John Smeaton - Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering

Recommended by the Royal Society, Smeaton designed the third Eddystone Lighthouse (1755–59). He pioneered the use of 'hydraulic lime' (a form of mortar which will set under water) and developed a technique involving dovetailed blocks of granite in the building of the lighthouse. His lighthouse remained in use until 1877 when the rock underlying the structure's foundations had begun to erode; it was dismantled and partially rebuilt at Plymouth Hoe where it is known as Smeaton's Tower. He is important in the history, rediscovery of, and development of modern cement, because he identified the compositional requirements needed to obtain "hydraulicity" in lime; work which led ultimately to the invention of Portland cement.

Deciding that he wanted to focus on the lucrative field of civil engineering, he commenced an extensive series of commissions, including:

• the Calder and Hebble Navigation (1758–70)
• Coldstream Bridge over the River Tweed (1762–67)
• Improvements to the River Lee Navigation (1765–70)
• Perth Bridge over the River Tay in Perth (1766–71)
• Ripon Canal (1766–1773)
• Smeaton's Viaduct, which carries the A616 road (part of the original Great North Road) over the River Trent between Newark and South Muskham in Nottinghamshire (1768–70)
• the Forth and Clyde Canal from Grangemouth to Glasgow (1768–77)
• Banff harbour (1770–75)
• Aberdeen bridge (1775–80)
• Peterhead harbour (1775)
• Nent Force Level (1776–77)
• Harbour works at Ramsgate (retention basin 1776-83; jetty 1788-1792)
• Hexham bridge (1777–90)
• the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal (1782–89)
• St Austell's Charlestown harbour in Cornwall (1792)

Because of his expertise in engineering, Smeaton was called to testify in court for a case related to the silting-up of the harbour at Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk in 1782: he is considered to be the first expert witness to appear in an English court. He also acted as a consultant on the disastrous 63-year-long New Harbour at Rye, designed to combat the silting of the port of Winchelsea. The project is now known informally as "Smeaton's Harbour", but despite the name his involvement was limited and occurred more than 30 years after work on the harbour commenced.