biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1724–94)
|
| biography:
| Civil engineer, born in Austhorpe, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. In c.1750 he moved to London as a mathematical-instrument maker. Elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1753, he won the Copley Medal for his research into the mechanics of waterwheels and windmills. He made his reputation with a design for the third Eddystone lighthouse (1756–9), using dovetailed blocks of stone. His technique became standard; the lighthouse remained in use until 1877, and was re-erected on Plymouth Hoe as a memorial. His other chief engineering works include Ramsgate Harbour (1774), the Forth and Clyde Canal, and bridges at Coldstream and Perth. |
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