George W. Buck

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George Watson Buck (1789–1854) was a British civil engineer who helped shape Britain’s canals and railways in the early 1800s. He is known for improving the Montgomeryshire Canal with iron components and for his work on major rail projects, including the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. He also designed the Stockport and Dane Valley viaducts.

Buck was born on 1 April 1789 at Stoke Holy Cross near Norwich. His Quaker family sent him to Ackworth School. After school he tried a trade in London, but soon pursued engineering instead. Around 1807 he joined the East London Waterworks on the Old Ford pumping station project, designed by Ralph Walker. When that work finished, Buck followed Walker to Portsmouth and Gosport to help with a Parliament-approved water-supply scheme.

In 1819 he became engineer for the Eastern Branch of the Montgomeryshire Canal, which ran from Carreghofa to Newtown. Construction on the canal had stalled, so Buck led a major rebuild. He used iron for Luggy Aqueduct’s trough and for lock gates and some bridge beams. After an arch on the River Vyrnwy aqueduct collapsed during construction, he reinforced the structure with iron components. In 1821 he designed a waterwheel to pump water at Newtown and, in 1831, introduced his iron lock paddle gear on the Eastern Branch. He also worked on the Western Branch before leaving canal work in 1833.

Buck then joined Robert Stephenson on the London and Birmingham Railway as a senior assistant, responsible for the Camden Town to Tring section. After the line opened, he was offered the post of resident engineer, but declined and instead joined the Manchester and Birmingham Railway as Engineer-in-Chief, where he designed the Stockport and Dane Valley viaducts. He briefly went to Germany in 1840 to work on the Altona–Kiel line but fell ill and returned home.

In 1839 Buck published A Practical and Theoretical Essay on Oblique Bridges, the first work to apply trigonometry to the design of skew arches in railways; it remained a standard reference for many years. He was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers from 1821.

Buck’s health declined in the mid-1840s, and he retired to the Isle of Man, living at Ramsey and studying the Scriptures. He remained a friend of Robert Stephenson, who supported him. Buck died of scarlet fever on 9 March 1854 and was buried at Maughold; his wife and a daughter also died of the disease shortly after.

Today a boat on the Montgomery Canal is named after him, operating from Llanymynech Wharf.