The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-10 00:00:00

The Institution of Civil Engineers.

The inaugural address, delivered by Mr. John
Fowler yesterday evening on assuming the chair of
this institution as its president, referred to the ra-
pidly increasing prominence of the profession, due to
the high degree of material prosperity so long en-
joyed by this country and its dependencies, natu-
rally leading to great activity in public works.
Hence corresponding care was demanded for its
efficiency and dignity ; and in this view the Presi-
dent suggested that the present was a fitting mo-
ment for considering the means by which the
younger members might be best prepared for the
arduous duties and growing difficulties which they
would undoubtedly have to encounter. This was all
the more necessary, as it was becoming apparent that
engineers of every nation would enter into competi-
tion in many parts of the world, and as great efforts
were being made on the Continent and in the New
World, by special scholastic education and careful
practical training, to render the engineers of those
countries formidable rivals. While the address deals
almost exclusively with the future, Mr. Fowler, ex-
pressing peculiar sympathy with the younger mem-
bers, and feeling a strong desire to be useful to
them, some of the engineering problems of the
present time were noticed, and a few of the works
most remarkable for boldness and novelty were
alluded to. From this review the President thought
it was plain that in every department of civil en-
gineering the wants of commerce and society were
pressing more and more urgently upon the re-
sources of the profession. We had ship canals, but
the Suez Canal threw them all into the shade.
We had long tunnels through English mountains,
but we had now to penetrate the Alps. We had large
bridges, but larger were required. We had noble
ports, but they were chocked with trade, and new
accommodation of an improved kind was called for.
We had steam ferries across rivers, estuaries, and
straits, and rapid ocean steamers, but higher speed
and better accommodation were demanded. We had
large -warehouses, with convenient mechanical ap-
pliances, but larger warehouses and better mechani-
cal appliances had become a necessity. We had
many thousands of miles of telegraphic communica-
tion, but nothing short of its universal extension
would suffice. In the solution of these and other
problems that would arise it was certain that the
difficulties would not be overcome by a stroke of
genius or by a sudden happy thought, but that they
would have to be worked out patiently by the com-
bination of true engineering principles and sound
judgment. Although men had existed from the
earliest times who were distinguished by great me-
chanical capacity, remarkable skill in working ma-
terials, profound science, and constructive know-
ledge, yet it was only during the present century
that civil engineering could be considered to have
become a distinct and recognised profession. It had
assumed at once the position of an art of the highest
order ; and perhaps, without arrogance, it might lay
claim to the title of true science. It was not easy
to define, in a brief and simple manner, the special
objects and limits of the profession, and an enume-
ration of some of the more important works the
civil engineer was required to design and execute
would serve to indicate the nature of the duties he
was called upon to perform. Thus the works in-
trusted to him related to-1, railways, roads, canals,
and all modes of inland communication ; 2, water
supply, gas-works, sewerage, and all other works
upon which the health and convenience of the in-
habitants of towns and cities were dependent; 3,
the reclamation, drainage, and irritation of large
tracts of country ; 4, harbours of refuge and of
commerce, docks, piers, and other branches of
hydraulic engineering ; 5, works connected with
large mines, quarries, ironworks, and other branches
of mineral engineering ; and 6, works on a large
scale connected with steam engines, with machinery,
shipbuilding, and mechanical engineering. This list
must appear almost appalling to a young engineer,
yet it greatly concerned his future success that he
should be prepared to undertake any or all of these
works. The personal history of most members of
the profession would show that circumstances had
led them in a widely different direction than that
originally contemplated, and the success of many
might be distinctly traced to their ability to avail
themselves of opportunities of advancement in some
department other than that which they had been
previously following. The first question which
would present- itself, with respect to any proposed
work, was the choice of materials ; and on this sub-
ject the President dwelt, for the benefit of the younger
members, on many matters of detail as to the quali-
ties of stone, brick, mortar and cement, cast and
wrought iron, steel and timber suited for engineer-
ing works, for the purpose of illustrating that in the
selection of materials alone a large amount of pre-
liminary information was required, having regard to
their efficiency, durability, and economy. The kind
and degree of knowledge necessary to enable an en-
gineer to design and execute, and the various classes
of works before alluded to, were then successively
noticed, and it was remarked that without possess-
ing the practical knowledge which was obtained by
having first performed the duties of a resident engi-
neer in immediate charge of works, it was hopeless
to expect that any engineer could be competent to
undertake the responsibility of important enter-
prises, or be fit to have large sums of money in-
trusted to him for expenditure. It was in the capa-
city of a resident engineer that all previous prepara-
tion, scholastic and professional, and all theoretical
acquirements became utilised and rendered of
practical value, and it was only after much expe-
rience on different works of varied character,
dimensions, and materials, by which the mode of
execution, the real value or cost, and the know-
ledge of good and bad materials and workmanship,
were thoroughly and familiarly impressed on the
mind, and that a young student of engineering
could claim to take rank as a civil engineer. In
treating of the different classes of public works, the
President observed that the harbours of refuge
being large and costly works were necessarily few
in number and slow in progress of execution, and
had generally been so often changed from their ori-
ginal object and design that scarcely any engineer-
ing works had given less satisfaction, either to the
profession or to the public ; but it was believed that
if Government would accurately appreciate before-
hand the objects desired to be attained, and would
boldly grapple with the difficulties and cost of a
well-matured design, better and more useful works
might be accomplished in the Suture; The water-
works engineer would have to solve one of the great
problems brought about by the rapid increase of
population--this was a comprehensive system of
conservancy of the flood waters of mountainous
localities for the use of large cities and towns, and
of densely populated districts. In many instances,
the present arrangements for water supply were
quite insufficient, and the convenience, comfort,
and health of the public demanded that such works,
when required, should be no longer postponed.
Again, the discharge of collected sewage, without
any attempt at purification or deodorization, into
streams of pure water, was a gigantic evil, which
had been created by certain drainage and sewerage
works already executed, and where the convenience
and comfort of one set of people had been obtained
by the infliction of a nuisance upon others. It was
remarkable that an injustice so great and an evil so
intolerable should in any case have been permitted
by Parliament, or by the general law of the land—