Birmingham Canal, England—a future unlocked by Telford

Bligh, David; Brown, David; Crowe, Nigel

doi:10.1680/cien.2007.160.5.56

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…11 Brindley's 'meandering ditch' had spawned the enormous commerce of Birmingham and the Black Country with no roads or railways to share the traffic. By 1820 the traffic was immense and the congestion, delays and disputes were appalling-not just at the locks but all along the single towpath with horse-drawn boats travelling in both directions, ropes entangled and priority at the narrow bridge holes in constant contention.…”

Section: Getting Things Builtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thomas Telford, project manager

Barnes¹

2007

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engin

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Thomas Telford, project managerThis paper examines Thomas Telford's achievement as a project manager against modern criteria for that role. It shows that he was undoubtedly one of the best project managers of his time but appears to have confined his innovations to engineering design rather than attempting to change the way major projects were managed. He nevertheless inspired all who worked with him and proved that you do not need modern communications and management tools to be an outstanding project manager.Although the word management was not in his vocabulary or that of any of his contemporaries, Thomas Telford (1757-1834) appears to have been interested in what would now be called the management of the projects which he took in hand. His skill in developing engineering science and technology will always be his greater monument. As a manager he was very good for his time but he was not an innovator in this sphere.It is instructive to review his career as a civil engineer against modern criteria of effectiveness in project management, given that the objectives of the engineer as manager have not changed since his time and probably never will.The most important criterion of success in civil engineering management is that the completed work should deliver the intended benefit-it should do the job, it should work. The subcriteria are that it should be ready to use on or before the planned date, it should not have cost more than the amount budgeted and that, in use, its economy of operation and maintenance should produce a return which justifies the investment of capital by the promoters.These are the eternal criteria but, measured against them, a project manager of Telford's era could not be expected to perform as well as one of today. This is for two main reasons. First, civil engineers today have 200 more years of experience, of learning from what works and what does not, of debate, experiment and teaching about how best to manage their projects.Second, modern engineers can communicate so much better. Telford and his contemporaries could only communicate directly with a person who was within hearing, either on site or in the office. All other communications were on paper, transmitted no faster than a galloping horse over land or a sailing boat over the sea. This was manageable for the young Telford when he was living and working in Shropshire, but a very severe problem later when the Caledonian Canal was under construction in Scotland or the Gotha Canal in Sweden.The related management skills of delegation and of staff development were more important then than now. In the virtual absence of communication, delegation was essential but pointless unless it was to someone of adequate experience and judgement.This paper comprises an analysis of Telford as manager as evidenced by the surviving records of what he did.

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Section: Getting Things Builtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thomas Telford, project manager

Barnes¹

2007

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engin

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“…8) and Stokesay, 1823) and three over the new main line of the Birmingham Canal 1826-28. 21 All have now disappeared, although the main girders of Cound have been re-erected near Telford town centre, and the only original survivor is a truncated version of 9·5 m span at Cantlop. 22 …”

Section: Battles Over Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thomas Telford, county surveyor

Cross-Rudkin¹

2007

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engin

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This paper describes Thomas Telford's early years in post as the first county surveyor of Shropshire in the UK, as well as the challenging nature of his relationships with the justices of the peace who employed him. As Telford's reputation on the national stage grew, his duties increasingly kept him away from the county and he employed Thomas Stanton to undertake the day-to-day work. Telford, however, retained responsibility and correspondence between the two men shows he not only provided leadership when required but also stepped into the breach when his deputy was being pressurised by the cost-conscious justices.

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Comparison of river and canal water dissolved organic matter fluorescence within an urbanised catchment

Cârstea

Baker

Savastru

2013

Water & Environment J

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Recently, growing interest has been shown in the study of canal water quality, yet no research using continuous fluorescence monitoring to characterise dissolved organic matter (DOM) has been performed. This paper evaluated DOM characteristics at hourly resolution. A comparison was made between canal and nearby urban river fluorescence spectra, to emphasise the specific nature of canal water DOM. Results showed that canal water had a significant proportion of microbially derived DOM, while the urban river had a greater proportion of terrestrially derived fractions. The microbial character of canal water DOM originated from the low flow of water, the nutrients predominance and continuous DOM processing. Hence, DOM fluorescence is invariant over a timescale of days, and recreational navigation and precipitation events have no major influence on DOM characteristics. Our results are expected to be applicable to future research on highly regulated freshwater systems for DOM quantity estimation or for water quality models.

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Birmingham Canal, England—a future unlocked by Telford

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

Thomas Telford, project manager

Thomas Telford, project manager

Thomas Telford, county surveyor

Comparison of river and canal water dissolved organic matter fluorescence within an urbanised catchment

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