Brown plaque № 43662
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Connection to This Location
# 99 Southwark Street: Where Materials Revealed Their Secrets Standing before 99 Southwark Street, you're gazing at the very building where David Kirkaldy revolutionized how the Victorian world understood the strength of steel and iron—a red-brick structure completed in 1874 that housed his groundb...
Location
99 Southwark Street
Inscription
Kirkaldy Testing Works This building was built in 1874 for David Kirkaldy (1820-1897). In 1857 Kirkaldy helped form the Institution of Engineers in Scotland and was the first person to set up a load testing machine for construction materials powerful enough to deal with the largest specimens. The original 48 foot long machine, able to apply a load of over 300 tones, is still in position today.