Benjamin Wright: The Most Famous American Civil Engineer

Becoming a civil engineer may not be the toughest feat someone will overcome, but becoming one of the most known civil engineers would be a bit more harder. One of the most famous American civil engineer is Benjamin Wright. He was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut on October 10, 1770. His past though is not what you would think it would be for someone to have such a job. His father was a farmer. His mother stayed at home with him and his siblings. The only reason he got into the field of engineering was because his uncle took him. He taught Benjamin how to survey the land. After some time had passed Wright had gotten some connections with the English civil engineer William Weston. Then Wright had began being interested with civil engineering. Because of tthe War of 1812, English and American men weren’t on the greatest of terms.
That’s when Wright was granted the job as “chief engineer for the Erie Canal between 1817 and 1825” (Benjamin Wright: The Father of American Civil Engineering).
This guy accomplished such an amazing achievement for the field of civil engineering. With this achievement people around the world were able to truly see what civil engineering could do for society. Benjamin Wright is by far the most influential American civil engineer there has been in American history. Which is why “in 1969 the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) declared him ‘The Father of American Civil Engineering’” (Benjamin Wright: The Father of American Civil Engineering). That shows a lot because even though he died in 1842, he was still awarded being the “Father of American Civil Engineering” over a hundred years later. That proves that Wright had overcome some major complications. It also proves that Benjamin Wright had contributed a lot towards society. In a hundred and twenty-seven years no one was able to top his achievements. If he hadn’t succeeded with Erie Canal then trade with the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean would be extremely
difficult.