G Sibley

G Sibley

George Sibley (1824-1891)

Railway Achievements

1851 Assistant Engineer , ‘East Indian Railway’ (EIR) in charge of the ‘Chandernagore District Section’ which was under construction by Messrs Hunt, Bray and Emalie as contractors ^[1].
1853 Resident Engineer, in charge of Beerbhoom District, where he designed , amongst others, the bridges over the River Adjai and River More - see separate pages ^[1]
1853 Promoted to EIR District Engineer
1857 Promoted to EIR Deputy Chief Engineer
1859 Chief Engineer of the North Wester Provinces Division, extending from the Kurrumnassa (Buxar) to Delhi^[1]
1859-65 Engineer-in-Charge of construction of the Naini Bridge over the River Jumna at Allahabad - *see Footnote*
1862-68 Chief Engineer, Upper Provinces, Allahabad.
1868-76 Chief Engineer East Indian Railway on retirement of George Turnbull ^[2]. This covering the whole line (Howrah, opposite Calcutta, to Delhi and Allahabad to Jubbulpore, a length of 1512 miles) ^[1]
1868-75 Member of ‘The Board of Agency’ for the EIR^[1]
1875 Left India on furlough
1876 Retired from EIR

From "History of the East Indian Railway ..." by George Huddlestone page 42 ^[3] concerning the construction of the Naini Bridge.

'The bridge over the Jumna at Allahabad was opened for traffic on the 15th August, 1865. It had taken nearly 8 years to construct and its completion wm a subject for much congratulation; it was the middle link in the long chain of unbroken communication established by the East Indian Railway, for the first time in the history of India, between the right bank of the Hooghly at Calcutta and the left bank of the Jumna at Delhi. Mr. Sibley, the Chief Engineer of the North-West Provinces and Messrs. Collett and Donne, the District and Assistant Engineers and the subordinate staff under them received the thanks of Government and the encomiums of the Board.'

From the Institution of Civil Engineers Obituary^[1]

Mr Sibley completed the then longest railway bridge in the world over the River Jumna at Allahabad (named the ‘Naini Bridge’), the superstructure of 14 spans of 212 feet being designed by Messrs A.M. and G.W.Rendel and the foundations by Mr Edward Purser. This bridge has a railroad above and a carriage and footway below.
He also constructed the [[Jumna Bridge (Delhi)|‘Delhi Jumna Bridge’, 12 spans of 211 feet , he designing the foundations and the Messrs Rendel the superstructure
He designed all the works at Delhi, including those necessitated by passing through the Fort, the Selimghur Bridge and the handsome station