William Weston (engineer)


William Weston was a civil engineer who worked in England and the United States of America. For a brief period at the end of the 18th century, Weston was the pre-eminent civil engineer in the new United States and worked on the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company, the Western and Northern Inland Lock Navigation Companies in New York, the Middlesex canal in Massachusetts, the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Potomac navigation.
The bulleted information is sourced from the book Billingsley, Brampton and Beyond... in search of The Weston Connection by Pamela Gardner, pub Matador/Troubador Publishing Ltd., 2010

Career

William Weston is first noticed with his work on Trent Bridge, Gainsborough between 1787 and 1791.
In 1792 he sailed from Falmouth to the United States of America to start a five-year engagement as Engineer to the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company in Pennsylvania.
Among others, Weston trained Benjamin Wright later chief engineer of the Erie Canal and Loammi Baldwin chief engineer of the Middlesex Canal.
He returned to England in 1801, but retained his connection with the United States and was a consultant to the Erie Canal Commissioners.

Summary of works