Editing Lighthouse (section)

===Modern construction===
The modern era of lighthouses began at the turn of the 18th century, as the number of lighthouses being constructed increased significantly due to much higher levels of [[Atlantic Ocean|transatlantic]] commerce. Advances in structural engineering and new and efficient lighting equipment allowed for the creation of larger and more powerful lighthouses, including ones exposed to the sea. The function of lighthouses was gradually changed from indicating ports to the providing of a visible warning against shipping hazards, such as rocks or reefs.

[[File:Edystone Winstanley lighthouse Smeaton 1813.jpg|thumb|Original [[Eddystone Lighthouse#Winstanley's Lighthouse|Winstanley lighthouse]], Eddystone Rock, by Jaaziell Johnston, 1813.]]
The [[Eddystone Rocks]] were a major shipwreck hazard for mariners sailing through the [[English Channel]].<ref>{{citation|first=Samuel|last=Smiles|title=The Lives of the Engineers|year=1861|volume=2|page=16|url=https://archive.org/stream/livesofengineers02smil#page/16/mode/2up}}</ref> The [[Eddystone Lighthouse#Winstanley's lighthouse|first lighthouse built there]] was an octagonal wooden structure, anchored by 12 iron stanchions secured in the rock, and was built by [[Henry Winstanley]] from 1696 to 1698. His lighthouse was the first tower in the world to have been fully exposed to the open sea.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/340721/lighthouse/72148/The-beginning-of-the-modern-era|title=lighthouse|access-date=17 December 2012}}</ref>

The [[civil engineer]] [[John Smeaton]] rebuilt the [[Smeaton's Tower|lighthouse]] from 1756 to 1759;<ref name="MAJ">Majdalany, Fred: ''The Eddystone Light''. 1960</ref> his tower marked a major step forward in the design of lighthouses and remained in use until 1877. He modeled the shape of his lighthouse on that of an [[oak tree]], using [[granite]] blocks. He rediscovered and used "[[hydraulic lime]]", a form of [[concrete]] that will set under water used by the Romans, and developed a technique of securing the granite blocks together using [[dovetail joint]]s and marble [[dowels]].<ref name="TRI">{{cite web|url=http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/interactive/gallery/eddystone.html |title=Eddystone – Gallery |publisher=Trinity House |access-date=3 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909043743/http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/interactive/gallery/eddystone.html |archive-date=9 September 2006 }}</ref> The dovetailing feature served to improve the [[structural stability]], although Smeaton also had to taper the thickness of the tower towards the top, for which he curved the tower inwards on a gentle gradient. This profile had the added advantage of allowing some of the energy of the waves to dissipate on impact with the walls. His lighthouse was the prototype for the modern lighthouse and influenced all subsequent engineers.<ref>{{cite book|title=Minutes of proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers|chapter=Note on the Eddystone Lighthouse|author=Douglass, James Nicholas|location=London|publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers|year=1878|volume=53, part 3|pages=247–248|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cx4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA247}}</ref>

[[File:Smeaton's Lighthouse00.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|[[John Smeaton]]'s rebuilt version of the [[Eddystone Lighthouse]], 1759. This represented a great step forward in lighthouse design.]]
One such influence was [[Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)|Robert Stevenson]], himself a seminal figure in the development of lighthouse design and construction.<ref name="NLB">{{cite web|url=http://www.nlb.org.uk/HistoricalInformation/StevensonEngineers/Robert-Stevenson/|title=NLB – Robert Stevenson|access-date=28 January 2013}}</ref> His greatest achievement was the construction of the [[Bell Rock Lighthouse]] in 1810, one of the most impressive feats of engineering of the age.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} This structure was based upon Smeaton's design, but with several improved features, such as the incorporation of rotating lights, alternating between red and white.<ref>{{citation|title=John Rennie, 1761–1821: The Life and Work of a Great Engineer|first=Cyril Thomas Goodman|last=Boucher|page=61|year=1963|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wu8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA59}}</ref> Stevenson worked for the [[Northern Lighthouse Board]] for nearly fifty years<ref name="NLB" /> during which time he designed and oversaw the construction and later improvement of numerous lighthouses. He innovated in the choice of light sources, mountings, reflector design, the use of [[Fresnel lens]]es, and in rotation and shuttering systems providing lighthouses with individual signatures allowing them to be identified by seafarers. He also invented the movable jib and the balance-crane as a necessary part for lighthouse construction.
[[File:Marjaniemen majakka.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Marjaniemi Lighthouse]], the 19th-century lighthouse in the [[Hailuoto]] island, neighbouring municipality of [[Oulu]], [[Finland]]]]
[[Alexander Mitchell (engineer)|Alexander Mitchell]] designed the first [[screw-pile lighthouse]] – his lighthouse was built on piles that were [[screw]]ed into the sandy or muddy seabed. Construction of his design began in 1838 at the mouth of the [[Thames]] and was known as the [[Maplin Sands]] lighthouse, and first lit in 1841.<ref name=Tomlinson>{{cite book|title=Tomlinson's Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts|year=1852–1854|publisher=Virtue & Co.|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/cyclopdiaofuse02tomlrich/page/177 177]|editor=Tomlinson|url=https://archive.org/details/cyclopdiaofuse02tomlrich|quote=[Maplin Sands] was not, however, the first screw-pile lighthouse actually erected, for during the long preparation process which was carried on at Maplin Sands, a structure of the same principle had been begun and completed at Port Fleetwood...}}</ref> Although its construction began later, the [[Wyre Light (Fleetwood)|Wyre Light]] in Fleetwood, Lancashire, was the first to be lit (in 1840).<ref name=Tomlinson />