- Patrick Meik
Patrick Meik (born? - died 1910) was an English
engineer and part of a minor engineering dynasty. His fatherThomas Meik was also an engineer, as was Patrick's brotherCharles Meik .Both boys were born in Crowtree Road, Bishopwearmouth,
Sunderland .Patrick went to work for his father and worked on Meik's harbours at
Burntisland andBo'ness on theriver Forth in Scotland before being asked by SirBenjamin Baker to be resident engineer (1882-1885) on the foundations and piers of the Forth Bridge (designed by Baker and Sir John Fowler). After this project, he moved toLondon to set up his own engineering practice.In 1894, he was joined by his brother Charles and together they worked on a major commission to construct docks and a railway at
Port Talbot , followed by an equally ambitious scheme to expand the port ofSeaham , officially opened in 1905. The Meiks' expertise saw port and railway designs developed in many parts of the British Empire, includingChristmas Island ,India ,Burma (the Rangoon River training works - where Patrick worked with Sir George Buchanan) andMozambique .In the 1900s, their firm was commissioned to design the
Kinlochleven hydroelectric scheme in theScottish Highlands .William Halcrow , later Sir Willam Halcrow, joined the company and took up the position of assistant resident engineer at the Kinlochleven project. The Meik brothers' engineering practice was later renamed CS Meik and Halcrow and today remains one of the world's foremost engineering consultancies, the Halcrow Group.Patrick Meik died in 1910, mourned as "an able and accomplished engineer: whose "kindness of heart and social qualities endeared him to a large circle of friends".
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