Munster Express Online

A Chara,

The new By Pass Bridge over the Suir offers Ireland and Waterford a great opportunity to honour one world’s best known engineers, Robert Manning (1816-1897), in his native city of Waterford.

Manning’s Mother was from Crooke near Passage East and he was educated in both Waterford and Kilkenny. Manning’s contribution to the field of hydraulic engineering is immense and his legacy is as relevant today as it was when his work was first published. Manning observations of rainfall and runoff lead him to make remarkable discoveries on the theory of river flows. No doubt the Suir would have been an inspiration to him in his work.

Manning’s equation Q=AV and Manning’s Number ‘n’ values are used daily in engineering offices around the World in relation to pipe, open channel flow and flood control. Manning was involved in nearly 200 fishery piers and harbours projects throughout Ireland and he was also Chief Engineer of Irish Public Works, not bad for a man with no formal engineering training.

I don’t know of any monument or works carrying his name in Waterford, or Ireland for that matter, which is pity for such person who has contributed so much to Ireland and the World. It would be therefore fitting to have a bridge or some such structure associated the Suir River in his dedicated his honour.

Yours sincerely

Al Breen BAgrSc GCGIS GDLA

PS. I spent many happy childhood days fishing at the confluence of the rivers Barrow and Suir but I only got to know of Manning while working here in Australia.