Joseph Bazalgette 333359 221745169 2008-06-25T22:15:09Z Small-town hero 5451508 /* Sewer works */ {{Infobox Person |name = Joseph Bazalgette |image = JosephBazalgettePortrait.jpg |image_size = 150px |caption = Sir Joseph Bazalgette |birth_name = |birth_date = [[28 March]] [[1819]] |birth_place = |death_date = [[15 March]] [[1891]] |death_place = |death_cause = |resting_place = |resting_place_coordinates = |residence = |nationality = [[England|English]] |other_names = |known_for = [[London sewerage system]] |education = |employer = |occupation = |home_town = |title = |salary = |networth = |height = |weight = |term = |predecessor = |successor = |party = |boards = |religion = |spouse = |partner = |children = |parents = |relatives = |signature = |website = |footnotes = }} '''Sir Joseph William Bazalgette''' ([[28 March]] [[1819]] &ndash; [[15 March]] [[1891]]) was one of the great [[England|English]] [[civil engineers]] of the [[Victorian era]]. As the chief [[engineer]] of [[London|London's]] [[Metropolitan Board of Works]], his major achievement was the creation of a [[London sewerage system|sewer network for central London]], which helped relieve the city from [[cholera]] epidemics, while beginning the clean-up of the [[Thames|River Thames]], which had reached a nadir with "''[[The Great Stink]]''" of [[1858]]. ==Beginnings== Joseph William Bazalgette was born at Hill Lodge, Clay Hill, [[London Borough of Enfield|Enfield]], [[London]], [[England]], the son of Joseph William Bazalgette (1783-1849), a retired captain of the [[Royal Navy]] and Theresa Philo, née Pilton (1796-1850) and was grandson of a French immigrant. He began his career working on [[railway]] projects, articled to noted engineer [[John MacNeill|Sir John MacNeill]] and gaining sufficient experience (some in [[Ireland]]) in land drainage and [[Land reclamation|reclamation]] works for him to set up his own London consulting practice in [[1842]]. By the time he married, in [[1845]], Bazalgette was deeply involved in the expansion of the railway network, working so hard that he suffered a nervous breakdown two years later. While he was recovering, London's shortlived [[Metropolitan Commission of Sewers]] ordered that all [[cesspit|cesspits]] should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames. As a result, a [[cholera]] epidemic (1848-49) then killed 14,137 Londoners. Bazalgette was appointed assistant surveyor to the Commission in [[1849]], taking over as Engineer in [[1852]], after his predecessor died of "harassing fatigues and anxieties." Soon after, another cholera epidemic struck, in [[1853]], killing 10,738. Medical opinion at the time held that cholera was caused by foul air: a so-called ''[[Miasma theory of disease|miasma]]''. [[John Snow (physician)|Dr John Snow]] had earlier advanced a different explanation, which we now know to be correct: cholera was spread by contaminated water. His view was not generally accepted. Championed by fellow engineer [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]], Bazalgette was appointed chief engineer of the Commission's successor, the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]], in [[1856]] (a post he retained until the MBW was abolished and replaced by the [[London County Council]] in [[1889]]). In [[1858]], the year of the [[Great Stink]], Parliament passed an enabling act, in spite of the colossal expense of the project, and Bazalgette's proposals to revolutionise London's sewerage system began to be implemented. The expectation was that enclosed sewers would eliminate the stink ('[[Miasma theory of disease|miasma]]'), and this then reduced the incidence of [[cholera]]. ==Sewer works== [[Image:Abbey_Mills_Pumping_Station3.jpg|right|thumb|The old Abbey Mills Pumping Station]] At the time, the [[Thames]] was little more than an open sewer, devoid of any fish or other wildlife, and an obvious health hazard to Londoners. Bazalgette's solution (similar to a proposal made by painter [[John Martin (painter)|John Martin]] 25 years earlier) was to construct 83 miles of underground [[brick]] main sewers to intercept sewage outflows, and 1,100 miles of street [[sewer]]s, to intercept the raw sewage which up until then flowed freely through the streets and thoroughfares of London. The outflows were diverted downstream where they were dumped, untreated, into the Thames. Extensive [[sewage treatment]] facilities were only built decades later. The scheme involved major [[pumping station]]s at [[Deptford]] ([[1864]]) and at [[Crossness Pumping Station|Crossness]] ([[1865]]) on the [[Erith]] marshes, both on the south side of the Thames, and at [[Abbey Mills Pumping Station|Abbey Mills]] (in the [[River Lea]] valley, [[1868]]) and on the [[Chelsea Embankment]] (close to [[Grosvenor Bridge]]; [[1875]]), north of the river. The system was opened by the [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Prince of Wales]] in [[1865]], although the whole project was not actually completed for another ten years. Bazalgette's foresight may be seen in the diameter of the sewers. When planning the network he took the most dense population, gave every person the most generous allowance of sewage production and came up with a diameter of pipe needed. He then said 'Well, we're only going to do this once and there's always the unforeseen.' and doubled the diameter to be used. Every Londoner should be grateful for this foresight as the unforeseen was the tower block. If he had used his original, smaller pipe diameter the sewer would have overflowed in the 1960s. As it is they are still in use to this day. The effect of the new sewer system was to reduce [[cholera]] not only in places that no longer stank, but wherever water supplies ceased to be contaminated by sewage. The basic premise of this expensive project was wrong, as so often happens, but the end result was much better than expected, which is a rare occurrence. (The River Thames now contains several smaller varieties of fish, including [[trout]]; it is also safe to swim in - for those willing to brave the frigid waters and able to find a stretch without [[undertow]]!). ==Awards== Bazalgette was knighted in 1875, and elected President of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] in 1883. ==Memorials== [[Image:JosephBazalgette.jpg|right|thumb|Memorial to Sir Joseph Bazalgette on Victoria Embankment]] He lived for some years at 17 Hamilton Terrace, [[St John's Wood]], north London, where there is now a [[blue plaque]] in his honour. He later moved to [[Morden]], then in [[1873]], with his wife, Maria, (née Kough, 1819-1902), six sons and four daughters, to Arthur Road in [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]], where he died in 1891, being buried in the nearby churchyard at [[St Mary's Church, Wimbledon|St Mary's Church]]. A formal monument (see photo at right) on the riverside of the Victoria Embankment in central London commemorates Bazalgette's genius. A living fictionalised tribute to the genius, the work and the ideals of Sir Joseph Bazalgette can be found in the historic Victorian novel [http://www.myspace.com/eustonworms "The Worms of Euston Square"] by William Sutton. This portrays Sir Joseph Bazalgette in a heroic light as a man with an innate social conscience who employs his skills to improve the city that he loves and who plays an active role in rehousing those whose homes were demolished during the enormous work of construction. ==Other works== *[[Albert Embankment]] ([[1869]]) *[[Victoria Embankment]] ([[1870]]) *[[Chelsea Embankment]] ([[1874]]) *[[Putney Bridge]] ([[1886]]) *[[Albert Bridge, London|Albert Bridge]] ([[1884]]; [[modifications]]) *[[Hammersmith Bridge]] ([[1887]]) *[[The Woolwich Ferry]] ([[1889]]) *[[Battersea Bridge]] ([[1890]]) *[[Charing Cross Road]] *[[Garrick Street]] *[[Northumberland Avenue]] *[[Shaftesbury Avenue]] *early plans for the [[Blackwall Tunnel]] ([[1897]]) *proposal for what later became [[Tower Bridge]] ==Notable descendants== *[[Peter Bazalgette]] (great-great-grandson). <!-- The following text was in the entry for Joseph Bazalgette (I have edited it slightly): "Joseph Bazalgette's great-great-grandson is [[Peter Bazalgette]]. a television producer at the company [[Endemol]] in the late 20th and early 21st century, responsible for the [[United Kingdom|British]] version of ''[[Big Brother (TV series)|Big Brother]]'', also various food and DIY programmes including ''[[Ready Steady Cook]]'' and ''[[Changing Rooms (TV show)|Changing Rooms]]''". If this belongs in Wikipedia at all, it should be in a cross-referenced entry for Peter B. The names of shows are perhaps not relevant in an encyclopedia, being of ephemeral interest and more suitable for a Who's Who type publication? --> *[[Ian Willoughby Bazalgette|Ian Bazalgette]] (great grandson) ==External links== * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bazalgette_joseph.shtml BBC biography] * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bazalgette_joseph.shtml BBC biography] * [http://www.newcomen.com/excerpts/bazalgette.htm Newcomen Society paper] * [http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/battersea_bridge_a.html Battersea Bridge] * [http://www.crossness.org.uk/ Crossness Pumping Station] * [http://www.bazalgette.com Bazalgette family tree] * [http://www.myspace.com/eustonworms Bazalgette's appearance in Victorian fiction (audio!) ] * [http://www.auditionspace.com/The_Worms_of_Euston_Square/ Bazalgette's appearance in Victorian fiction (video!) ] == Geo Links == <!- Note for geographical/mapping links connected with Bazalgette works --> * {{coord|51.530746|-0.001754|region:GB_scale:5000_type:landmark|display=inline}} - Abbey Mills Pumping Station ==References== *''The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Capital'' - Stephen Halliday, Stroud, Gloucestershire : Sutton Pub., c1999 ISBN 0-7509-1975-2 *''Sir Joseph William Bazalgette (1819-1891): Engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works'' - D P Smith: Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 1986-87 Vol 58. *''London in the Nineteenth Century: A Human Awful Wonder of God'' - Jerry White, London : Jonathan Cape 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bazalgette, Joseph}} [[Category:English civil engineers]] [[Category:English architects]] [[Category:London water infrastructure]] [[Category:Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers]] [[Category:English people of French descent]] [[Category:1819 births]] [[Category:1891 deaths]] [[de:Joseph Bazalgette]] [[es:Joseph Bazalgette]] [[fr:Joseph Bazalgette]] [[tr:Joseph Bazalgette]]