ROBERTS W.M.

ROBERTS W.M. 12.02. 1810 Philadelphia PA/USA 14.07. 1881 Soledade/BR William Milnor Roberts joined at age fifteen the engineering corps, to be engaged in the construction of the Union Canal in Pennsylvania. In 1826 he was a rodman for a road across Alleghany Mountains to connect the canals on either side of the hill. He then worked for the Lehigh Canal, helping to improve the inclined planes at Mauch Chunk. In 1831 he was appointed senior assistant engineer for a railroad. Upon the completion of this work in 1834, he served as general manager until he became chief engineer of the Lancaster & Harrisburg Railroad. Roberts at only age of twenty-five had experience in canal and railroad construction. He possessed much mechanical ability and had developed a special aptitude for design. One of his greatest engineering feats at this time was the construction of a two-level latticetruss bridge across Susquehanna River at Harrisburg in 1837, carrying a double-track railroad above and a double carriage-way below. He was given charge in 1838 of the extensions of the Pennsylvania State Canals. For the next eight years he was engaged in canal construction, enlarging the Welland Canal in Canada, directing the enlargements of the Erie Canal in Pennsylvania, and acting as chief engineer of the Sandy & Beaver Canal, Ohio. Later, Roberts was mainly engaged with railroad design and construction; in 1857 he went to Brazil, where he obtained the contract to build the Dom Pedro Segunda Railroad, a project involving considerable tunnelling and requiring eight years to be completed. He returned to the United States in 1866 proposing improvements of the Mississippi River at Keokuk IA. In 1869 he was appointed chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad, a position he held for ten years, during which time he also served as a member of the Mississippi River Jetty Commission. In 1879 he accepted the appointment of chief engineer of all public works in Brazil, and for the remaining years of his life was occupied with the examination of rivers, harbours, and waterworks. Roberts was president of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1878. Anonymous (1935). Roberts, William Milnor. Dictionary of American biography 16: 18-19. Scribner’s: New York. Anonymous (1936). Early presidents of the Society: William Milnor Roberts. Civil Engineering 6(12): 833-834. P Bogart, J. (1896). William Milnor Roberts. Trans. ASCE 36: 531-537. Roberts, W.M. (1857). Practical views on the proposed improvement of the Ohio River. Journal of the Franklin Institute Ser.3 34(1): 2-82.