Ernest Macartney de Burgh (; ; 18 January 1863 – 3 April 1929) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born Australian civil engineer, chief-engineer for water supply and sewerage in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Early life

De Burgh was the youngest son of the Rev. William de Burgh, D.D., and his wife Janette, née Macartney. He was born at Sandymount,

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was educated at Rathmines school and the

Royal College of Science for Ireland The Royal College of Science for Ireland (RCScI) was an institute for higher education in Dublin which existed from 1867 to 1926, specialising in physical sciences and applied science. It was originally based on St. Stephen's Green, moving in 1 ...

, and was for some time employed on railway construction in Ireland.

Engineering in Australia

De Burgh then migrated to Australia, arriving in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on the ''Orient'' 21 March 1885. Travelling to Sydney de Burgh immediately obtained a position in the

public works department and was engaged on survey work for Sydney's southern outfall sewer. In 1887 he was sent to the countryside in charge of the construction of steel bridges, and eventually became engineer of bridges. He was in this capacity responsible for several bridges over the

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

, Murrumbidgee, Lachlan, Hunter and other rivers. He was also responsible for the Hampden Bridge (see picture) over the Kangaroo River. In 1903 de Burgh became acting principal assistant engineer of water supply and sewerage, a year later visited Europe to study dam construction and water supply, and after his return did important work in connection with the

Burrinjuck Dam Burrinjuck Dam is a heritage-listed major gated concrete-walled gravity hydro-electric dam at Burrinjuck, Yass Valley Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It has three spillways across the Murrumbidgee River located in the South West Slopes regi ...

and Murrumbidgee irrigation scheme. He was appointed chief-engineer for harbours and water supply in 1909, and in 1913 chief-engineer for water supply and sewerage. He designed and supervised the construction of the great reservoirs for the Sydney water supply at

Cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble ...

, Cordeaux, Avon, and

Nepean Nepean may refer to: Places Australia *Nepean Bay, a bay in South Australia, **Nepean Bay Conservation Park, a protected area in South Australia, **Nepean Bay, South Australia, a locality *Nepean Highway, Victoria *Nepean Island (Norfolk Island) ...

, for the

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

scheme for Newcastle district, and the Umberumberka scheme at Broken Hill. While he was chief-engineer for harbours, he directed the design of the No1. Jetty at Port Kembla, a coal jetty and ship-loader of an advanced design for its time.

Later life and legacy

De Burgh was a 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 ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and was twice winner of the

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...

premium.

De Burghs Bridge De Burghs Bridge is a road bridge that carries the Lane Cove Road, part of the A3, across the Lane Cove River in Macquarie Park, Sydney, Australia. The bridge stretches from Macquarie Park in the south to West Pymble in the north. History T ...

over the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding thro ...

, Sydney, is named after him. The De Burgh Dam near the

was also named after him. The dam is considered to be the first reinforced-concrete thin arch dam in Australia. He married Constance Mary, née Yeo, on 20 March 1888 who survived him along with two sons and a daughter. (Thomas de Burgh also an engineer with MWS&DB) De Burgh retired on 22 November 1927 and died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

at , Sydney on 3 April 1929.

De Burgh timbertruss

Ernest De Burgh's bridges were the fourth type of timber truss bridge in a series of five used. These included 1865 Old PWD, 1884 McDonald, 1894 Allan, 1899 de Burgh and 1905 Dare. Each was a technical improvement on its predecessor.

Gallery

Image:KValleybridge.jpg, Image:St Albans bridge 2009.jpg, File:Maldon Bridge Cables Deck.jpg, File:De Burgh Dam 12102017.jpg,

References

Bibliography and Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Burgh, Ernest 1863 births 1929 deaths 19th-century Irish people Australian people of Irish descent Australian civil engineers Engineers from Dublin (city) 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Australia People from Sandymount Australian people of Anglo-Irish descent Infectious disease deaths in New South Wales