# Gilbert Roberts > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Gilbert_Roberts > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Gilbert_Roberts.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Roberts > Source revision: 1337685300 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|British civil engineer}} {{about|the civil engineer|the Royal Navy officer|Gilbert Roberts (Royal Navy officer)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use British English|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Sir Gilbert Roberts | birth_name = Gilbert Roberts | native_name_lang = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1899|2|18}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1978|1|1|1899|2|18}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | residence = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = | workplaces = | alma_mater = | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = [Royal Medal](/source/Royal_Medal) {{small|(1968)}}
[Fellow of the Royal Society](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society) | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = | spouse = | children = }} Sir '''Gilbert Roberts''' (18 February 1899 – 1 January 1978) was a British [civil engineer](/source/civil_engineer) who designed many famous bridges worldwide.{{Cite journal | last1 = Kerensky | first1 = O. A. | author-link1 = Oleg Kerensky| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1979.0017 | doi-access = free| title = Gilbert Roberts 18 February 1899 – 1 January 1978 | journal = [Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society](/source/Biographical_Memoirs_of_Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society) | volume = 25 | pages = 477–503| year = 1979 }} ==Education== Roberts was born in [Hampstead](/source/Hampstead), north London, to Henry William Roberts, a pharmacist, and was educated at [Bromley High School](/source/Bromley_High_School). He then went to [Gresham College](/source/Gresham_College) to study engineering but on the outbreak of [WWI](/source/WWI) he joined the [Royal Flying Corps](/source/Royal_Flying_Corps). ==Career== After being shot in the knee in 1918 on a bombing raid, Roberts was invalided back to England and awarded an Army Scholarship to attend [City and Guilds College](/source/City_and_Guilds_College) of [Imperial College](/source/Imperial_College), where he obtained his degree in 1923. He became a civil engineer and worked on the [Sydney Harbour Bridge](/source/Sydney_Harbour_Bridge) (1932) and [Otto Beit suspension bridge](/source/Otto_Beit_Bridge) (1938) across the [Zambezi River](/source/Zambezi_River). right|thumb|Severn Bridge As a senior partner with the British firm [Freeman Fox & Partners](/source/Freeman_Fox_%26_Partners) he designed, in collaboration with [William Brown](/source/William_Brown_(bridge_designer)), the [Volta River Bridge](/source/Volta_River) (1957), the [Auckland Harbour Bridge](/source/Auckland_Harbour_Bridge) (1959–71), the [Forth Road Bridge](/source/Forth_Road_Bridge) (1964), the [Severn Bridge](/source/Severn_Bridge) (1966), the [Bosphorus Bridge](/source/Bosphorus_Bridge) (1973) and the [Humber Bridge](/source/Humber_Bridge) (1981). Roberts was also the designer of the ill-fated West Gate Bridge in Melbourne which [collapsed on October 15, 1970](/source/West_Gate_Bridge), killing 35 workers and injuring 18 others. ==Awards== Roberts was knighted in 1965. He was elected a [Fellow of the Royal Society](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society) on 18 March 1965.{{cite web|url= https://royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_Content/about-us/fellowship/Fellows1660-2007.pdf|title=List of Fellows of the Royal Society 1660 – 2007|publisher=Royal Society|access-date=7 September 2014}} His application citation read: "Distinguished for his contributions to civil engineering by advancing the design of structures, particularly long span bridges. Designer of Severn Bridge, Forth Bridge, Volta Bridge, Maidenhead Bridge, Auckland Harbour Bridge. Also contributed designs of other unusual structures, such as [C.S.I.R.O.](/source/Commonwealth_Scientific_and_Industrial_Research_Organisation) [Radio Telescope](/source/Parkes_Radio_Telescope), High Marnham Power Station, the [Dome of Discovery](/source/Dome_of_Discovery) at the [Festival of Britain](/source/Festival_of_Britain) Exhibition, crane structures including 500 tons goliath crane for Babcock & Wilcox." He was awarded their [Royal Medal](/source/Royal_Medal) in 1968.{{cite web|url=http://www.nndb.com/honors/968/000100668/|title=Royal Medal|access-date=6 December 2008}} ==Personal life== Roberts married Elizabeth Nada Hora in London in 1935. He died in [St. Stephen's Hospital, London](/source/St._Stephen's_Hospital%2C_London) on 1 January 1978. ==References== {{Reflist}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Gilbert}} Category:1899 births Category:1978 deaths Category:English civil engineers Category:Royal Medal winners Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:British bridge engineers Category:Engineers from London Category:People from Hampstead --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gilbert Roberts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Roberts) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Roberts?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.