Sir Basil Mott, 1st Baronet, FRS (16 September 1859 – 7 September 1938) was one of the most notable English

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

s of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was responsible for some of the most innovative work on tunnels and bridges in the United Kingdom in the 40-year period centred on

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early career

Basil Mott was born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

on 16 September 1859. He was educated at the International School,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and at the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

where he won the

Murchison medal The Murchison Medal is an academic award established by Roderick Murchison, who died in 1871. First awarded in 1873, it is normally given to people who have made a significant contribution to geology by means of a substantial body of research and ...

in 1879. He was first employed as a mining engineer with the

Neston Neston is a town and civil parish on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, England. It is part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The village of Parkgate is located to the north west and the villages of Little Neston and Ness ...

Colliery Co. in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

but in 1886 was invited by J H Greathead to join the staff of the

City & South London Railway The City and South London Railway (C&SLR) was the first successful deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction. The railway was originally intended for cable-hauled trains, but owing ...

(C&SLR), for which Greathead was Engineer. His work on the C&SLR gave him a taste for underground construction works that influenced the remaining 40 years of his professional life. He did well at the C&SLR and was promoted, first to resident engineer (RE) for the extension of the C&SLR from

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

, then to RE for the entire line. After the railway opened in 1890, he was retained as Engineer by the operating company: this gave him the opportunity to develop techniques for carrying out reconstruction works during overnight possessions of the tunnels, techniques which are still used on LU today. Shortly after Greathead's death in October 1896, Benjamin Baker formed a partnership with Mott for the design of the

Central London Railway The Central London Railway (CLR), also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railwayA "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a cylindrical tunnel by the use of a tunnelling shield, usually deep below gr ...

. Their association continued with the extensions and rebuilding on the C&SLR (including the underpinning of St Mary Woolnoth church at Bank) and the widening of

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Chu ...

. They worked from the same offices until Baker's death in 1907.

Mott, Hay and Anderson

1n 1902, Mott formed what turned out to be a lifelong partnership with another protégé of Baker's,

David Hay David Hay (born 29 January 1948) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He broke into the Celtic team in the late 1960s, as one of a generation of players who continued a highly successful era for the club. A contract dispute betwe ...

. Subsequently, the partnership of Mott and Hay (now

Mott MacDonald The Mott MacDonald Group is a consultancy headquartered in the United Kingdom. It employs 16,000 staff in 150 countries. Mott MacDonald is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world. It was established in 1989 by the merger of M ...

) worked on extending the

, the building of escalators in

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

and the construction of the Tyne and

Southwark Bridge Southwark Bridge ( ) is an arch bridge in London, for traffic linking the district of Southwark and the City across the River Thames. Besides when others are closed for temporary repairs, it has the least traffic of the Thames bridges in Londo ...

s. It also designed the underpinning required to stabilise

Clifford's Tower York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It consists of a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruined ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. During the first world war, Basil Mott visited France and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, advising the government on solving engineering problems. He was created a

Companion of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

(CB) in 1918 in recognition of these services. The

Mersey Tunnel The Mersey Tunnels connect the city of Liverpool with Wirral, under the River Mersey. There are three tunnels: the Mersey Railway Tunnel (opened 1886), and two road tunnels, the Queensway Tunnel (opened 1934) and the Kingsway Tunnel (opened 1 ...

, which he worked on between 1922 and 1934, is his most well-known work. From the outset, it was designed on a large scale; it is still the longest, widest road tunnel in Great Britain. Basil Mott was Engineer for the works, in association with J. A. Brodie, Engineer for the City of Liverpool. His partnership (by then named

Mott, Hay and Anderson Mott, Hay and Anderson (MHA) was a successful 20th century firm of consulting civil engineers based in the United Kingdom. The company traded until 1989, when it merged with Sir M MacDonald & Partners to form '' Mott MacDonald''. History Earl ...

) designed and supervised the construction of the Mersey Tunnel in its entirety. In 1924, he was elected President of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

. In 1926 he was hired by Southampton council to investigate the various options for building a fixed crossing across the lower River Itchen. Along with proving costs for a tunnel and a high level crossing he recommended a low level opening span bridge. Basil Mott's other post-

WW1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

works include the extension to

Morden Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester Pa ...

of the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

, the enlargement of the original C&SLR tunnels from 10' 6" to 11' 8" (using a tunnelling shield which could be worked at night but through which trains could drive during the day), the Jubilee Bridge and work on the

Tees Newport Bridge The Tees Newport Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge spanning the River Tees a short distance upriver from Tees Transporter Bridge, linking Middlesbrough with the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Northern England. It no longer lifts, but still acts a ...

. In 1930, aged 71, he gave evidence to a British government inquiry on the engineering aspects of a proposed

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...

(which was not built, though Mott, Hay and Anderson designed the bulk of the successful scheme for Channel Tunnel half a century later). In the same year he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. In May 1932 he became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

—a rare honour for a civil engineer. He died on 7 September 1938, in London. The baronetcy is currently held by his great-grandson, David Hugh Mott (born 1952).

References

Bibliography

* ''Mott, Hay & Anderson, Consulting Civil Engineers'', Newman Neame Ltd., 1965 * Mott MacDonald, ''The Channel Tunnel; A Designer's Perspective'', 1994 * Greathead, J. H., ''The City and South London Railway'' – Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol 123, 1895 * Mott, B. and Hay, D., ''Underground Railways in Great Britain'', Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. 54, part F: (1905) * Anderson, D., ''Tube Railway Tunnelling'', Transactions of the Liverpool Engineering Society, vol. 45, pp. 201–228 * Mersey Tunnels Joint Committee, ''The Story of the Mersey Tunnel, officially named Queensway,'' 1934 * Anderson, D., ''The Construction of the Mersey Tunnel,'' Paper 5056, Journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1935–36, vol. 2, pp 473–544. * Correspondence about ''Anderson on Construction of the Mersey Tunnel,'' Journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1935–36, vol. 2, pp 649–660. * Mott, Hay & Anderson, ''Some Recent Tunnelling in Great Britain,'' The Consulting Engineer, December 1949, pp. 344–351 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mott, Basil 1859 births 1938 deaths People from Leicester Mott, Basil, 1st Baronet English civil engineers Companions of the Order of the Bath Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Fellows of the Royal Society