Arthur M. Wellington
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Arthur Mellen Wellington (December 20, 1847 – May 17, 1895) was an American
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
who wrote the 1877 book ''The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways''. The saying that ''An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two'' is an abridgement of a statement made in this work (see below). Wellington was involved in the design and construction of new railways in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. He was chief engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern Railroad. He was the editor of the ''Engineering News''. The pioneering effort of Wellington in engineering economics in the 1870s was continued by
John Charles Lounsbury Fish John Charles Lounsbury Fish (June 3, 1870 - June 15, 1962) was a Professor of Civil Engineering, Emeritus, at the School of Engineering, Stanford University. He is known for his works ''Mathematics of the Paper Location of a Railroad'' (1905), ''E ...
with the publication of ''Engineering Economics: First Principles'' in 1923 and the first publication of the ''Principles of Engineering Economy'' in 1930 by
Eugene L. Grant Eugene Lodewick Grant (February 15, 1897 – July 9, 1996), was an American civil engineer and educator. He graduated with a BS from the University of Wisconsin in 1917. He started teaching in 1920 at Montana State University and then in 1930 at t ...
.


Early life and works

He was born on December 25, 1847, in
Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, th ...
. In 1878, he married Agnes Bates, and they had two children. Wellington was a descendant of Roger Wellington, an early settler of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
in 1636 and Benjamin Wellington. In 1863, Wellington graduated from the
Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...
and then studied engineering with John Benjamin Henck, a prominent civil engineer practicing in Boston. While his work with Henck took place during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, he studied
mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
and passed the examination for an assistant engineer in the United States Navy but with the end of the War, never received an appointment.


Surveyor and locating engineer

Wellington left Henck's office in 1866 to work as a surveyor in the engineers corps at the Brooklyn Parks department on the Prospect Park project under
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
. In 1868, he took a position as a surveyor on a locating party for the Blue Ridge railroad in South Carolina in charge of a series of explorations to find possible routes for the railroad. Wellington left the South Carolina road and went on to practice location engineering for the Dutchess & Columbia railroad in New York state. He left that road in 1870 to work on the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia railroad as a division engineer for the next three years. He continued in this position until the financial panic of 1873 put a sudden stop to railway construction. He was appointed as Chief Engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern Railway in 1872. He then went to work for the Buffalo and Erie Railroad, the West Farms Railway and the Canadian Great Western Railway. He was made engineer in charge of the
Mexican National Railway Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous peopl ...
in March 1881, and afterward, he became the Assistant General Manager of the Mexican Central Railway. He returned to Manhattan, New York City and became one of the editors of
The Railroad Gazette ''Railroad Gazette'' was a trade journal first published in April 1856 that focused on railroad, transportation and engineering topics. Master mechanics read and used the publication to share information about railway matters with one another. ...
in 1884.


Honors

He then became editor and part owner of The Engineering News. In 1891, Wellington was elected a member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers.


Famous Quotation

The famous quotation, 'An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two," is a shortened version of this statement below, which appears in the introduction to his magnum opus, "The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways," published in 1877: "It would be well if engineering were less generally thought of, and even defined, as the art of constructing. In a certain important sense it is rather the art of not constructing; or, to define it rudely but not inaptly, it is the art of doing that well with one dollar, which any bungler can do with two after a fashion."


Death

Wellington died on May 17, 1895, from heart failure following surgery in
Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
, at age 47.


Partial bibliography

* * * and revised through six editions with the last published in 1910 by Wellington's wife, Agnes Wellington. * * Wellington was chief engineer in charge of the 1881 survey. See also * with an appendix containing the report descriptive of the recommended plan submitted to the Board of Experts Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N. Board of Experts. (1888). * being a reprint of some of the articles which have appeared in Engineering News on pile driving and the safe load of piles and of the pamphlet.


Patents

Wellington received three patents for his work: * Patent No. 549,981 thru 549,983.


Legacy

*In 1921, the
American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
instituted a prize, th
Arthur M. Wellington Prize
, in response to a proposal by the Engineering News-Record, which had endowed the award in honor of Wellington who was a former editor and part proprietor of ''Engineering News''. * In 1979, the then-named American Institute of Industrial Engineers, (now
Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), formerly the Institute of Industrial Engineers, is a professional society dedicated solely to the support of the industrial engineering profession and individuals involved with improving q ...
or IISE) created the Wellington Award in honor of his work in engineering economy to recognize "...contributions and service in the field of engineering economy that enhance the visibility of the engineering economy division of IISE." ** Its first four recipients were
Eugene L. Grant Eugene Lodewick Grant (February 15, 1897 – July 9, 1996), was an American civil engineer and educator. He graduated with a BS from the University of Wisconsin in 1917. He started teaching in 1920 at Montana State University and then in 1930 at t ...
(1979), Arthur Lesser Jr (1980), W. Grant Ireson (1981) and H.G. Thuesen (1982). *His book ''The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways'' was first published in 1877 by the '' Railroad Gazette'' and John Wiley New York. The subtitle was ''An analysis of the conditions which govern the judicious adjustment of gradients, curvature, and length of line to each other, and the character and volume of traffic''. The 5th edition had the subtitle ''An analysis of the conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious expenditure of capital''. He indicated the importance of the ruling gradient and its effect on train loads and running costs. By 1910 it was in its 6th edition and had also been printed in London.


References


External links


''Arthur Mellen Wellington''

Wellington Obituary in Engineering News and American Railway Journal, Vol. 33, No. 21, May 23, 1895, pp. 886-888.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellington, Arthur M. American civil engineers American engineering writers American textbook writers
Textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...
Textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...
American surveyors Engineering journalists American railroad mechanical engineers Canadian civil engineers American mechanical engineers American railroad pioneers American people in rail transportation Boston Latin School alumni 1847 births 1895 deaths Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)