In 1842, at the age of 23, Bazalgette established a private practice as a consulting engineer on Great George Street, Westminster. Joseph Bazalgette Engineer and Saviour of London he designed and engineered the London Victorian Sewer System. While he was recovering, London's Metropolitan Commission of Sewers ordered that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames. Joseph Bazalgette was appointed Engineer of the Board earning a salary of 1000 pounds per year. Sir Joseph William Bazalgette (28 March 1819 – 15 March 1891) was one of the great Victorian civil engineers. Bazalgatte famously replied, “Well, we’re only going to do this once.”. His plans were based on the whole of London being as densely populated as the densest district and each person having rather ‘frequent’ toilet visits. In July 2020, it was announced that a new public space west of Blackfriars Bridge, formed following construction of the Thames Tideway Scheme, would be named the Bazalgette Embankment. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. The task was taken on by chief engineer Joseph Bazalgette, who designed and constructed five major brick-lined sewers measuring 132 km (82 miles); three north of the river and two to the south. This page was last modified 13:05, 16 Jun 2005. He was born in Enfield, the son of a captain in the Royal Navy and grandson of a French immigrant, and began his career working on railway projects articled to noted engineer Sir John MacNeill and gaining sufficient experience (some in Northern Ireland) in land drainage and reclamation works for him to set up his own London consulting practice in 1842. While architects such as the famous Marc Brunel have enormous memorials in their honor, Bazalgette has a rather modest plaque on the Victoria Embankment. These embankments would eventually house various Underground lines. Joseph William married Theresa Philo Pilton and gave birth to nine children, one of whom being their only son, Sir Joseph Bazalgette. The Bazalgette family is of French Origin. The system was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1865, although the whole project was not actually completed for another ten years. Bazalgette's solution (similar to a proposal made by painter John Martin 25 years earlier) was to construct 83 miles of brick-built sewers to intercept sewage outflows, and 1100 miles of street sewers, to prevent raw sewage running into the river. Additionally, the Board was designed to carry out all the Metropolitan improvements, including roadwork, street lighting, bridges and tunnels. Joseph’s grandfather, Jean Louis, was born … In 1884, Sir Joseph Bazalgette became the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a premier organization that represents civil engineers. Championed by fellow engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Bazalgette was then appointed chief engineer of the Commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1856 (a post he retained until the MBW was abolished and replaced by the London County Council in 1889). Bazalgette lived at 17 Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood, north London, for some years. Joseph Bazalgette was responsible for a revolutionary sewer system that supported the most massive city at the time and vastly improved the quality of live in London in the late 19th century. This wasn’t akin to asking for a few pennies either, Bazalgette’s plans were colossal, involving 7 times more tunnelling than today’s landmark Crossrail. This transformed the structure of public works in London and resulted in a faster and more efficient approach to solving the city’s drainage problem. At that time, the River Thames was little more than an open sewer, empty of any fish or other wildlife, and an obvious health hazard to Londoners. The cost would be enormous. In 1845 at Westminster, he married Maria Kough (1819–1902). This new body combined what were previously seven different drainage districts. Sir Joseph Bazalgette was connected with the Institution for more than fifty-three years, and at the time of his death only four members survived of older standing than himself. The records are held by Thames Water in large blue binders gold-blocked reading "Metropolitan Board of Works" and then dated, usually two per year. Although Bazalgette did not know it at the time, his developments in London’s sewage system led to its evasion of the 1892 cholera outbreak that started in nearby Hamburg. At first, this caused the ‘Great Stink’; the smelliest London on record. On 20 February 1845, Joseph married Maria Keogh at St. Margaret’s Westminster. While he was recovering, London's shortlived Metropolitan Commission of Sewers ordered that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames; a cholera epidemic (1848-49) then killed 14,137 Londoners. These embankments, named Victoria, Albert and Chelsea, contained intercepting sewers that ran adjacent to the River Thames and carried waste to outfall centers in East London. Entering as a Graduate on the 6th of March, 1838, he was transferred to the class of Member on the 17th of February, 1846. In 1827 when Joseph was eight years old, the family moved into a newly-built house in Hamilton Terrace, St. John's Wood, London. Championed by fellow engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Bazalgette was appointed chief engineer of the Commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works, in 1856 (a post which he retained until the MBW was abolished and replaced by the London County Council in 1889). The unintended consequence of the new sewer system was to eliminate cholera everywhere in the water system, whether or not it stank. The lead partners are Westminster City Archives; the project is supported by Thames Water, WaterAid, The John Snow Society and the London City Mission. Londoners who can remember the state of London and of the Thames about thirty-five years ago, before those vast undertakings of the Metropolitan Board of Works, the system of main drainage and the magnificent Thames Embankment, which have contributed some much to sanitary improvement and to the convenience and stateliness of this immense city, will regret the death of the able official chief engineer, Sir Joseph Bazalgette.