Benjamin Wright (engineer)
Benjamin Wright (born October 10, 1770 in Wethersfield , Colony of Connecticut , † August 24, 1842 ) was an American surveyor and chief engineer in the construction of the Erie Canal , which is considered the father of civil engineering in the United States.
He is counted with James Geddes , John Sullivan , John B. Jervis and a few others in the Erie Canal School of Civil Engineering in the United States.
His father was a lieutenant in George Washington's Army and Wright was raised by his uncle who taught him land surveying and law. In 1789 he moved to the Rome, New York area and began working as a surveyor in the Oneida and Oswega counties. He was also elected to the New York legislature and was appointed district judge in 1794.
In 1811 he was commissioned by the New York State Canal Commission to prospect the Erie Canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson River. When construction began in 1817, he was responsible for the middle section, and later he became chief engineer. In 1818 he sent his assistant Canvass White to England to study the canal system there. There were various height differences and rivers to be overcome with a whole series of locks and aqueducts. The first section opened in 1819 and the canal as a whole in 1825. The canal contributed to the development of the east coast hinterland and caused the New York harbor to overtake all other American ports.
From 1828 to 1831 he was chief engineer of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal . In 1833 he was a consultant with the St. Lawrence Canal and he was also chief engineer with the Delaware and Hudson Canal for a year before John B. Jervis, who had worked under him on the Erie Canal, took over. He was involved in numerous other projects (both as a surveyor and as a consultant), including the early days of building railway lines. He explored routes in New York, Virginia and his son Benjamin Hall Wright (1801–1881) explored railway lines in Cuba.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wright, Benjamin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American surveyor and chief engineer on the construction of the Erie Canal |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 10, 1770 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wethersfield, Connecticut |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 24, 1842 |