Ernest Macartney de Burgh ( ; 18 January 1863 – 3 April 1929) was an Irish-born Australian civil engineer, chief-engineer for water supply and sewerage in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Early life

De Burgh was the youngest son of the Rev. William de Burgh, D.D., and his wife Janette, née Macartney. He was born at

Sandymount Sandymount () is a coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin in Ireland. Etymology An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill.

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He was educated at Rathmines school and the

Royal College of Science for Ireland The Royal College of Science for Ireland (RCScI) was an institute for higher education in Dublin which existed from 1867 to 1926, specialising in physical sciences and applied science. It was originally based on St. Stephen's Green, moving in 1 ...

, and was for some time employed on railway construction in Ireland.

Engineering in Australia

De Burgh then migrated to Australia, arriving in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on the ''Orient'' 21 March 1885. Travelling to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

de Burgh immediately obtained a position in the

public works department and was engaged on survey work for Sydney's southern outfall sewer. In 1887 he was sent to the countryside in charge of the construction of steel bridges, and eventually became engineer of bridges. He was in this capacity responsible for several bridges over the

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

, Murrumbidgee, Lachlan,

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

and other rivers. He was also responsible for the Hampden Bridge (see picture) over the Kangaroo River. In 1903 de Burgh became acting principal assistant engineer of water supply and sewerage, a year later visited Europe to study dam construction and water supply, and after his return did important work in connection with the

Burrinjuck Dam Burrinjuck Dam is a gated, concrete-walled hydro-electric gravity dam at Burrinjuck, in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. It has three spillways across the Murrumbidgee River and forms an impounded reservoir called La ...

and Murrumbidgee irrigation scheme. He was appointed chief-engineer for harbours and water supply in 1909, and in 1913 chief-engineer for water supply and sewerage. He designed and supervised the construction of the great reservoirs for the Sydney water supply at

Cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens (anatomy), lens of the eye that leads to a visual impairment, decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or ...

, Cordeaux, Avon, and Nepean, for the

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

scheme for Newcastle district, and the Umberumberka scheme at

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

. While he was chief-engineer for harbours, he directed the design of the No1. Jetty at Port Kembla, a coal jetty and ship-loader of an advanced design for its time.

Later life and legacy

De Burgh was a member of the

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

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and was twice winner of the

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

premium.

De Burghs Bridge De Burghs Bridge is a road bridge that carries the Lane Cove Road, part of the A3, across the Lane Cove River in Macquarie Park, Sydney, Australia. The bridge stretches from Macquarie Park in the south to West Pymble in the north. History Th ...

over the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river winds through a bushland valley and joins Parramatt ...

, Sydney, is named after him. The De Burgh Dam near the

was also named after him. The dam is considered to be the first reinforced-concrete thin arch dam in Australia. He married Constance Mary, née Yeo, on 20 March 1888 who survived him along with two sons and a daughter. (Thomas de Burgh also an engineer with MWS&DB) De Burgh retired on 22 November 1927 and died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

at , Sydney on 3 April 1929.

De Burgh timbertruss

Ernest De Burgh's bridges were the fourth type of timber truss bridge in a series of five used. These included 1865 Old PWD, 1884 McDonald, 1894 Allan, 1899 de Burgh and 1905 Dare. Each was a technical improvement on its predecessor.

Gallery

Image:KValleybridge.jpg, Image:St Albans bridge 2009.jpg, File:Maldon Bridge Cables Deck.jpg, File:De Burgh Dam 12102017.jpg,

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Burgh, Ernest 1863 births 1929 deaths 19th-century Irish people Australian civil engineers Engineers from Dublin (city) 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Australia People from Sandymount Australian people of Anglo-Irish descent Infectious disease deaths in New South Wales Irish emigrants to colonial Australia