Famous Civil Engineers of All Time That Every Civil Engineer Should Know

The field of civil engineering has been around for centuries. There are numerous people who have contributed to civil engineering and deserve accolades for their contributions. It is impossible to list every engineer who has added a great value to the industry. However, we tried to highlight several famous civil engineers and their works as every civil engineer should know about them. Here is our list of some famous civil engineers of all time who has contributed largely to this engineering field. We strongly suggest our readers not to consider this as any official declaration. This is our pick and there are lots more civil engineers who has done great works and also very famous. Let us know about your choice in the comments section so that we can update the list with more famous names.

John Smeaton

John Smeaton is the first self proclaimed civil engineer. He is often called the Father of Civil Engineering. He contributed greatly to the Industrial Revolution with his work on windmills and waterwheels. His paper, “An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills and Other Machines Depending on Circular Motion”, showed the direct correlation between pressure and velocity for objects moving in the air.

Benjamin Wright

The American Society of Civil Engineers declared Benjamin Wright the Father of American Civil Engineering. He was the Chief Engineer during the construction of the Erie Canal. After the completion of the Erie Canal, he then designed and oversaw the construction of the Delaware and HudsonCanal. Wright also was the Chief Engineer of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

Squire Whipple

Squire Whipple designed and then built a weigh lock scale that had a 300 ton capacity. It was used to weigh canal boats on the Erie Canal. He also designed and built seven short span iron bridges. These bridges were built for the New York and Erie Railroad near Newburgh and Binghamton, New York. Whipple also built the first long span trapezoidal railroad bridges for the New York Railroads.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

He is considered to be one of the most versatile and bold engineers who designed tunnels, railway lines, ships and bridges. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was named the second greatest Briton of all time by a public poll in 2002. He is most famous for the network of tunnels, bridges and viaducts he designed for the Great Western Railway. This linked London to Bristol and he was the Chief Engineer for the project. Brunel designed several famous ships including the Great Western, the Great Britain and the Great Eastern.

Dr. John Job Crew Bradfield

He was a prominent Australian engineer who designed and oversaw the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. He was also appointed Chief Engineer for the metropolitan railway construction in New South Wales. During this time he submitted his design for the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Bradfield Railway scheme. These plans were put on hold until after World War I. After the war the plans were put in motion and he became the Chief Engineer.