 In 1883 he was made Superintending Engineer of improvement of rivers and harbors on Lakes Superior and Huron, where he helped to develop the St. Marys Falls Canal.Many consider his crowning achievement to be the design and implementation of the first Poe Lock in the American Soo Locks in Sault Ste.Marie, as it was instrumental in making possible the shipping industry, including steel craft freighters, in the upper Great Lakes.