John Alexander Brodie (1858 – 1934) was an English

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. He was especially known for his contribution to

town planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, notably as one of the engineers who led the design of the Mersey Tunnel under the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...

.Mersey Gateway biography

Early life

John Alexander Brodie was born in

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

on 1 June 1858. His father, James Brodie, was a Scottish man from Kettins. Brodie served his apprenticeship in 1875, working in the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board engineering department under Chief Engineer

George Fosbery Lyster George Fosbery Lyster FRSE (1821–1899) succeeded John Hartley as Engineer in Chief to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. He is usually referred to as G. F. Lyster. Life He was born on 7 September 1821 at Mount Talbot in County Roscommo ...

. In 1879, he won scholarships to study mathematics at

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

. After graduation, he served a three-year traineeship in the office of Sir

Joseph Whitworth Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for scre ...

Civil engineering career

After a short spell working for the Liverpool City Engineer's Department, he set up a private consultancy and spent some time working in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, Spain. He returned to Britain in 1884. Brodie was a keen sportsman and played

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. In 1889 he invented the goal net for use in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

matches, and he said that this was the invention of which he was the most proud. Brodie returned to

in 1898 as the city engineer suggesting several improvements for the town such as the UK's first

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

, electric trams and the

East Lancashire Road The A580 (officially the Liverpool–East Lancashire Road, colloquially the East Lancs Road) is the United Kingdom's first purpose-built inter-city highway. The road, which remains a primary A road, was officially opened by King George V on 1 ...

, the UK's first intercity highway. He pioneered a new system of road layout, in which conventional road traffic would run along a

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

with the

central reservation The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ...

being used for a segregated

reserved track Reserved track, in tram transport terminology, is track on ground exclusively for trams (in the US, typically called a "private right-of-way"). Description Unlike street running track embedded in streets and roads, reserved track does not need t ...

for

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

s. This layout formed the basis of Brodie's wide new boulevards such as

Queens Drive The A5058 road, known as Queens Drive for much of its length, is a major ring road in Liverpool. The eastern section of the A5058 connects Breeze Hill in Bootle at the intersection with the A59, with Aigburth Vale in Aigburth at the other end ...

and adjoining radial roads such as Menlove Avenue. This technique was later used in road building projects in

, for Kingsway and Princess Road. Brodie was at the fore front of

pre-fabricated housing A prefabricated building, informally a prefab, is a building that is manufactured and constructed using prefabrication. It consists of factory-made components or units that are transported and assembled on-site to form the complete building. His ...

technology, promoting the use of pre-cast

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

slabs as a means of building houses quickly and cheaply; he presented an example of this technique to the Cheap Cottages Exhibition at

Letchworth Garden City Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

. The design attracted attention from across the world and he is known to have influenced

Grosvenor Atterbury Grosvenor Atterbury (July 7, 1869 in Detroit, MI – October 18, 1956 in Southampton, NY) was an American architect, urban planner and writer. He studied at Yale University, where he was an editor of campus humor magazine ''The Yale Record'' After ...

who used a similar technique to build the houses at

Forest Hills Gardens Forest Hills is a mostly residential neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast ...

. Brodie was also interested in town planning and this was recognised in 1912 when he was asked to help select the site of and plan

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

. He visited India twice for this purpose and in 1931 was invited to the official opening ceremony by the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

owing to the high regard that

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memor ...

, the chief planner had for him. Brodie served as president of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

between 1920 and 1921, becoming the first local authority engineer to receive the accolade. He was also an

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the '' North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is ...

of Engineering at

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

and vice-president of the Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association which would later become a constituent of the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range ...

Queensway Road Tunnel Entrance, Liverpool (geograph 2974781)

Brodie's greatest engineering achievement was the Mersey Tunnel. Brodie worked on this project jointly with engineer Sir

Basil Mott Sir Basil Mott, 1st Baronet, FRS (16 September 1859 – 7 September 1938) was one of the most notable English civil engineers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was responsible for some of the most innovative work on tunnels and bridg ...

and the tunnel was completed in 1934 following nine years in the making. Running from Liverpool city centre under the

to emerge in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

, the tunnel was originally conceived with a tramway for

Liverpool Corporation Tramways Liverpool Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Liverpool between 1898 and 1957. History In 1897, Liverpool Corporation bought the Liverpool United Tramway and Omnibus Company and obtained a Private Act of Parliament, the Liver ...

which would run along a lower section beneath the roadway, but this plan was later abandoned. At the time of its construction it was the world's longest underwater road tunnel, a title it held for 24 years, and remains to this day the UK's largest municipal engineering project.

Personal life

Brodie married Aimée Freeland, the daughter of Hugh Freeland from Uddingston, in 1897 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

. They had two sons and two daughters.

Death and legacy

28 Ullet Road, John Brodie's House - geograph

On 16 November 1934, Brodie died at Aigburth Hall in Liverpool's

Aigburth Aigburth () is a suburb of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Dingle, Garston, Mossley Hill, and Toxteth. Etymology The name Aigburth comes from Old Norse ''eik'' and ''berg'', meaning ''oak-tree hill''. T ...

suburb at the age of 76. After Brodie's death,

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor J ...

named Brodie Avenue in his honour. His former Liverpool home where he lived from 1858 to 1934, 28 Ullet Road near

Sefton Park Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a district of the same name, located roughly within the historic bounds of the large area of Toxteth Park. Neighbouring districts include modern-day Toxteth, Aigburth ...

, is commemorated with an

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

. There is also a Stonegate pub called The John Brodie on Allerton Road in the

Mossley Hill Mossley Hill is a suburb of Liverpool and a Liverpool City Council ward. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Aigburth, Allerton, Childwall, and Wavertree. At the 2001 Census, the population was 12,650, increasing to 13,816 a ...

suburb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brodie, John Alexander British civil engineers 1858 births 1934 deaths Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Harbour engineers English people of Scottish descent Engineers from Liverpool People from Bridgnorth