Legendary Civil Engineers Are Born In September

Author : Gerald Robert Bastoni
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 105 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (112 download)

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Download or read book Canvass White, Esquire (1790-1834) written by Gerald Robert Bastoni and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Canvass White, born on September 8, 1790 at Whitestown, New York, was among the first American civil engineers. In 1811, he graduated from Fairfield Academy in Herkimer County, New York, having studied surveying, mathematics and the natural sciences. In 1816, he joined Benjamin Wright's surveying crew on the Erie Canal and immediately demonstrated an aptitude for engineering. At Wright's request, he inspected public works projects in England during the winter of 1817-1818, interviewed British engineers, and returned with much useful technical knowledge, including information on hydraulic cements. His subsequent discovery of an American variety of natural hydraulic cement was crucial to the engineering success of the Erie. White's attempt to patent the cement failed because of the opposition of the New York canal commissioners, and an inability to protect the formula. The scarcity of civil engineers and the great fervor for public improvements enabled White to pursue an independent career. In 1822, while still active on the Erie Canal, he served as consultant to a committee of the New York Common Council investigating the city's water supply problem. This was the first in a series of appointments that put White in touch with many of the major civil engineering projects of his time. In 1823, White became chief engineer of the Union canal Company of Pennsylvania. He resolved difficulties between the engineering department and the company's managers left by his predecessor, Laommi Baldwin, and successfully completed the canal across difficult ground. The Union Canal included two technological first: the longest tunnel and largest dam yet constructed in the United States. During construction of the canal from 1823 to 1828, White trained several assistants who went on to have distinguished engineering careers. From 1825 until his premature death on December 18, 1834, White took advantage of the great demand for his engineering skills. He was active in public works projects in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware. Perhaps the greatest of America's canal engineers, he helped to establish the science of engineering as a practitioner, innovator and teacher.