The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian CapitalSutton, 1999 - 210 páginas In the sweltering summer of 1858 the stink of sewage from the polluted Thames was so offensive that it drove Members of Parliament from the chamber of the House of Commons. Sewage generated by a population of over two million Londoners was pouring into the river and was being carried to and fro by the tides. The Times called the crisis "The Great Stink". Parliament had to act - drastic measures were required to clean the Thames and to improve London's primitive system of sanitation. The great engineer entrusted by Parliament with this enormous task was Sir Joseph Bazalgette, and this book is a fascinating account of his life and work. Bazalgette's response to the challenge was to conceive and build the system of intercepting sewers, pumping stations and treatment works that serves London to this day. In the process he cleansed the River Thames of the capital's sewage and helped to banish cholera, which in the mid-nineteenth century carried off over 40,000 Londoners. But this successful scheme was only one element in Bazalgette's wider contribution to the development of the Victorian capital. He also reclaimed land from the Thames to construct the Victoria, Albert and Chelsea Embankments, built bridges across the Thames at Putney, Battersea and Hammersmith, and created many notable new thoroughfares including Charing Cross Road, Northumberland Avenue and Shaftesbury Avenue. Stephen Halliday's enthralling social and personal history gives a vivid insight into Bazalgette's achievements and the era in which he worked and lived. The author traces the origins of Bazalgette's family in revolutionary France, the confusing sanitation system that he inherited from medieval and Tudor times and his heroic battle with politicians, bureaucrats and huge engineering problems to transform the face and health of the world's largest city. |
Índice
who was Joseph Bazalgette? | 1 |
Londons Sanitation before 1850 | 17 |
No filth in the sewers | 35 |
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The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the ... Stephen Halliday,Adam Hart-Davis Vista previa restringida - 2001 |
The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the ... Stephen Halliday Vista previa restringida - 2001 |
The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the ... Stephen Halliday No hay ninguna vista previa disponible - 2023 |
Términos y frases comunes
Abbey Mills Albert Embankment Annual Report 1888 appointed August Bazalgette's became Bill Bridge Brunel Builder built cause century cesspools Chapter Chelsea Embankment Chief Engineer cholera cholera epidemic City Civil Engineers Commissioners construction contract Corporation of London cost courtesy Crossness death discharge disease districts drainage system drains Edwin Chadwick Farr Guildhall Library Health Ibid Illustrated London improvements Institution of Civil intercepting sewers Isambard Kingdom Brunel January Jean-Louis John John Thwaites July June Labouring land later main drainage manure Metropolis Metropolitan Archives Metropolitan Board Metropolitan Sewage Minutes of Proceedings northern November October outfall Park Parliament Parliamentary Papers plans pollution population Portland cement problems proposed pumping station railway ratepayers river Royal Commission Sanitary Condition scheme Select Committee sewage sewage utilisation Sir Joseph Bazalgette Stink Street Thames Embankment Thames Water Thames Water plc Thwaites town tunnel vestries Victoria Embankment water supply water-closet Westminster