History Committee

The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering has stated that “it is a learned society intended to develop and maintain high standards of civil engineering practice in Canada and to enhance the public image of the civil engineering profession”. One aspect of this mandate is to ensure that tangible records of significant historic civil engineering achievements are preserved as part of the heritage of the people of Canada, and in esteem of the civil engineers and others who worked alongside them. To this end, the Society’s Board of Directors has mandated the National History Committee with responsibility to increase awareness of civil engineers and civil engineering as an integral part of Canadian history, heritage and society.

Accordingly the Objectives of the History Program of the National History Committee are to:

1. Identify and inventory civil engineering works which are of historic significance. The inventory is to list their locations and salient features
2. Promote greater public and professional recognition of works considered significant by such means as commemorative plaques and by disseminating information about location, accessibility and important features
3. Encourage study and research into historic aspects of civil engineering in general, and in related fields such as industrial archaeology, preservation technology and social and economic impacts
4. Arrange for the preparation and offering of papers for presentation at meetings of the Society or other forums, preferably with consideration for peer reviewed publication, and to encourage the publication of articles of general interest about historic civil engineering works and the lives and achievements of civil engineers
5. Cooperate with other organizations, public and private, on all matters of mutual interest including heritage
6. Record the contributions of notable civil engineers and others through oral history interviews, and ensure that these interviews are available to members of the Society and the public
7. Arrange for the preservation and safe keeping of historic civil engineering documents and artefacts, and the personal papers and artefacts of historic potential of prominent civil engineers by appropriate public archives and museums or in private collections where permission for scholarly access has been covenanted
8. Encourage the preservation of historic civil engineering structures and works and public access to the sites, by providing expert advice as may be helpful to the owners and local heritage interests
9. Provide advice on the preservation and accessibility of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering’s records of meetings, conference proceedings, and publications, and on the archives of the Engineering Institute of Canada which includes those of the original Canadian Society of Civil Engineers
10. Recognize outstanding contributions in support of the National History Committee’s mandate through honours and awards
11. Increase the Committee’s financial resources so it can provide funding to help carry out its activities
12. Seek out new initiatives including items not specifically listed in these Objectives which support the Mandate of the Committee and benefit the profession and the public.