Thomas Dadford advised on the Canal's aqueduct over the River Tame (now known as Tame Aqueduct) in 1784 and in June 1785, Thomas Sheasby was awarded the contract to connect the Coventry Canal to the Trent and Mersey Canal.
In 1786, Richard Crawshay and partners took over the lease of the Cyfarthfa Ironworks, and soon engaged the canal engineer Thomas Dadford to survey a route for a canal to Cardiff.
It was not until 1795 that Thomas Dadford was appointed as the engineer for the canal itself and construction began in earnest at Penpedairheol near Crickhowell.
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The plan was led by Dallaway's son William, who asked Thomas Dadford, Jr., the engineer on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and John Priddy, who had been the engineer on the Droitwich Canal during its construction, to carry out a survey.