He is best known for being co-editor of Engineering, illustrating, photographing and surveying many bridges in Britain in the latter part of the 19th century.
He was born in Bath to an engineer and architect father, James Dredge Sr., a brewer originally, who designed suspension bridges and piers.
[4] However, in 1870, on the death of editor Zerah Colburn, he became a co-editor of the journal with William Henry Maw.
[8] In 1901, he founded a monthly supplement to Engineering, a journal named Traction and Transmission, but it only lasted for three years.
[3] Dredge was a contributor to the Dictionary of National Biography, providing the extensive article on Henry Bessemer in 1901.