Patrick Walter Meik (1851 – 12 July 1910)Patrick Meik
''Grace's Guide''. Retrieved: 9 October 2015. 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 i ...

and part of a minor dynasty. His father

Thomas Meik Thomas Meik ( – )Thomas Meik
''Grace's Guide''. Retrieved: 8 October 2015. was a 19th-century Scottish en ...

was also an engineer, as was his younger brother

Charles Meik Charles Scott Meik (1853 – 5 July 1923) was an English civil and mechanical engineer, and part of a minor engineering dynasty. His father Thomas Meik was also a civil engineer, as was Charles' brother Patrick Meik; collectively, they establi ...

Early career

Both boys were born in Crowtree Road, Bishopwearmouth,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Meik was educated at King’s College School, London, and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, after which he joined his father's practice for three years' pupillage from 1868 to 1871. He then worked for John Aird & Co., employed on projects including the East London Waterworks at Sunbury and the Imperial Gasworks at

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

Later career

In 1873, Meik went to work for his father and worked on Meik's harbours at

Burntisland Burntisland ( , ) is a former Royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. It was previously known as Wester Kinghorn or Little Kinghorn. The town has a population of 6,269 (2011). Burntisland is known ...

(where he was resident engineer on the West Dock) and at

Bo'ness Borrowstounness, commonly known as Bo'ness ( ), is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically part of the county of West Lothian (historic), ...

on the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for the ...

in Scotland before being asked by Sir Benjamin Baker to be resident engineer (1882–1885) on the foundations and piers of the

Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

(designed by Baker and Sir John Fowler). After this project, he moved to London and set up an office for his father's engineering practice, now known as Thomas Meik and Sons. He worked on a rail project at Lee-on-the-Solent during this time. In 1894, he was joined by his brother Charles and together they worked on a major commission to construct docks and a railway at

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...

, followed by an equally ambitious scheme to expand the port of

Seaham Seaham ( ) is a seaside town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham, England, Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as ...

, officially opened in 1905, and the King’s Dock at Swansea, which was opened in 1909. The Meiks' expertise saw port and railway designs developed in many parts of the British Empire, including

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

, India, Singapore,

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

(the Rangoon River training works – where Patrick worked with Sir George Buchanan) and Mozambique. In the 1900s, their firm was commissioned to design the Kinlochleven

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

scheme in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. William Halcrow joined the company and took up the position of assistant resident engineer at the Kinlochleven project. The Meik brothers' engineering practice was later renamed CS Meik and Halcrow and became one of the world's foremost engineering consultancies, the

Halcrow Group Halcrow Group Limited was a British engineering consultancy company. It was one of the UK's largest consultancies, specialised in the provision of planning, design and management services for infrastructure development worldwide. With interests ...

(in 2005, the Edinburgh office of the Halcrow group bought Forth Bridge drawings originally created by Patrick Meik over 120 years earlier).Forth Rail Bridge drawings go under the hammer
, ''Bridge Design & Engineering'', 12 July 2005. Retrieved: 9 October 2015. Patrick Meik died in London in 1910, mourned as "an able and accomplished engineer: whose kindness of heart and social qualities endeared him to a large circle of friends".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meik, Patrick 1851 births 1910 deaths People from Sunderland Engineers from Tyne and Wear English civil engineers