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The award is in recognition of Smethwick being the oldest working steam engine in the world and will also mark the first Engineering Heritage Award for a Birmingham artefact.
The Engineering Heritage Awards recognise artefacts of special engineering significance and previous winners of these awards include Mallard locomotive, Tower Bridge and the Jaguar E-type.
The award was presented by John Wood, Chairman of the Institution’s Engineering Heritage Committee to Birmingham’s Heritage Champion Councillor Phil Davis, at a special ceremony at Thinktank.
John Wood, Past President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Chairman of the Institution’s Engineering Heritage Committee, said:
“Smethwick is not only the oldest working steam engine in the world today but was also a significant advance in engine technology in the early days of the industrial revolution.
“It was the first engine in the world to use both the expansive force of steam and a vacuum at the same time.
“The engine, dating back to 1778, is based on James Watt’s patent design and demonstrates the inspiring vision of people like Watt, who made the industrial revolution possible.”
Dr Ellen McAdam, Director of Birmingham Museums Trust, said:
“Birmingham Museums is honoured to receive this award from Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The Smethwick Engine is one of the most significant objects in the city’s collection. It symbolises the historic partnership between Boulton and Watt, whose vision and dynamism were responsible for so many developments in the early days of the Industrial Revolution.”
The Smethwick Engine is based on James Watt’s patent design of 1769 and built in 1778. It was the first engine in the world to use both the expansive force of steam and a vacuum at the same time. The vacuum is created inside a separate condenser, low pressure steam is then applied onto the top of the piston and the vacuum is applied onto the underside. This engine design was more powerful and required less coal to run than others of its time.
The engine was used to pump water to the top of a series of canal locks in an area near Birmingham called Smethwick. The remains of the building the engine was housed in are preserved on its original site near the canal. Prior to the installation of the engine, only 50 boats a week could pass through the locks. This number increased to 250 when the Smethwick Engine was in place.
In its heyday the engine lifted the equivalent of 1,500 buckets of water each minute.
In 1892, a replacement engine was built in a new pumping house next to Brasshouse Lane as the original Smethwick Engine was considered uneconomic to repair. The Engine was then removed to British Waterways Ocker Hill depot where it remained until acquired by Birmingham City Council.
Today, the Smethwick Engine is part of the collection of Birmingham Museums and is on display at the Thinktank museum.