author

S. T. (Silvanus Thayer) Abert

1828–1903

A nineteenth-century civil engineer and writer, he brought a practical, wide-angle view to questions of waterways, maps, and transportation. His work reflects a lifetime spent close to the great surveying and canal projects of his era.

1 Audiobook

Is a Ship Canal Practicable? Notes, Historical and Statistical, Upon the Projected Routes for an Interoceanic Ship Canal Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in Which is Included a Short Account of the Character and Influence of the Canal of Suez, and the Probable Effects Upon the Commerce of the World of the Two Canals, Regarded Either as Rivals, or as Parts of One System of Interoceanic Navigation

Is a Ship Canal Practicable? Notes, Historical and Statistical, Upon the Projected Routes for an Interoceanic Ship Canal Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in Which is Included a Short Account of the Character and Influence of the Canal of Suez, and the Probable Effects Upon the Commerce of the World of the Two Canals, Regarded Either as Rivals, or as Parts of One System of Interoceanic Navigation

by S. T. (Silvanus Thayer) Abert

About the author

Born on July 22, 1828, Silvanus Thayer Abert was an American civil engineer and author. Records and catalog entries connect him with government engineering work, and contemporary biographical summaries describe him as educated at Princeton and active in public engineering service from the late 1840s onward.

Abert is especially associated with writing on major infrastructure and navigation questions. His best-known book, Is a Ship Canal Practicable?, examined possible interoceanic canal routes and the larger commercial importance of such projects. Library of Congress records also identify him in connection with mapping and navigation work, including material related to the Potomac.

He died in 1903. Although surviving reference sources are fairly brief, they consistently present him as a technically trained writer whose career linked engineering practice with clear public explanation of ambitious transportation ideas.