Robert Fulton

Part I of Essay
made many contributions to the American economy. Fulton was the American inventor who brought steamboating from its mere experimental stage to its complete and successful stage. Fulton was born on Nov. 14, 1765 in Lancaster County, P.A. He was the son of Irish immigra ....

Part II of Essay
.... towards canal engineering. He worked on extending the canal system by his Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation. This dealt with the system of inland water transportation based on a small canals extending throughout the countryside. He thought of things such as aqueducts for valley crossings, boats for specialized cargo, and bridge designs featuring bowstring beams to transmit only vertical loads to the piers. Although some of his bridge designs were used to build bridges in the British isles, his ideas for building canals were ....