Which British civil engineer designed London's modern sewer system after the Great Stink of 1858?

The British civil engineer who designed London’s modern sewer system after the Great Stink of 1858 was Joseph Bazalgette.

As chief engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, Bazalgette developed London’s Main Drainage system in response to the stench and public-health crisis caused by untreated waste entering the River Thames. Construction began in 1859, and the project continued in stages until 1875.

His design used roughly 82 miles of major underground sewers, connected to about 1,100 miles of street sewers. Pumping stations and outfall sewers carried waste eastward, away from central London. Bazalgette also built the sewers with substantial extra capacity because he anticipated future population growth—a decision that helped the system remain useful for generations.

Victorian officials often believed in miasma, the incorrect idea that disease spread primarily through foul smells. Nevertheless, Bazalgette’s system helped reduce cholera by preventing sewage from contaminating the water supply. Thomas Telford, John Rennie, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel were important engineers, but they did not design this landmark London sewer network.