Baker, Benjamin (1840–1907)

The cantilever structure of the Forth Rail Bridge photographed from South Queensferry, West Lothian, Scotland. The bridge was built in 1890. Its central spans are 521 m/1,710 ft long.

English engineer who designed, with English engineer John Fowler (1817–1898), London's first underground railway (the Metropolitan and District) in 1869; the Forth Rail Bridge, Scotland in 1880; and the original Aswan Dam on the River Nile, Egypt. KCMG 1890.

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 in 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.