Arthur Mellen Wellington was an Americancivil engineer 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 attributed to him. He was involved in the design and construction of new railways in Mexico. 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 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.
Early Life and Works
He was born on December 25, 1847, in Waltham, Massachusetts. 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 in 1636 and Benjamin Wellington. In 1863, Wellington graduated from the Boston Latin School 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, he studied mechanical engineering and passed the examination for an assistant engineer in the United States Navy but with the end of the War, never received an appointment.
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.
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 instituted a prize, the , 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, 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, Arthur Lesser Jr, W. Grant Ireson and H.G. Thuesen.
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.
