Ahead of the game—masonry dam design in the British colonies 1800–1900, part 1: 1800–1872

British dam practice in the nineteenth century was dominated by the use of earth embankments with puddle clay cores. Theoretical approaches to masonry dam design developed in France in the mid-nineteenth century, therefore had little immediate impact on British practice (although they were commented on by Rankine). However, British engineers working overseas often benefited from advanced academic training, at the military colleges, the East India Company's seminary, Addiscombe, and later the Cooper's Hill College, and made more widespread use of masonry structures. Differing geological conditions, geography and cost all played their part, but the overall impression is one of innovation that at times astounded the UK engineering establishment. This paper chronicles the work of the pioneers of colonial dam design in the context of the history of masonry dams. Part one describes developments owing to the discovery of the ‘rational method’.