John Smeaton was the first engineer to call himself a "Civil Engineer". He is also noted as the founder of a Society of Engineers in Great Britain in 1771. In 1825 this Society became the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). John Smeaton was a British engineer particularly noted for his design of an all-masonry lighthouse on Eddystone reef. In order to build the new lighthouse, Smeaton needed a cement which would harden when immersed in water. This is known as a "hydraulic cement". His technique of using dovetailed blocks of stone in the building of lighthouses became the standard because of its ability to stand up to the constant pounding of the waves.
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