Nils Ericson

Nils Ericson (1802 to 1870), born Nils Ericsson, was a Swedish engineer who built canals and railways in Sweden and was the elder brother of the engineer John Ericsson. Born in Långbanshyttan in Värmland, he had no formal education and was taught mechanics as a boy by his father, then drew in the office of the Göta Canal company and became a cadet of the Swedish Navy Mechanical Corps. He joined the Army engineering corps as a second lieutenant in 1823 and moved to the Navy Mechanical Corps in 1830, becoming a colonel in 1850. Between 1830 and 1850 he planned and directed the canals at Stallbacka, Säffle, Karlstad and Albrektsund, and he led the building of the Saimaa Canal in Finland from 1845 to 1852, the rebuilding of the Trollhätte Canal and the locks at Slussen in Stockholm. From 1854 he led the building of the main railway lines of the Swedish state railways, including the Western, Southern and Northern Main Lines. He was raised to the nobility in 1854 and made a baron in 1859, and a statue of him stands outside Stockholm Central Station.