Telford, Thomas, 1757–1834, Scottish civil engineer. He greatly improved road building in England and Scotland. He introduced the use of a base of large stones surfaced with compacted layers of small stones. His engineering works include harbors and docks at Aberdeen, Dundee, and London, many notable bridges, including those across the Tay River and the Menai Strait, and an aqueduct across the Dee; he was engineer-in-chief of the Caledonian Canal. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Telford, Thomas

(born Aug. 9, 1757, near Westerkirk, Dumfries, Scot.—died Sept. 2, 1834, London, Eng.) Scottish civil engineer. He built the Ellesmere, Caledonian, and Göta canals and the St. Katherine's Docks in London. His crowning achievement was the design and construction (1819–26) of the great Menai Bridge, a suspension bridge in Wales. In all he built some 1,200 bridges, over 1,000 miles of road, and many buildings. He was the first president of the British Institution of Civil Engineers (founded 1818).