Institution of Civil Engineers

“ If during his pupilage he has made but little progress, nothing beyond mere routine, he is discharged with a certificate according to his merits, and sent into the world, to find his way forward as best he can.
Now it should be understood that the pupil only learns one part of his business, such as the construction of railways, canals, improvement of rivers, docks, drainage, harbours, and waterworks, and the buildings connected with them; but there is another and very important part of civil engineering, namely, the mechanical department, of which he remains totally ignorant. ”

“ These reports are published in their ‘Transactions.’ Subsequent presidents have to some extent adopted a similar course; but with all due respect to them, they have not taken that large and scientific view of the profession of a civil engineer which it is imperatively necessary to adopt in order to keep the profession up to that high tone which its importance requires, not only for its own credit, but for the benefit of the world at large. Perhaps there is no profession (with all proper respect to others) that has conferred so much benefit upon mankind as that of the civil engineer. ”

“ I repeat, then, that an engineer who has studied only one department cannot be termed properly educated. And the question arises, what is the best mode of education for a pupil to obtain this multifarious, and, as I contend, absolutely necessary, information, to enable him to practise the profession of a civil engineer in the most enlightened, scientific, and practical manner? ”

“ River Division, the Terminal Station, and the East River Division. A chief engineer appointed by the Management had charge of the construction of each Division. The chief engineers exercised full authority in the organization of the working forces, and in the general conduct and management of the work of construction on their respective Divisions, in accordance with the plans for such work approved by the Board of Engineers and the Management. ”

“ In reality there should be but two classes of engineers, and the distinction should be drawn only between civil engineers and military engineers. As a matter of fact, fate and inclination determine the specialty that a man takes up after his preliminary training, and so far as the degrees are concerned, the only one that has any right to carry weight, because it is a measure of accomplishment, is that which is granted by this Society to its corporate members. ”

“ There is no doubt that the administration of that department will serve the community best when not only all the laborers employed are able-bodied, steady, moral, hard-working men, each skilled according to the work he has to do, but when the men charged with the planning and the direction of the work are able, trained and experienced civil engineers. ”

“ Nor will any one branch be occupied to the exclusion of any other branch or branches. Civil and structural engineers will, as a matter of course, have the first call; but with the work of these men well under way—consisting of the reconstruction of towns and cities—mechanical and electrical men will necessarily be called upon, with, no doubt, liberal demand for mining engineers. Each branch will have its place and serve its usefulness in the order as the reconstruction work itself will fall, with the result that all branches of the profession will be busily occupied. ”

“ The corps of engineers known as the Reclamation Service, which is conducting the surveys and examinations, has been thoroughly organized, especial pains being taken to secure under the civil-service rules a body of skilled, experienced, and efficient men. Surveys and examinations are progressing throughout the arid States and Territories, plans for reclaiming works being prepared and passed upon by boards of engineers before approval by the Secretary of the Interior. In Arizona and Nevada, in localities where such work is pre-eminently needed, construction has already been begun. ”

“ Sheerness docks were finished altogether in the year 1826, and they have stood ever since.
I believe that I have now enumerated all the chief points to which the education of a civil engineer should be directed. Whilst he continues in an engineer’s office, whatever business is brought before him, he should always endeavour to thoroughly understand the reasons for which such and such a work is proposed to be made, and the principles upon which it is to be constructed ”

“ The real object of the civil engineer is to promote the civilization of the world, by the proper application of all the great mechanical means at his command, and to take a high, independent position as a scientific man, thoroughly versed in his profession both theoretically and practically, and wholly independent of contractors, and all sinister influences. ”

“ Civil engineering is a profession which keeps its followers pretty well out in the open. A civil engineer will go long distances, and frequently must, in order to get to his work, and, having reached the scene of his labors, enters upon a rugged outdoor life in camp where he remains until the job is completed. The Panama Canal was a civil-engineering job—probably the largest of its kind ever undertaken—and its success, after failure on the part of another government, is a high tribute to the genius of our own civil engineers. ”

“ Very wisely, it seems to me, the medical profession and the legal profession, with histories far older than ours, and with as wide variations in practice as we have, leave the variations in name to the individual taste of the practitioner, in a manner which we would do well to copy. The Society itself has adopted very broad lines in admission to membership, classing as civil engineers all who are properly such ”

“ But a single member of that committee on the part of the House was from the West. All the other persons reside on the waters that flow into the Atlantic Ocean, or near to it.
Now, sir, I am not dwelling here upon the difference as to the ability of the engineers in civil life or in the military department of the Government; but it is not saying much to say that the civilians have exhibited an amount of engineering skill, to say the least, equal to the Army; and indeed they have exhibited more ability in the accomplishment of great works of improvement in every portion of this country. ”

“ So much of the civil engineering work of the State is under the control of the Government that this can only be secured by their help and co-operation, but surely no better recruits could be got for the service. ”

“ We ask that another body, of Government officers of recognized skill, members of the Coast Survey, shall have two members; but then we insist that the civil engineers of America, more numerous and perhaps more experienced than either, men who have planned and achieved greater enterprises than either, shall have an opportunity to offer their genius and skill to the country, and have a representation worthy of them on this commission. ”

“ To this it may be replied, that it is not necessary an engineer should be [435] acquainted with all departments of the profession, but only with the one to which he intends more particularly to devote himself. Now this is a very great mistake, for they are all so intimately connected, that without having a general knowledge of the whole you cannot practise in any one department with complete success; for whenever you have to rely upon the resources of another department you can never make sure of being thoroughly well served, unless you are yourself a tolerable judge of work. ”

“ Walker, designed mainly for the promotion of mathematics and related branches of study, enabled the trustees to enlarge the facilities for instruction on the side of science. A professorship of civil engineering was created in 1867. This department has been enlarged gradually, until now men may receive complete courses of professional instruction in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. Some very able engineers, holding important and responsible positions, have received their training here. ”

“ There shall be, under the Board, a city engineer, who shall be in charge of the Department of Engineering and Public Works. He shall have charge of all the surveying and engineering work of the city, and shall perform such services in connection with public improvements, or any work entered upon or projected by the city, or any department thereof, as may require the skill and experience of a civil engineer. ”

“ It would be a pity if they did succeed, for such has been the demand lately for engineers to superintend railroads and canals, that a large portion of them have resigned their commissions, and found employment in the different States. This consideration alone is quite sufficient to warrant the keeping up of the college, for civil engineers are a sine quâ non in a country like America, and they are always ready to serve should their military services be required. ”

“ The appointment of persons having the scientific qualifications and position of civil engineers might serve to supply a want which is generally found to be the chief impediment to the drainage of land subdivided amongst numerous small holders, namely, the means of reference or appeal to some authority deriving confidence from skill and impartiality to determine on the need of works, and the mode of executing them, or to arbitrate ”

“ The operations are being carried on by the Reclamation Service, a corps of engineers selected through competitive civil-service examinations. This corps includes experienced consulting and constructing engineers as well as various experts in mechanical and legal matters, and is composed largely of men who have spent most of their lives in practical affairs connected with irrigation. The larger problems have been solved and it now remains to execute with care, economy, and thoroughness the work which has been laid out. ”

“ A youth leaves school about the age of seventeen or eighteen, without any previous training, and his parents, thinking that he has got a mechanical turn, as it is termed, decide at once to make him a civil engineer, whether he likes it or is fit for it or not. They then send him, with a considerable premium, to an engineer of some standing and practice, who, unless special conditions are made (and very few engineers will make them) , will not undertake to teach him the profession. ”

“ The prestige of the Engineer Corps, upheld by the good work of the civil engineers, would have carried them through any crisis, if the latter class had seriously cared to continue the partnership longer, and if the scientific world had approved of so unequal a distribution of rewards as prevailed there. ”

“ A combination daily and weekly report, showing the total number of men working on each section, and the number of cubic yards excavated, was entered every day and kept on a filing board in the office of the resident engineer, and a copy was sent to the main office at the end of the week, with such notes on the back as might be necessary, or of interest. ”

“ Electrical engineers are not under Government control, as the civil and mechanical engineers are, and have therefore better chances of coming to the front and making a career for themselves. The Government engineers, however, are kept up to the mark of other countries, and an attempt has been made by the present Minister to alter the system by which civil and mechanical engineers are compulsorily a body appointed and controlled by Government. ”

“ By this means, if he [436] applies his mind to it properly, he may become a practical as well as theoretical mechanician, which is the soundest basis for good engineering; indeed, without this it is impossible for an engineer to be thoroughly successful, but being well grounded in this most important knowledge, all the others will become comparatively easy. Having gone through this apprenticeship, let him bind himself for three or four years to some well-known civil engineer, of large practice in railways, docks, harbours, waterworks, canals, drainage, rivers, &c. ”

“ There is opportunity for the upbuilding of greater efficiency in the conduct of employees and in securing the maximum output, by establishing more comfortable and healthful conditions than usually exist. The elimination of political influence from municipal service is also a task which challenges the people of to‐day, and the operating and managing engineer is in a position to perform an important part in accomplishing this end. ”

“ An engineering service composed entirely of engineers in civil life should be created to take over all the work relating to river regulation, flood control, and inland waterway construction, operation, and maintenance. The opposition to such a system for the administration of civil affairs by civil officials, instead of by the Army, has been based upon the plea that [Pg 309] nobody but army officers can be trusted to be honest in the expenditure of the funds of the national government. ”

“ The society was to serve as a rallying point for the profession, and it was believed that when their members increased sufficiently (for there was little more than a dozen engineers in the kingdom at the time who were counted as such) the society might extend its usefulness by reading papers, discussing them, and publishing them regularly to the world, in the same manner as the already established scientific societies ”

“ But among civil engineers executive ability is probably as abundantly found as among any other class of persons; and it will not be denied that the required executive ability combined with engineering skill and experience will in that office be especially valuable. There is, however, another point of importance to be considered. A commissioner of public works who is not an engineer, but only an able politician, or, let us assume for argument's sake, an able business man in the general sense, will be much more exposed to political temptation than an engineer of good standing would be. ”

“ But engineers or properly qualified officers having the science of civil engineering could not be procured for every separate purpose in every part of the country, as is generally assumed in Acts of Parliament for effecting particular objects. When such connected work is divided and separated, the remuneration necessary to obtain properly qualified officers to attend to the fragment of service is too high ”