Sir Joseph Bazalgette Monument
Joseph William Bazalgette was born at Hill Lodge, Clay Hill, Enfield, London in 1819 and began his career working on railway projects. In 1847 Bazalgette suffered a nervous breakdown. While recovering, London's Metropolitan Commission of Sewers ordered all cesspits closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames. As a result, a cholera epidemic (1848-49) killed 14,137 Londoners. Bazalgette was appointed assistant surveyor to the Commission in 1849, taking over as Engineer in 1852, after his predecessor died. Soon after, another cholera epidemic struck, in 1853, killing 10,738. Championed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Bazalgette was appointed chief engineer of the Commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works, in 1856.
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. Bazalgette's solution (similar to a proposal made by painter John Martin 25 years earlier) was to construct 1,800 km of underground brick main sewers to intercept sewage outflows, and 1,800 km of street sewers, 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 built only decades later. The system was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1865, although the whole project was not actually completed for another 10 years.
Bazalgette's foresight may be seen in the diameter of the sewers. When planning the network he took the densest 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 then 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. Bazalgette was knighted in 1875, and elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1883. There is a blue plaque in his honour where he lived at 17 Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood.
A formal monument (above) on the riverside of the Victoria Embankment in central London commemorates Bazalgette's genius. The Victoria Embankment's construction began under his direction in 1865 and was completed in 1870. The original impetus was the need to provide London with a modern sewerage system and relieve traffic congestion on The Strand and Fleet Street. The project involved building out on to the foreshore of the Thames, narrowing the river. The cut and cover tunnel for the Metropolitan District Railway (now the District and Circle Lines of London Underground) was built within the Embankment and roofed over to take the roadway. At ground level, in addition to the new roads, two handsome public gardens were laid out. One of these backs onto the government buildings of Whitehall, and the other stretches from Hungerford Bridge to Waterloo Bridge. The gardens contain a large bandstand and the 1626 watergate of the former York House built for the Duke of Buckingham.
Sir Joseph Bazalgette Monument
Joseph William Bazalgette was born at Hill Lodge, Clay Hill, Enfield, London in 1819 and began his career working on railway projects. In 1847 Bazalgette suffered a nervous breakdown. While recovering, London's Metropolitan Commission of Sewers ordered all cesspits closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames. As a result, a cholera epidemic (1848-49) killed 14,137 Londoners. Bazalgette was appointed assistant surveyor to the Commission in 1849, taking over as Engineer in 1852, after his predecessor died. Soon after, another cholera epidemic struck, in 1853, killing 10,738. Championed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Bazalgette was appointed chief engineer of the Commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works, in 1856.
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. Bazalgette's solution (similar to a proposal made by painter John Martin 25 years earlier) was to construct 1,800 km of underground brick main sewers to intercept sewage outflows, and 1,800 km of street sewers, 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 built only decades later. The system was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1865, although the whole project was not actually completed for another 10 years.
Bazalgette's foresight may be seen in the diameter of the sewers. When planning the network he took the densest 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 then 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. Bazalgette was knighted in 1875, and elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1883. There is a blue plaque in his honour where he lived at 17 Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood.
A formal monument (above) on the riverside of the Victoria Embankment in central London commemorates Bazalgette's genius. The Victoria Embankment's construction began under his direction in 1865 and was completed in 1870. The original impetus was the need to provide London with a modern sewerage system and relieve traffic congestion on The Strand and Fleet Street. The project involved building out on to the foreshore of the Thames, narrowing the river. The cut and cover tunnel for the Metropolitan District Railway (now the District and Circle Lines of London Underground) was built within the Embankment and roofed over to take the roadway. At ground level, in addition to the new roads, two handsome public gardens were laid out. One of these backs onto the government buildings of Whitehall, and the other stretches from Hungerford Bridge to Waterloo Bridge. The gardens contain a large bandstand and the 1626 watergate of the former York House built for the Duke of Buckingham.