Fleming, Sir Sandford (1827-1915), a Canadian civil engineer, built the Intercolonial Railway, which connected New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with Quebec. He also made surveys for the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. After 1876, he played a prominent role in establishing standard time zones (see Standard time). Fleming proposed the use of the 24-hour system of keeping time. In addition, he persuaded the Canadian, Australian, and British governments to cooperate in laying the Pacific cable between Australia and Vancouver in 1902, in an attempt to have a system of communication connecting the entire British Empire.