George Watson Buck (1789–1854) was the engineer of the
Montgomeryshire Canal
The Montgomery Canal ( cy, Camlas Trefaldwyn), known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llanymy ...
in the early 19th century, and was responsible for the unique
lock paddle
A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...
design.
He was later resident engineer during the building of the
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
, and also designed
Stockport Viaduct
Stockport Viaduct carries the West Coast Main Line across the valley of the River Mersey in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England (). It is one of the largest brick structures in the United Kingdom and a major structure of the early railway age ...
and the Dane Valley Viaduct on the
Manchester and Birmingham Railway
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway. The M&BR was merged into the London and North Western ...
.
Early life
Buck was born on 1 April 1789 at
Stoke Holy Cross
Stoke Holy Cross is a village in South Norfolk which lies approximately south of Norwich.
Geography
Stoke sits on the River Tas. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,568 in 674 households at the 2001 census.
The village is accesse ...
, near
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
. His parents were
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
and sent him, with his two brothers, to the Quaker School at
Ackworth, West Yorkshire. With his schooling completed, his father placed him with a wholesaler at
Tower Hill
Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...
, London, as he wanted him to be involved in trade, but the position did not suit Buck, and so he looked for something else. Around 1807, the
East London Waterworks Company
The East London Waterworks Company was one of eight private water companies in London absorbed by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1904.
The company was founded by Act of Parliament in 1806, and in 1845 the limits of supply were described as ''" ...
were building Old Ford pumping station, which had been designed by
Ralph Walker, and Buck managed to secure a job there. When the job was finished, Walker moved on to
Farlington, to work on a water supply scheme for
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and
Gosport. The scheme had been authorised by an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
in 1809, and Buck went to work as resident engineer, reporting to Walker. The scheme suffered from an intermittent water supply, as did a competing scheme engineered by William Nicholson.
Canal engineer
Buck's next appointment was as engineer for the Eastern Branch of the
Montgomeryshire Canal
The Montgomery Canal ( cy, Camlas Trefaldwyn), known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llanymy ...
in 1819. The canal had been planned to run from the
Ellesmere Canal at Carreghofa to
Newtown, but construction had stopped at Garthmyl in 1797, due to a lack of funds. This section became known as the Eastern Branch. It had been built by
John Dadford
John Dadford was an England, English canal engineer, as were his father Thomas Dadford and brothers Thomas Dadford, Jr. and James Dadford. He lived from approximately 1769 to 1800, although neither date is known for certain.
Biography
John Dadfor ...
and his brother
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, both relatively inexperienced, but John had left for America before the project was completed, to be replaced by his father, also called
Thomas Dadford
Thomas Dadford Sr. (died 1809) was an English canal engineer as were his sons, Thomas Dadford Jr., John Dadford, and James Dadford.
Biography
Thomas Dadford probably originated from Stewponey or Stourton, Staffordshire, near Stourbridge. He ...
.
Construction of the rest of the line to Newtown, known as the Western Branch, and built by a company which was more or less independent, began in 1815, to the designs of
Josias Jessop
Josias Jessop (1781–1826) was a noted canal engineer, and second son of William Jessop, one of the great canal engineers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He was trained by his father, and worked under him on his early pr ...
. The work was finished in 1819, although was not declared to be complete until December 1821.
There had been problems with some of the structures on the Eastern Branch during construction, although Jessop, when asked to comment, had suggested that such problems were quite usual.
However, by the time Buck took up his position, the problems were obvious, and he embarked on a programme of reconstruction. First on the list was the Luggy Aqueduct at Brithdir, which was rebuilt with a
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
trough in the year he started. Next he introduced lock gates built of the same material, and also used it for replacing some of the bridge beams.
[ The aqueduct over the River Vyrnwy had failed during construction, when an arch collapsed,][ and by 1823, the masonry was distorted and bulging. Again, iron was Buck's material of choice, for he used ]wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
tie rods connected to cast iron facing plates to hold the structure together, with cast iron beams on the faces of the arches. Several of the aqueducts were also fitted with cast iron railings. In 1821 he designed the waterwheel used to pump water from the River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
at Newtown to the top pound of the Western Branch, and introduced the distinctive lock paddle gear to the Eastern Branch in 1831. In December 1832 he was appointed engineer of the Western Branch as well, but moved on a year later.[
]
Railway engineer
In December 1833 Buck left canal employment to join Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...
's team building the London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
. He already had some knowledge of railways, having visited the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1828, and witnessed the Rainhill Trials in the following year. He was employed as a senior assistant engineer, and his salary reflected his obvious ability and experience. He had responsibility for the line from Camden Town to Tring, and was offered the post of resident engineer for the railway after the construction project was completed in 1837, but was not happy with the conditions, and moved on work on the Manchester and Birmingham Railway
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway. The M&BR was merged into the London and North Western ...
as Engineer-in-Chief. Among his achievements on that project were the Stockport and Dane viaducts. He travelled to Germany in 1840, to work on the Altona—Kiel Railroad, but he became ill and returned to England earlier than expected.[
]
Legacy
In 1839 he published a work entitled ''A Practical and Theoretical Essay on Oblique Bridges'' in which he was the first to apply trigonometry
Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics that studies relationships between side lengths and angles of triangles. The field emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to astronomical studies ...
to the design of the skew arch
A skew arch (also known as an oblique arch) is a method of construction that enables an arch bridge to span an obstacle at some angle other than a right angle. This results in the faces of the arch not being perpendicular to its abutments and its ...
railway bridge. It was used as a standard reference work on the subject until the early 20th century, its last reprinting being in 1895. He was an active member 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 ...
from 1821. He was extremely busy during the railway mania years, but his health broke and he became deaf in the mid-1840s, retiring to the Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
. He lived at Ramsey
Ramsey may refer to:
Geography British Isles
* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England
* Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England
** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey"
* Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
, and spent his time studying the Scriptures. He remained a close friend of Robert Stephenson, who supported him throughout. He died of scarlatina on 9 March 1854 and was buried at Maughold
Maughold (also known as Macaille, Maccaldus, Machalus, Machaoi, Machella, Maghor, Mawgan, Maccul, Macc Cuill; died c. 488 AD) is venerated as the patron saint of the Isle of Man. Tradition states that he was an Irish prince and captain of a ban ...
. His wife and a daughter died of the same disease within a fortnight.[
Today a boat is named after him, which operates from Llanymynech Wharf on the Montgomery Canal.
]
Bibliography
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*
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, George W.
1789 births
1854 deaths
English canal engineers
People from South Norfolk (district)