- James Meadows Rendel (engineer)
James Meadows Rendel FRS (December
1799 -21 November 1856 ) was a Britishcivil engineer .Infobox Engineer
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name = James Meadows Rendel
nationality = English
birth_date = December 1799
birth_place =Okehampton ,Devon
death_date =November 21 1856
death_place =Kensington Palace Gardens ,London
education =
spouse =
parents =
children =
discipline =civil engineer
institutions =Institution of Civil Engineers (president) Fellow of theRoyal Society
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significant_awards =Early life & career
Rendel, the son of a farmer and surveyor, was born near
Okehampton ,Devon , in 1799. He was initiated into the operations of a millwright under an uncle atTeignmouth , while from his father he learnt the rudiments of civil engineering. At an early age he went toLondon as a surveyor underThomas Telford , by whom he was employed on the surveys for the proposed suspension bridge across the Mersey atRuncorn . About 1822 he settled atPlymouth , and commenced the construction of roads in the north of Devon. In August 1824 he was employed by the Earl of Morley in making a bridge across the Catwater, an estuary of the Plym within the harbour of Plymouth at Laira. To guard against the undermining effects of the current, he formed an artificial bottom. The bridge, which cost £27,126, was opened on14 July 1827 . With the exception of 1819John Rennie Southwark Bridge over the Thames, it was the largest iron structure then existing, and Rendel received aTelford medal from theInstitution of Civil Engineers .Plymouth partnership
He soon entered into partnership at Plymouth with Nathaniel Beardmore, and his practice rapidly grew. In 1826 he erected
Bowcombe Bridge , nearKingsbridge , Devon, whenhydraulic power was first applied to the machinery for makingswing bridge s. In 1831 he introduced a new system of crossing rivers by means of chain ferries worked by steam, and in 1832 he constructed afloating bridge on this principle, crossing the Dart at Dartmouth. Between 1832 and 1834 similarfloating bridges were erected atTorpoint andSaltash across the Tamar, which greatly facilitated the intercourse between Devon andCornwall . For these achievements a second Telford medal was awarded to Rendel. TheTorpoint Ferry still operates, albeit much updated. A similarfloating bridge was implemented as theWoolston ferry betweenWoolston, Hampshire andSouthampton in 1836.During this period Rendel was also engaged in reporting on harbours and rivers in the southwest of England, and thus acquired that mastery of hydraulic engineering on which his fame chiefly rests. In 1829 he designed the harbour which was afterwards executed at Par in Cornwall; in 1835 he carried out works on the
Bude harbour, dock, and canal, and in 1836 he designedBrixham harbour and the breakwater atTorquay . In 1836-37 he designed, as a terminus to theGreat Western Railway , the Millbay Docks, Ply mouth, afterwards executed byIsambard Kingdom Brunel . In 1843-44 he constructedcanal s in Devon, and was engaged on theColchester and Arundel navigation ; and in 1844 he designed harbour improvements forNewhaven andLittlehampton inSussex . At the same time he was largely employed on marine works by theadmiralty and other government departments, as well as by public companies. The exchequer loan commissioners engaged him in 1835-37 in the repair of theMontrose suspension bridge after its fall. There he introduced the principle oftruss ing the framing of the roadway. This system of preventing the undulation, by which so many structures of the kind have been destroyed, was quickly acknowledged to be essential to their safety.London practice
About 1838 Rendel dissolved his partnership with Beardmore at Plymouth, and settled in London, but still was chiefly employed on work for his native county. In 1841 he constructed the Millbay pier, Plymouth, a work of considerable difficulty owing to the depth of water in which it was built. Here he first introduced the method of construction since employed in
Holyhead and Portland harbours. In 1839 he was engaged in preparing schemes for a railway between Exeter and Plymouth, running overDartmoor . At the time sufficient funds could not be raised, but an alternative coast line was afterwards carried out by I. K. Brunel. In 1843 he made plans for docks atBirkenhead , which he defended before parliamentary committees against hostile local influence. The contest was long protracted, and the incessant labour served to shorten Rendel's life; his published evidence forms a valuable record of engineering practice of the period. In 1844-53 he constructed docks atGrimsby ; in 1848-53 extensions of the docks atLeith ; in 1850-53 docks atGarston on the Mersey, with extensions of the East and West India and the London docks. As constructor of the Grimsby docks he was one of the first to apply W. G. Armstrong's system of hydraulic machinery for working the lock gates, sluices, cranes, &c. For this work he received a grand medal of honour at the Paris exhibition of 1855. For the admiralty he planned in 1845, and afterwards constructed, the packet and refuge harbour at Holyhead, and in 1847 he constructed the harbour of refuge at Portland. In the making of these great harbours he contrived, by means of elevated timber staging, to let down masses of stone vertically from railway trucks, and, by building up the masonry with unexampled rapidity to a point above sea level, contrived to reduce to comparative insignificance the force of the sea during building operations. As many as 24,000 tons (24 kt) of stone were deposited in one week. In 1850 he commenced making a new harbour atSt. Peter Port ,Guernsey .River improvements
Rendel was much occupied in the improvement of rivers. In 1852, in conjunction with Sir
William Cubitt andRichard John Griffith , he examined and reported to the treasury upon the arterial drainage works inIreland , and in 1855 he completed the suspension bridge across the Ness atInverness for the commissioners of highland roads and bridges. His aid was also sought by foreign countries. In 1852-53 he designed docks forGenoa ; in 1853-55 he reported on the harbour ofRio de Janeiro ; in 1854 he reported to thePrussia n government on a naval establishment at Heppens on the river Jade; and in 1854-55, by direction of theHamburg senate, he inspected theElbe from Hamburg toCuxhaven . For the Spanish, he devised a system of railways betweenMadrid andOviedo , as well as improvements of the riverEbro .In England his railway work was somewhat restricted, but he executed the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction line and in
India he directed the construction of the East Indian and the Madras railways. In 1856 he reported on the newWestminster Bridge . His last work was a design for the suspension bridge across the ornamental water inSt. James's Park , London.In 1852 and 1853 Rendel served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, which he joined in 1824. He became a fellow of the
Royal Society on 23 Feb. 1843, and was elected a member of the council. He died at 10Kensington Palace Gardens , London, on 21 Nov. 1856.Legacy
Rendel was a man of great energy, and implicit confidence was felt in his efficiency, tact, and honesty. His greatest enterprises were the construction of the harbours at Holyhead and Portland works, which go some way to justify the linking of his name with Smeaton, Rennie, and Telford.
Rendel contributed several valuable papers to the 'Proceedings' of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He married Catherine Jane Harris, who died on 18 July 1884, aged 87. His third son, Stuart Rendel, at one time managing partner in London of Sir William Armstrong's engineering firm, was M.P. for
Montgomeryshire from 1880-94, and was raised to the peerage as Lord Rendel in 1895. Other children include:*Sir
Alexander Meadows Rendel (1829-1918) - civil engineer
*George Wightwick Rendel (1833-1902) - civil engineer
*Emily Frances Rendel (1836-1897) marriedCharles Bowen, 1st Baron Bowen in 1862.
*Emily Catherine Rendel (1840-1921) marriedClement Francis Wedgwood in 1866
*Hamilton Rendel (1843-1902)References
*DNB
s-start s-npo|pro s-bef|before=
William Cubitt s-ttl|title=President of theInstitution of Civil Engineers
years=December 1851 – December 1853 s-aft|after=James Simpson endPersondata
NAME= Rendel, James Meadows
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH= December 1799
PLACE OF BIRTH=Okehampton ,Devon
DATE OF DEATH=November 21 1856
PLACE OF DEATH=Kensington Palace Gardens ,London
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