John Smeaton. Portrait of the English engineer John Smeaton (1724-1792). Smeaton made his name by planning the construction of the Eddystone lighthouse near Plymouth in the English Channel (completed 1759). Another major project planned by Smeaton was the Forth and Clyde canal in Scotland. It was begun in 1768 and took 20 years to complete. He built many other canals, harbours and bridges. He studied the efficiency of windmills & watermills, his conclusions being a great influ- ence on mill design during the early Industrial Revolution. He made the most significant improvements to the Newcomen steam engine before the design was radically altered by Watt.