 That same year, Smith next went to work for the Miami Conservancy District in Dayton, Ohio, where he was in charge of the design of flood protection work in the Miami Valley until 1919.In 1919, Smith was hired by his long-time colleague Mortimer Grant Barnes as chief design engineer for the Illinois Waterway Project, a system that includes eight locks providing a shipping connection from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River.Smith was placed "in charge of design and preparation of plans for locks, dams and structures" pertaining to the Illinois Waterway.