# Asa Binns

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Asa_Binns
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Asa_Binns.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Binns
> Source revision: 1335402415
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

British civil engineer

Asa Binns Born 3 October 1873 Keighley, Yorkshire Died 2 July 1946(1946-07-02) (aged 72) Newbury, Berkshire Education Technical College, Keighley and Yorkshire College Spouse(s) Annie Ogden & Sarah Lord Engineering career Discipline Mechanical & civil engineering Institutions Institution of Engineers-in-Charge (president 1936–1937) Institution of Mechanical Engineers (president 1940) Institution of Civil Engineers (elected president 1946) Awards George Stephenson Gold Medal

**Asa Binns** (3 October 1873 – 2 July 1946) was a British mechanical and civil engineer. He trained with hydraulic pump and engine makers before becoming a draughtsman. Binns worked for a period at [HMS Chatham Dockyard](/source/Chatham_Dockyard) and rose to become head of their civil engineering works. He later worked on the construction of several major docks in London, including for the [Port of London Authority](/source/Port_of_London_Authority). Binns served as president of the [Institution of Engineers-in-Charge](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Institution_of_Engineers-in-Charge&action=edit&redlink=1) (1936–1937) and the [Institution of Mechanical Engineers](/source/Institution_of_Mechanical_Engineers) (1940). He was elected president of the [Institution of Civil Engineers](/source/Institution_of_Civil_Engineers) in 1946 but died before he could take office.

## Early life and career

Medal of the Whitworth scholarship

Asa Binns was born on 3 October 1873 in [Keighley, Yorkshire](/source/Keighley%2C_Yorkshire). He was educated at [Keighley Grammar School](/source/Keighley_Grammar_School), the [Technical College, Keighley](/source/Park_Lane_College_Leeds), and [Yorkshire College](/source/Yorkshire_College), Leeds.[1] Binns afterwards undertook a three-year engineering [pupillage](/source/Pupillage) with the Leeds hydraulic pump maker [Tannett, Walker & Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tannett,_Walker_%26_Company&action=edit&redlink=1) and the Bradford engine maker [Cole, Marchent, and Morley Ltd](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cole,_Marchent,_and_Morley_Ltd&action=edit&redlink=1).[1][2] During his pupillage he was awarded a [Whitworth scholarship](/source/Whitworth_Society).[1]

After qualifying Binns was employed as a [draughtsman](/source/Drafter) by the Ipswich agricultural machinery manufacturer [Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies](/source/Ransomes%2C_Sims_%26_Jefferies) and the [North Eastern Railway](/source/North_Eastern_Railway_(United_Kingdom))'s [Hull dockyard](/source/Port_of_Hull).[1][2] He was appointed draughtsman in the [Admiralty](/source/British_Admiralty) Works Department in 1898 and became their chief draughtsman at [HM Dockyard Chatham](/source/Chatham_Dockyard) in 1901.[1] Binns was promoted to assistant civil engineer of the dockyard in 1902, the same year he was elected a member of the [Institution of Mechanical Engineers](/source/Institution_of_Mechanical_Engineers) (IMechE).[2][1] In 1903 he was elected an associate member of the [Institution of Civil Engineers](/source/Institution_of_Civil_Engineers) (ICE) and was later given charge of all civil engineering works at the dockyard.[1]

## London docks work

Map showing the Royal Albert Dock southern extension

Binns left the admiralty and was appointed [resident engineer](/source/Resident_engineer) for the works at [London Docks](/source/London_Docks) and [St Katharine Docks](/source/St_Katharine_Docks) in 1906. He worked for the [Port of London Authority](/source/Port_of_London_Authority) (PLA, established 1909) from 1910 as resident engineer at the [Surrey Commercial Docks](/source/Surrey_Commercial_Docks) from 1910 and the £2 million [Royal Albert Dock southern extension](/source/Royal_Albert_Dock%2C_London) from 1912. Binns was elected a member of the ICE on 21 January 1913 and in 1914 sat on the IMechE's refrigeration committee, which met to establish new standards for measuring the efficiency of refrigeration machines.[3] He worked on the construction of the [King George V Dock](/source/King_George_V_Dock%2C_London) which was completed in 1921 and was awarded the IMechE's George Stephenson Gold Medal for a paper on the project.[1]

Binns was appointed a major in the [Engineer and Railway Staff Corps](/source/Engineer_and_Railway_Staff_Corps), a volunteer unit providing advice to the British Army, on 25 July 1925 and later rose to lieutenant-colonel.[4][1] He was appointed chief engineer to the PLA in 1928 and was elected to the council of the ICE in 1932.[1] Binns served as president of the [Institution of Engineers-in-Charge](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Institution_of_Engineers-in-Charge&action=edit&redlink=1) for the 1936–37 session.[5] He retired from the PLA in 1938, entering private practice with the engineering design firm [Rendel, Palmer and Tritton](/source/Rendel%2C_Palmer_and_Tritton), though he continued to work for the PLA on a consultancy basis.[1]

## Later life

Binns became president of the IMechE in 1940 and vice-president of the ICE in 1942.[5][1] He served on numerous ICE committees and was inaugural chairman of the Maritime and Waterways Engineering Division, founded in 1944.[1][6] Binns was elected president of the ICE on 4 June 1946 but died before the session started in November that year.[1] [William Halcrow](/source/William_Halcrow) was appointed president in his stead.[7]

Binns died in [Newbury, Berkshire](/source/Newbury%2C_Berkshire) on 2 July 1946. He was married twice, first to Annie Ogden with whom he had two sons and a daughter and later to Sarah Lord.[1]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ice_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ice_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ice_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-ice_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-ice_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-ice_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-ice_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-ice_1-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-ice_1-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-ice_1-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-ice_1-10) [***l***](#cite_ref-ice_1-11) [***m***](#cite_ref-ice_1-12) [***n***](#cite_ref-ice_1-13) [***o***](#cite_ref-ice_1-14) ["Obituary, Asa Binns, 1873–1946"](https://doi.org/10.1680%2Fijoti.1946.13703). *Journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers*. **26** (8): 541. October 1946. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1680/ijoti.1946.13703](https://doi.org/10.1680%2Fijoti.1946.13703). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0368-2455](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0368-2455).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-imeche_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-imeche_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-imeche_2-2) ["Presidency of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers"](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F147262a0). *Nature*. **147** (3722): 262. 1 March 1941. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1941Natur.147Q.262.](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1941Natur.147Q.262.). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/147262a0](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F147262a0). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1476-4687](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1476-4687).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [*Refrigeration Engineering*](https://books.google.com/books?id=vaspAQAAMAAJ). U.S. Office of Technical Services. 1914. p. 102.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["No. 33073"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33073/page/5285). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)*. 7 August 1925. p. 5285.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-pres_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-pres_5-1) ["1940: Asa Binns"](https://archives.imeche.org/archive/institution-history/president-gallery/593779-1940-asa-binns). *Institution of Mechanical Engineers*. March 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["New Division of the Institution of Civil Engineers"](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F154511a0). *Nature*. **154** (3912): 511. 1 October 1944. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1944Natur.154Q.511.](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1944Natur.154Q.511.). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/154511a0](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F154511a0). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1476-4687](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1476-4687).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Watson, Garth (1988). *The Civils*. London: Thomas Telford Ltd. p. 253. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7277-0392-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7277-0392-7).

Professional and academic associations Preceded by E. Bruce Ball President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1940 Succeeded by William Stanier

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Asa Binns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Binns) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Binns?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.