Joseph Bazalgette

Biography

Sir Joseph William Bazalgette CB (; 28 March 1819 – 15 March 1891) was a British civil engineer. As Chief Engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation of the London Main Drainage, the sewerage system for central London, in response to the Great Stink of 1858, which was instrumental in relieving the city of cholera epidemics, while beginning to clean the River Thames.

According to the BBC, "Bazalgette drove himself to the limits in realising his subterranean dream". The first modern sewage system, which began construction in 1859, was described by The Guardian as "a wonder of the industrial world". With only minor modifications, Bazalgette's engineering achievement remains the basis for sewerage design up into the present day.

Bazalgette was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1875, and he was elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1883. He later designed the second and current Hammersmith Bridge, which opened in 1887.