Construction of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, meant to carry the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in north east Wales, begins under the supervision of Thomas Telford and William Jessop near the eighteenth-century road crossing, Pont Cysylltau.

After the westerly high-ground route was approved, the original plan was to create a series of locks down both sides of the valley to an embankment that would carry the Ellesmere Canal over the River Dee.

However, after Telford was hired the plan was changed to an aqueduct that would create an uninterrupted waterway straight across the valley.

Despite considerable public skepticism, Telford is confident his construction method will work because he had previously built a cast-iron trough aqueduct—the Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct on the Shrewsbury Canal.

The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded on January 2, 1818.

The late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century have seen the founding of many learned societies and professional bodies (for example, the Royal Society and the Law Society).

Groups calling themselves civil engineers had been meeting for some years from the late eighteenth century, notably the Society of Civil Engineers formed in 1771 by John Smeaton (renamed the Smeatonian Society after his death).

At this time, formal engineering in Britain is limited to the military engineers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, and in the spirit of self-help prevalent at the time and to provide a focus for the fledgling 'civilian engineers', the Institution of Civil Engineers is  founded as the world's first professional engineering body.

The initiative to found the Institution is taken in 1818 by three young engineers, Henry Robinson Palmer, James Jones, and Joshua Field, who organize an inaugural meeting on January 2, 1818, at the Kendal Coffee House in Fleet Street.

The institution will make little headway until a key step is taken—the appointment of Thomas Telford as the first President of the body.

The Menai Suspension Bridge, built by engineer Thomas Telford, is opened between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales on January 30, 1826.