ROBERTS N.S.

ROBERTS N.S. 28.07. 1776 Piles Grove NJ/USA 24.11. 1852 Canastota NY/USA Nathan Smith Roberts was appointed principal of Whitesboro Academy in 1806. In 1816 he became an assistant to Benjamin Wright (1770-1842), then engineer in charge of the building of the middle Erie Canal section. Until 1822 Roberts made surveys for the Canal between Rome and Rochester NY with plans for locks. He was until the completion of the canal in 1825 in charge of the western section of the canal, from Lockport to Buffalo NY. He designed five pairs of locks at Lockport to overcome barriers formed by a 20 m high rocky ridge, a more elaborate lock scheme than had ever been built in America. Upon the completion of Erie Canal, Roberts became a consultant for the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, and in 1826 for the New York State. He made a survey reporting on a route for a ship canal around the Niagara Falls. He was then chief engineer of the western end of the Pennsylvania State Canal, between Pittsburgh PA and Kiskimenetas PA. He in parallel furnished a Report to the New York State Canal Board, on the practicability of supplying the summit level of the projected Chenango Canal with water. He reviewed with James Geddes (1763-1838) the estimates of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and examined the country between Johnstown PA and Franktown PA for a possible route for either a railroad or a portage over the mountains to connect the eastern and western sections of the Pennsylvania State Canal. Roberts was from 1828 member of the board of engineers of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company, engaged on its location of extensions. As a notable canal engineer he was appointed by the federal government to take charge of surveys for a ship canal around Muscle Shoals, Tennessee River in Alabama. He made in 1835 with John B. Jervis (1795-1885) surveys for the New York State Canal Board to enlarge the Erie Canal, beginning in 1839 as chief engineer its enlargement between Rochester and Buffalo. Roberts retired in 1841 to Madison County, where he spent the remaining years on his farm. Levy, J. (2003). The Erie Canal: A primary source history of the canal that changed America. Rosen: New York. Malone, D., ed. (1935). Roberts, Nathan S. Dictionary of American biography 16: 12-13. Scribner’s: New York. Roberts, N.S. (1830). Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company. Georgetown. https://lockportjournal.com/canaldiscovery/x212281772/ERIE-CANAL-DISCOVERY-NathanRoberts-canal-engineer-Part-1 (P)

ROBERTS W.J. 13.05. 1860 Caroline Islands/KI 06.04. 1938 Tacoma WA/USA William Jackson Roberts was born on the Caroline Islands, today a part of the Republic of Kiribati. His parents moved in 1861 to the USA; he graduated in 1891 with the BSc degree in civil engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA. He also received later the MA degree from the University of Oregon, Corvallis OR. He began his engineering work at Portland OR as topographer, becoming then engineer for the Hood River Irrigation Company. From 1895 he was associate professor of civil engineering, Washington State College, Pullman WA. He also served as consultant for cities in the Northwest in projects relating to water supply and irrigation. He was also consultant on the Washington State Board of Health. In 1908, Roberts decided to devote his time exclusively to engineering consultancy. His first project was to build a modern water system for Medford OR. In 1913 the Kings and Pierce Counties in Washington State were confronted with a serious flood-control problem; they formed the Inter-County River Improvement, with the headquarters at Tacoma WA, of which Roberts became chief engineer. During the next nine years he straightened, widened and deepened the Puyallup River, a project of pioneer type, attracting the attention of engineers, because the flooding conditions were successfully removed. In 1917, when the USA entered World War I, Roberts again supervised the construction of the water and sewerage systems for the Army Cantonment at Camp Lewis WA, accommodating 55,000 troops. This facility consisted of 65 km water mains and 50 km of sewers. Later he built more than forty water and sewerage systems in Washington, Oregon and Idaho States. In 1936 he was bestowed the Honorary Life Membership of the Tacoma Engineers’ Club, where he had been president and member, and whom he donated his engineering library. Roberts was not only engineer but also a gentleman, loved and esteemed by all who knew him. He also was an ASCE member. Anonymous (1939). William J. Roberts. Trans. ASCE 104: 1995-1998. Roberts, M. (1978). Papers of William J. Roberts. Washington State University: Pullman WA. Roberts, W.J. (1916). Some of the problems in the flood control of the White-Stuck and Puyallup Rivers. Proc. Pacific Northwest Society of Engineers 15(3): 3-40. Roberts, W.J. (1920). Inter-County river improvement on White-Stuck and Puyallup Rivers in King and Pierce Counties WA. Tacoma WA. https://www.olsonengr.com/download/globios/robertswilliamjbio.pdf P