2nd August 2008
Engineers & Engineering
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1724-1792
The Lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks near Plymouth, England, - Completed in 1759
Lighthouse with a team of stonemasons
and built an interlocking circular structure of such great strength that it is still used as a model for the construction
and built an interlocking circular structure of such great strength that it is still used as a model for the construction
The Lighthouse was moved stone-by-stone from the rocks on which it stood to a site on Plymouth Hoe as when the rocks on which it stood developed significant cracking.
of lighthouses to this day. Smeaton developed designs for Tidal-Power mills and worked on improving the diving bell equipment of Edmund Halley ( of Halley’s Comet fame.) Smeaton also pioneered the use of cast iron in the construction of machinery - and developed other scientific instruments using the skills he developed after leaving his early career in law within his father’s law firm, amongst which were a navigational
aid for mariners based on a rapidly revolving disc and a
aid for mariners based on a rapidly revolving disc and a
pyrometer for measuring the expansion of materials with changes in temperature.
Smeaton’s work with water and air, whilst examining potential power sources for generating equipment, led
him to develop a fuller understanding than that of the time - that pressure reduced with increasing speed of flow.
It is this principle that the Wright Brothers used - as does any aircraft - to obtain lift from the moving air over wings.
Errors in the value assigned to this effect by other scientists were corrected by Smeaton and the naming of the constant of proportionality as the “Smeaton coeffcient” has been his reward.
Smeaton’s work with water and air, whilst examining potential power sources for generating equipment, led
him to develop a fuller understanding than that of the time -
It is this principle that the Wright Brothers used -
Errors in the value assigned to this effect by other scientists were corrected by Smeaton and the naming of the constant of proportionality as the “Smeaton coeffcient” has been his reward.
John Smeaton was involved in a series of significant constructions either as architect or engineer during the late 18th Century;
These included ..
The Coldstream Bridge - River Tweed Scotland
Lee Navigation in Hertfordshire - North London
Newark Viaduct - Nottingham ( 2 )
Charlestown Harbour - St Austell Cornwall
Many of these projects used the new “Hydraulic Lime” - a cement designed to set beneath water and for which Smeaton was a pioneer in its use.
These included ..
The Coldstream Bridge -
Lee Navigation in Hertfordshire -
Newark Viaduct -
Charlestown Harbour -
Many of these projects used the new “Hydraulic Lime” -
Coldstream Bridge
Hexham Bridge
Charlestown harbour -St Austell Cornwall