Richard Birdsall Rogers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Birdsall Rogers (15 January 1857 - 2 October 1927) was a Canadian civil and mechanical engineer whose most significant achievement was the design of the Peterborough Lift Lock, a boat lift at Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

From 1874 to 1878, he studied at McGill College, Montreal, 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 (the Ascenseur à bateaux des Fontinettes), Belgium (La Louvière) and England (the Anderton Boat Lift near Northwich in Cheshire).