A report on Benjamin Wright

Benjamin Wright
Benjamin Wright
Profile of the original Erie Canal, ca 1830s.
Proposed route of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

American civil engineer who was chief engineer of the Erie Canal and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

- Benjamin Wright
Benjamin Wright

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Erie Canal

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Historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie.

Historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie.

Erie Canal map c. 1840
Aqueduct over the Mohawk River at Rexford, one of 32 navigable aqueducts on the Erie Canal
The Mohawk Valley, running east and west, cuts a natural pathway (water gap) between the Catskill Mountains to the south and the Adirondack Mountains to the north.
Profile of the original canal
Operations at Lockport, New York, in 1839
Stonework of lock abandoned because of route change, at Durhamville, New York
An original five-step lock structure crossing the Niagara Escarpment at Lockport, now without gates and used as a cascade for excess water
Erie Canal lock in Lockport, New York
1853 map of New York canals emboldened, center: the Erie Canal; other lines: railroads, rivers and county borders
Lithograph of the Erie Canal at Lockport, New York c. 1855. Published for Herrman J. Meyer, 164 William Street, New York City.
Aqueduct over Nine Mile Creek north of Camillus, New York, built in 1841 and abandoned c. 1918; one of 32 navigable aqueducts on the Erie Canal, it has since been restored.
Upstream view of the downstream lock at Lock 32, Pittsford, New York
Map of the "Water Level Routes" of the New York Central Railroad (purple), West Shore Railroad (red) and Erie Canal (blue)
Rochester, New York, aqueduct c. 1890
Two "low" lift bridges in Lockport, New York, July 2010
The modern Erie Canal has 34 locks, which are painted with the blue and gold colors of the New York State Canal System.
Gateway Harbor in North Tonawanda, about 1000 ft from the present-day western terminus of the Erie Canal where it connects to the Niagara River
The Old Erie Canal and its towpath at Kirkville, New York, within Old Erie Canal State Historic Park
Buffalo's Erie Canal Commercial Slip in Spring 2008
Erie Canal Lock 18, Cohoes, New York
Old Erie Canal State Historic Park, DeWitt, New York
The modern single lock at the Niagara Escarpment

James Geddes and Benjamin Wright, who laid out the route, were judges whose experience in surveying was in settling boundary disputes.

John B. Jervis

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American civil engineer.

American civil engineer.

Jervis's steam locomotive Experiment as first built
The High Bridge over the Harlem River, part of the Croton Aqueduct, as seen in 1890.
1401 John B. Jervis

In October 1817 at the age of 22, Jervis was hired by Chief Engineer Benjamin Wright of the Erie Canal as an axeman in a survey party to locate the canal west of Rome, New York.

Rome, New York

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City in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state.

City in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state.

Perspective map of Rome with list of landmarks from 1886 by L.R. Burleigh
View of the stockade and Fort Stanwix reconstruction completed in 1976 (based on 1758 and 1776 structures)
Rome Railroad Station

Benjamin Wright (1770–1842), Chief Engineer of the Erie Canal

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

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The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland.

Map of planned route.
A boat on the canal, circa 1900-1924
Canal boats waiting to be unloaded in Georgetown.
Low-angle bird's-eye view of central Washington toward the west and northwest with The Capitol in foreground. The Canal is visible running along the mall.
C&O Canal in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Boat construction yard in Cumberland, MD
Map of Terminus in Cumberland in the mid 1890s. Yellow dots indicate modern highways as well as current (2013) location of Canal basin.
Register of waybills in the Cumberland Office, in 1858. Each canal boat had to have a waybill, even if empty, for passage through the canal. Fines were levied for lack of a waybill.
5 and 10 dollar notes, from C&O Canal company
Floodwaters around Lock 6 in 1936
Great Falls feeder culvert (no longer used) indicated by yellow arrow(14.08 mi), and Lock 18 (R).
Boat at Big Slackwater
An informal overflow. The towpath dips, allowing water to flow over it. Note the boards in the background for people to walk on.
Paw Paw Tunnel
Remains of the inclined plane
Culvert #30 lets Muddy Branch under the canal
Repairs at Big Pool
Mules being fed.
A steamboat on the C&O Canal. Note the steering wheel and the smokestack on this boat
Children tethered to canal boat. This photo was probably taken in one of the Cumberland basins.
Model interior of a C&O Canal freight boat
Recent view of the 9 mile level (between 33 and 34 miles) where the ghosts were reported to haunt.
Monocacy aqueduct in 2011, where the ghost of a robber could allegedly be seen on moonless nights

The C&O's first chief engineer was Benjamin Wright, formerly chief engineer of the Erie Canal.

American Society of Civil Engineers

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Tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide.

Tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide.

1888 American Society of Civil Engineers at their 20th annual meeting at the Athenaeum building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nora Stanton Blatch Barney 1921
U.S. stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ASCE in 1952
ASCE Historical Marker at Philadelphia City Hall.

Benjamin Wright. In 1969, the American Society of Civil Engineers declared Wright to be the 'Father of American Civil Engineering'.

Delaware and Hudson Canal

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The first venture of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which would later build the Delaware and Hudson Railway.

The first venture of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which would later build the Delaware and Hudson Railway.

Anthracite coal
Barges awaiting coal loads at Honesdale.
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company building as seen in 1876. It was on the southeast corner of Cortlandt and Church Streets in Manhattan. The building was commonly called "The Coal and Iron Exchange".
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Museum in High Falls, NY.
Child leading mules on the canal.
Canal Scene, one of a series of paintings of the Delaware and Hudson Canal at Port Ben that Theodore Robinson painted in 1893.
Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct, still in use today
Aqueduct abutment on Neversink near Cuddebackville
Lock No. 16 at High Falls

The company hired Benjamin Wright, who had engineered the Erie Canal, and his assistant John B. Jervis to survey and plan a route.

Chesapeake & Delaware Canal

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14 mi-long, 450 ft-wide and 35 ft-deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States.

14 mi-long, 450 ft-wide and 35 ft-deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge leaves the eastern entrance to the canal on the Delaware River at Reedy Point, Delaware.
Eastern Lock of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, Battery Park, December 2011
C&D Canal Museum

In 1825, due to the efforts of Benjamin Wright, the company fired the canal's chief engineer, John Randel Jr., who had surveyed its route and built the difficult eastern section.

The only known image of John Randel Jr.; painted by an unknown artist, probably Ezra Ames.

John Randel Jr.

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American surveyor, cartographer, civil engineer and inventor from Albany, New York who completed a full survey of Manhattan Island from 1808–1817, in service of the creation of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which determined that New York City – which consisted at the time of only Manhattan – would in the future be laid out in a rectilinear grid of streets.

American surveyor, cartographer, civil engineer and inventor from Albany, New York who completed a full survey of Manhattan Island from 1808–1817, in service of the creation of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which determined that New York City – which consisted at the time of only Manhattan – would in the future be laid out in a rectilinear grid of streets.

The only known image of John Randel Jr.; painted by an unknown artist, probably Ezra Ames.
Part of the Delaware & Raritan Canal, which Randel was hired to survey a route for c.1816, as seen in 2013
Benjamin Wright
A modern map of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal
The eastern end of the Canal
Mathew Carey by painter John Neagle (1825)
A modern map of the route of the New Castle & Frenchtown Railroad
Randel's plan for an elevated train on Broadway

Randel met with Benjamin Wright, the future "Father of American Civil Engineering", who was then the chief engineer for the central part of the canal.

The bridge at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Weston's only known work in England

William Weston (engineer)

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His notebook (donated to the Institution of Civil Engineers, London) includes, amongst other things, a diagram of 'centring at Sawley Bridge', the costings of a guard lock, a diagram of a canal bridge and costings of 'Gainsboro' Bridge'.

His notebook (donated to the Institution of Civil Engineers, London) includes, amongst other things, a diagram of 'centring at Sawley Bridge', the costings of a guard lock, a diagram of a canal bridge and costings of 'Gainsboro' Bridge'.

The bridge at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Weston's only known work in England

Among others, Weston trained (in 1794) Benjamin Wright later chief engineer of the Erie Canal and Loammi Baldwin chief engineer of the Middlesex Canal.

Moncure Robinson

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American civil engineer, railroad planner and builder and a railroad and steamboat owner, who is considered one of America's leading Antebellum period civil engineers.

American civil engineer, railroad planner and builder and a railroad and steamboat owner, who is considered one of America's leading Antebellum period civil engineers.

Map of Erie Canal, early 19th century
Danville and Pottsville Rail Road survey, 1831
First passenger train in N.Y. State, early 1830s
Table of Graduations of the Louisa Rail Road, commencing at Taylorville, 1836
Moncure Robinson tombstone in Laurel Hill Cemetery

Moncure Robinson, Jonathan Knight, Benjamin Hall Wright. Report of M. Robinson ... Jonathan Knight ... and Benjamin Wright ... Civil Engineers, upon the plan of the New-York and Erie Rail Road. Scott & Company, 1835