Richard Birdsall Rogers (15 January 1857 – 2 October 1927) was a Canadian civil and

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

whose most significant achievement was the design of the Peterborough Lift Lock, a boat lift at

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. From 1874 to 1878, he studied at McGill College,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, graduating with a degree in civil and mechanical engineering. In 1879, he was appointed a Provincial Land Surveyor and, in 1880, he became Dominion Land Surveyor, a position he retained until 1884 when he entered private practice, taking up the post of Superintending Engineer of the Trent Canal. In this role, Rogers suggested the use of hydraulic lift locks to the Minister of Railways and Canals, John Haggart, who commissioned him to travel to Europe to study existing boat lifts in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(the Fontinettes boat lift),

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

( Lifts on the old Canal du Centre) and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(the Anderton Boat Lift near

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

). Rogers was the grandson of a noted Provincial Land Surveyor, Richard Birdsall who had surveyed most of the lands in the Peterborough area. Named in his honour are Rogers Cove, a park on Peterborough's Little Lake, and Rogers Street, both of which are close to his lift lock.

External links

Rogers biography
1857 births 1927 deaths Canadian mechanical engineers Canadian civil engineers McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni 20th-century Canadian engineers 19th-century Canadian engineers {{Canada-engineer-stub