Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. One of his earliest works can still be seen on the bridge across the River Esk in Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway
From 1787 he designed churches, roads and canals in Shropshire. He built 40 bridges in Shropshire, including major crossings of the Severn at Buildwas, and Bridgnorth. The bridge at Buildwas was Telford’s first iron bridge. In 1793 he managed the detailed design and construction of the Ellesmere Canal, to join the ironworks and collieries of Wrexham with Chester, using the existing Chester Canal, and then the River Mersey. This involved the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aqueduc t over the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen, where Telford used a new method of construction consisting of troughs made from cast iron plates and fixed in masonry. Running for over 1,000 feet (300 metres) 126 ft (38 m) above the valley floor, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct has nineteen arches, each with a 45 ft (14 m) span.
Then he designed lots of projects in his native Scotland, including the building of the Caledonian Canal, as well as harbours and tunnels and some 920 miles (1,480 km) of new roads and over a thousand new bridges in the Highlands of Scotland. He built the Menai Suspension Bridge, the longest suspension bridge at the time. He was called the Colossus of Roads (a pun on the Colossus of Rhodes), and he was elected as the first president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, which he held for 14 years until his death.
The town of Telford in Shropshire is named after him.
Written for younger readers
Thomas Telford, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: Famous Inventors
Copy the main points from this Link to Thomas Telford’s Wikipedia entry
Thomas Telford was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland on 9 August 1757.
Did You Know?
- He had no formal training and was self-taught.
- His most notable works include the Menai Strait suspension bridge, the longest of its time, and the Caledonian Canal.
- He was the first president (and founder) of the Institute of the Civil Engineers, a post he held until his death.
- He used boiled sugar and roman cement in construction. A few months after he was born, his father, a shepherd, died and he was raised in poverty by his mother, Janet Jackson.
In 1780s, the patronage of Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, enabled him to self-train as an architect and work on Somerset House.
At 14, he was first apprenticed as a stonemason.
The 19th century Scottish Highlands were depressed and no shipping route from East to West existed in the late 18th century. Improved communications between London, England and Dublin, Ireland were also needed in the early 19th century.
The Highland Clearances had depopulated the Scottish Highlands.
The Caledonian Canal in the late 18th century and the London-Holyhead road in the early 19th century, the first major civilian state-funded road building project in Britain since Roman times
Ships could traverse Scottish Highlands east coast to west coast also with over 920 miles (1,480 km) of new roads and over a thousand new bridges in the Scottish Highlands. The London-Holyhead road was the first major civilian state-funded road building project in Britain since Roman times.
He became known as the colossus of roads. His Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was designed a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019.
Telford died in 1834.
What he thinks of modern bridge building and the longest bridges. How much did William Jessop chief engineer contribute?
Bridges got longer. Telford had claimed the Menai Bridge at 579 feet was the maximum length for suspension bridges due to the effect of winds.
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Thomas Telford” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
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