Thomas Telford facts for kids

Thomas Telford
Quick facts for kids Thomas Telford ; FRS, FRSE
Born	9 August 1757; Glendinning, Westerkirk, Eskdale, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Died	2 September 1834 (aged 77); 24 Abingdon Street, Westminster, London, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Engineer
	Engineering career
Discipline	Civil
Institutions	Founder and first President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1818)
Projects	Caledonian Canal; Göta Canal; Ellesmere Canal; Pontcysyllte Aqueduct; Shrewsbury Canal; Menai suspension bridge; A5 road;

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and road, bridge and canal builder. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well as harbours and tunnels. Such was his reputation as a prolific designer of highways and related bridges, he was dubbed The Colossus of Roads (a pun on the Colossus of Rhodes), and, reflecting his command of all types of civil engineering in the early 19th century, he was elected as the first President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a post he held for 14 years until his death.

The town of Telford in Shropshire was named after him.

Images for kids

Portrait and signature of Thomas Telford
A canal boat traverses the Pontcysyllte aqueduct
Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct
Menai Suspension Bridge
Galton Bridge
A 'Telford church' on Ulva (1827/8) in the Inner Hebrides
Telford's Lothian Bridge (1831) on the present-day A68
Statue of Thomas Telford outside the law courts in Telford, Shropshire.