The Tamil Nadu Public Works Department is as old as the British rule in India. It was in the year 1858 that India came directly under the British crown after the First War of Independence in 1857, which was designated by the British historians as the Sepoy Mutiny. It was in the same year, namely 1858, that the Public Works Department was formed based on the recommendations of a Public Works Commission, appointed by the Court of Directors in England. Sir Arthur T. Cotton, of revered memory, was the first Chief Engineer of this newly formed Department.
