When New York needed to increase their water supply, he consulted on the construction of the Quaker Bridge Dam on the Croton River in New York. These two canals, built in the late 1840s and early 1850s, completed the 5.6 mile long Lowell canal system, and greatly increased the industrial power of the thriving industrial city's mill complexes.ĭuring his work on the Lowell systems, Francis was also consulted on many other water projects nationwide. Īs manager and chief engineer, Francis was responsible for the construction of the Northern Canal and Moody Street Feeder. Impressed by his abilities, the company named him "Manager of Locks and Canals" in 1845. Francis was to analyse how much water each mill factory was using from the company's channel system. In 1841 came his first major project for the company. Their first son, James Jr., was born March 30, 1840, and then they had five more children. Before departing, he appointed Francis chief engineer, and sold him his house on Worthen Street. A year later, James and his boss, Whistler, travelled north to Lowell, Massachusetts, where at the age of 19, he got a draftsman job with the Locks and Canal Company, and Whistler became chief engineer.Ī few years later, in 1837, Whistler resigned, and went to work on Russia's major railroads. His first job was in Stonington, Connecticut, as an assistant to the railway engineer George Washington Whistler Jr., working on the New York and New Haven Railroad. When he turned 18, he decided to emigrate to the United States, in 1833. He started his engineering career at the early age of seven as he worked as his father's apprentice at the Porth Cawl Railway and Harbor Works in South Wales.
James Francis was born in South Leigh, near Witney, Oxfordshire, in England, United Kingdom.
James Bicheno Francis (– September 18, 1892) was a British-American civil engineer, who invented the Francis turbine.Įarly years The Lowell canal system as it appeared when Francis joined the Proprietors of Locks and Canals on the Merrimack River in 1836
South Leigh, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
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