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The "Famous Engineers" Series
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The Father of American Civil Engineering |
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Born Oct. 10, 1770, this self-taught engineer
was named "The Father of Civil Engineering" by the American
Society of Civil Engineers in 1969. |
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Although his father was an officer in George
Washington's Continentals, he received very limited formal
education due to financial circumstances after the war. |
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Fortunately, the young lad went to live with
his uncle as a teenager and was able to receive formal
training in math, surveying and the law. |
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In 1784, at the age of 24, he was hired by the
famous civil engineer William Weston to assist him in making
canal surveys for what would eventually become part of the
Erie Canal system. |
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He spent the better part of two decades working
with Weston and then won an appointment as a New York county
judge. |
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In 1817, the governor of New York, DeWittt
Clinton, was able to secure the funds to build the Erie Canal.
The canal, dubbed "Clinton's Ditch" was ridiculed in the press
because of the seemingly insurmountable difficulty and cost of
the project. |
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At the time, there were no formally trained
civil engineers in the United States and Weston was still
working in England. The state of New York hired "the
judge" - the only man in the U.S. who could take on such a
task - as the chief engineer for the Erie Canal project. |
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The task was daunting. The Erie Canal, at
363 miles long, was the longest canal in the world at the time
of its construction. The canal rose more than 600 feet
from the Hudson River at Albany, NY to Lake Erie and required
a total of 83 locks. More than 1,000 workers died of
swamp fever when the canal reached the Montezuma Swamp, west
of Syracuse in 1819. |
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Nonetheless, "the judge" completed the Erie
Canal project in 1825. The canal reduced transport costs
between the Great Lakes region and Eastern New York by 95%.
It resulted in a massive population surge in western New York
and helped New York City to become a major U.S. port. |
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The Erie Canal project spurred "canal fever" in
the U.S. in the 1820's and 1830's. The construction of
new canals was vital to the new country's growth. Many
of the young men who attended the judge's on the job training
known as "the Erie School of Engineering" went on to build
many of the young country's canals, railroads and bridges.
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The judge went on to build the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal, the St. Lawrence Ship Channel, the New York and
Erie Railroad and the Tioga and Chemung Railroad. |
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In the twilight of his career, he served as the
chief engineer of New York City. He also found time to
chair the first engineering committee to look into forming a
national society for civil engineers, which eventually led to
the formation of the ASCE. |
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Who was the judge that became the Father of
American Civil Engineering? |
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read more |
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Engineering Feat of the Month |
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Monthly profile of America's greatest engineering
achievements. |
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An Airport Twice the Size of Manhattan |
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This airport was the second
largest public works project in the world, smaller only than
the Chunnel linking England and France. Based on land
mass, it is the largest airport in the U.S. and the third
largest in the world. |
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More than 110 million cubic yards
of earth were moved during the construction project. The
airport has 17 mechanical rooms, 1.3 million pounds of
ductwork and 39 miles of piping. It boasts the largest
jet fuel distribution system in the world. |
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Runways are spaced at least 4,300
feet apart and meet FAA requirements for bad weather
take-offs. The airport has electric-powered subway lines
capable of moving 6,000 people per hour. |
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In 2006, the airport handled
nearly 50 million passengers. |
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What is this modern engineering
marvel? |
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read more |
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5/31 |
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NH |
30 PDH |
Based on Engineer's Birthdate |
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NY |
36 PDH |
Based on Engineer's
Birthdate |
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OK |
30 PDH |
Based on Date of Licensure |
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SD |
30 PDH |
Based on Date of
Licensure |
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TN |
24 PDH |
Based on Date of Licensure |
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Check Your State's Requirements |
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Engineer Humor |
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An
engineer is sitting all by his lonesome in a bar, tipping a few beers. After a
while he turns to the chap seated next to him and asks, "Would you like to hear
a Manager joke?" |
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The
chap seated on the next stool replies, "I'd like you to know that I'm 265 lbs.
and I was a champion golden gloves boxer in college. And I'm a manager." |
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He goes
on to say, "I'd also like you to know that the fellow next to me is 285-lbs. of
muscle and madness, a former lineman on a pro football team - and he, too, is a
manager." |
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"Furthermore, the fellow seated next to him is just short of 300 lbs., a former
professional wrestler, and always seems to carry a chip on his shoulder. He's
also a manager.” |
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"Now - do
you really think you want to tell that Manager joke in here?" |
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read more |
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