Ernest Leslie was born in Ipswich, England back in 1852. In 1844 his father Frederick had patented artificial stone. By the 1870, Ernest had moved to the United States where he was superintendent of the Pacific Stone Company in San Francisco.
In 1884, he received a patent number 305,226 for his invention. His invention/improvement was highly criticized until 1902. He had built the Pacific Coast Borax Refinery in Bayonne, NJ back in 1897. The building went through a massive fire hot enough to melt brass. His reinforced concrete frame was only slightly damaged, showing superiority to the standard steel and iron frame.
His invention of reinforced concrete also survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, essentially without damage while the conventional brick structures literally crumbled around them.
What you may not know about Ernest Leslie Ransome is in 1886 he built two small underpass bridges in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco which survive today. They were the first reinforced concrete bridges in North America and among the first three or four in the world.
Until tomorrow be contagious and pass on a smile.
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