HELP TO FUND THE REBUILDING OF HERNE BAY PIER

Telford, Thomas (1757 - 1834), versatile Scottish Civil Engineer whose crowning achievement was the design and construction (1819-26) of the Menai Bridge in Wales.

Telford was born near Westerkirk, Scotland, August 9, 1757 as a son of a shepherd.
When he was old enough to herd sheep he went to live with a relative a shepherd like his father and he spent most of his time with him in summer on the hillside amidst the silence of nature.
At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a stonemason.

Building a Reputation
He accordingly left Eskdale for the first time in 1780 and sought work in Edinburgh where the New Town was then in course of erection on the elevated land formerly green fields extending along the north bank of the 'Nor' Loch.
A bridge had been thrown across the Loch in 1769 the stagnant pond or marsh in the hollow had been filled up and Princes Street was rising as if by magic. 1792 he moved to London where he was involved in building additions to Somerset House. Two years later he found work at Portsmouth dockyard.

The first bridge designed and built under Telford's superintendence was across the River Severn at Montford it was finished in 1792. In the same year we find Telford engaged as an architect in preparing the designs and superintending the construction of the new parish church of St. Mary Magdalen at Bridgenorth. His completion of the church to the satisfaction of the inhabitants brought Telford a commission in the following year to erect a similar edifice at Coalbrookdale. But in the mean time to enlarge his knowledge and increase his acquaintance with the best forms of architecture he determined to make a journey to London and through some of the principal towns of the south of England.

After the bridge across the river Severn he built a canal that linked the ironworks and collieries of Wrexham with Chester and Shrewsbury. This involved building an aqueduct over the River Dee. On the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Telford used a new method of construction consisting of troughs made from cast-iron plates and fixed in masonry.
Telford's reputation was duly confirmed by the next general meeting of the shareholders of the Ellesmere Canal. An attempt was made to get up a party against him but it failed. The salary at which Telford was engaged was £500 a year out of which he had to pay one clerk and one confidential foreman besides defraying his own travelling expenses. It would not appear that after making these disbursements much would remain for Telford's own labour but in those days engineers were satisfied with comparatively small pay and did not dream of making large fortunes. After completition of the Ellesmere canal he moved back to Scotland and took control over the building of Caledonian Canal

Other works by Telford include the Menai Suspension Bridge, and the Katherine's Docks in London.
Roads and Bridges
Telford was employed by the government in 1803 to assist the development of the Scottish Highlands. Next to the Caledonian Canal he was responsible for the building of 900 miles(1450km) of roads, including many bridges.
He rebuilt the Shrewsbury to Holyhead road and the North Wales coast road between Chester and Bangor, as well as the main road between London and Holyhead.

A list of his work.
Surveyor in Shropshire 1793
Chief engineer for the construction of Ellsmere Canal 1796
Bildwas Bridge 1803
Construction of Caledonian Canal begins 1808
First trip to Sweden, consultant for the Gotha Canal 1810
Port of Aberdeen 1811
First report on Holyhead Road 1813
Second trip to Sweden 1817 - 1829
Commissioner for the Treasury Department 1819
Construction on Menai Straits Bridge begins 1820
First president of the Institution of Civil Engineers

Participation in the following structures
Stanley Ferry Aqueduct (1839)

Designer
Bonar Bridge (1802) Broomielaw Bridge (1816) Buildwas Bridge (1796) Chirk Aqueduct (1801)

Clachan Bridge (1792) Conwy Castle Bridge (1826) Cound Arbour Bridge (1797)

Craigellachie Bridge (1815) Dean Bridge (1831) Dunkeld Bridge (1809)

Eaton Hall Bridge (1824) Galton Bridge (1829) Glen Loy Aqueduct (1806)

Harecastle Canal Tunnel (1827) Holt Fleet Bridge (1827) London Bridge (proposal)

Longdon-Upon-Tern Aqueduct (1796) Menai Straits Bridge (1826)

Mythe Bridge (1826) Over Bridge (1827) Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (1805)

Telford Bridge (1813) Tongland Bridge (1808) Waterloo Bridge (1815)

Construction supervision
Standedge Canal Tunnel (1811)

Designer
Crinan Canal

Two Years before his death in 1834, he approved the plans for The Herne Bay Pier
Other works by Telford include the St Katharine Docks (1824 -1828 ) close to Tower Bridge in central London, where he worked with alongside the architect Philip Hardwick , the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal (today known as the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal ), the second Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal (1827), and the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal (today part of the Shropshire Union Canal ) - started in May 1826 but finished, after Telford's death, in January 1835 .
At the time of its construction in 1829 , Galton Bridge was the longest single span in the world.
He also built Whitstable harbour in Kent in 1832, in connection with the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway with an unusual system for flushing out mud using a tidal reservoir.
In 1820 , Telford was appointed the first President of the recently-formed Institution of Civil Engineers , a post he held until his death. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.