[1] After three years (1875–1878) working for the borough engineer of Hull on riverside improvements, he became assistant to Sir Thomas Bouch.
[1] However, Bouch's career was finished by the Tay Bridge disaster on 28 December 1879 in east Scotland when the 13 high girders forming the central part of the bridge crashed into the river carrying a train and 75 men, women and children with it.
The Meiks' expertise saw port and railway designs developed in many parts of the British Empire, including Christmas Island, India, Burma and Mozambique.
The firm was then commissioned to design the Kinlochleven hydroelectric scheme in the Scottish Highlands.
This was a huge undertaking at the time and it was to lead to an even greater hydroelectric project, the Lochaber Water Power Scheme.