Asa Binns

Asa Binns (3 October 18732 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 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. Binns served as president of the Institution of Engineers-in-Charge (1936–1937) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1946 but died before he could take office.

Early life and career

Asa Binns was born on 3 October 1873 in Keighley, Yorkshire. He was educated at Keighley Grammar School, the Technical College, Keighley, and Yorkshire College, Leeds.

London docks work

Binns left the admiralty and was appointed resident engineer for the works at London Docks and St Katharine Docks in 1906. He worked for the Port of London Authority (PLA, established 1909) from 1910 as resident engineer at the Surrey Commercial Docks from 1910 and the £2 million Royal Albert Dock southern extension 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. He worked on the construction of the King George V Dock which was completed in 1921 and was awarded the IMechE's George Stephenson Gold Medal for a paper on the project. He retired from the PLA in 1938, entering private practice with the engineering design firm Rendel, Palmer and Tritton, though he continued to work for the PLA on a consultancy basis. Binns was elected president of the ICE on 4 June 1946 but died before the session started in November that year.

Binns died in Newbury, 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.