributing over £1.7 million to top researchers and entrepreneurs working in Scotland

• Showcasing the best of Scotland’s research and development capabilities to the rest of the World

• Facilitating two-way international exchange to enhance Scotland’s international collaboration in research and enterprise

• Emphasising the value of educational effort and achievement by encouraging, recognising and rewarding it with scholarships, financial and other support, prizes and medals

• Providing expert information on Scientific issues to MSPs & Researchers through the Scottish Parliament Science Information Service

57 Plaque to be unveiled at Edinburgh’s Telford College after the conference [Alexander Pollock Precision Engravers, Haddington] (Photo: Roland Paxton)

58 The Royal S ociety of Edinburgh

The 250th Anniversary of the birth of Thomas Telford

The RSE: Educational Charity & Scotland’s National Academy 22-26 George Street Edinburgh EH2 2PQ

e-mail: [email protected] Collected papers from a commemorative Tel. 0044 (0)131 240 5000 Minicom: (0)131 240 5009 conference held on 2 July 2007

www.royalsoced.org.uk

Cover Image: Esk or ‘Metal’ Bridge (1822-1916) on the Glasgow to Carlisle Road [10th Report of Commissioners for Repair of Roads and Bridges in Scotland. House of Commons, 25 March 1824]