John Webster (engineer)

John James Webster was an English civil engineer who specialised in designing bridges.
He was born in Warrington, Lancashire and educated at Owens College, Manchester. He trained with Bellhouse & Co of Manchester, where he became chief draughtsman.
In 1871 he moved to Ashbury Carriage & Iron Co, where he designed several bridges in India, which led to his appointment as Chief of the Bridge Department of Messrs Thos. Brassey & Co., for whom he was responsible for the construction of the Liverpool landing-stage. In 1876 he worked for a short time as assistant engineer to the Aberdeen Harbour Works before joining the Hull Dock Company as assistant engineer.
In 1881 he set up in business as a consultant, firstly in Liverpool and then in London. Some of his more notable structures included:

the reconstruction of the Conway Suspension Bridge
Portsmouth bascule bridge
Littlehampton swing bridge
Widnes-Runcorn Transporter Bridge
Shepherd's Bush Stadium for the Olympic Games of 1908
Big Wheel at Earl's Court
piers at Dover, Bangor, Minehead, Llandudno, Penmaenmawr, Menai Bridge, and Egremont

He was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and was awarded their Telford Gold Medal. His last work was Warrington Bridge at Bridgefoot which was one of the earliest examples of a reinforced concrete bridge.
He died at 81 Mount Nod Road, in Streatham on 30 October 1914 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery.