- English engineer
who designed, with English engineer John Fowler (1817-1898), London's
first underground railway (the Metropolitan and District) 1869; the
Forth Rail Bridge, Scotland, 1890; and the original Aswan Dam on the
river Nile, Egypt.
- Baker was born
near Frome, Somerset, and at 16 was apprenticed at Neath Abbey ironworks.
- In 1862 he joined
the staff of John Fowler, becoming his partner 1875.
- In the construction
of the Central Line of the London Underground, Baker incorporated
an ingenious energy-conservation measure: he dipped the line between
stations to reduce the need both for braking to a halt and for the
increase in power required to accelerate away.
- The Forth Bridge
was built just after the collapse of the Tay Bridge 1879, and made
Baker's name internationally.
- It is a cantilever
structure of mild steel, which had just become available through the
new Siemens open-hearth process.
- The two main
spans are each of 521 m/1,710 ft.
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