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This paper addresses the complex relationship between natural forces and human attempts to control them in the nineteenth century with reference to a failed harbour development project undertaken in Wick in Caithness, Scotland between 1863 and 1877 by the British Fishery Society and the engineering firm D. & T. Stevenson. The paper highlights how modernist ideas that engineering could and should control nature for human ends were challenged and reshaped by geographically and historically specific discourses, including public duty and responsibility; adversarial nature and the danger of the sea; notions of failure, its meanings and its role in engineering; and the contested epistemological, reputational and experiential nature of expertise. Rather than see an historical geography of marine engineering as about successfully directing nature for human ends – shaping a new geography through technical progress – the paper calls for attention to the implications of failure. This emphasis complicates geographical narratives of progress, technological dominance and human control of the sea. • Explores representations of the failure of Wick breakwater between 1868 and 1877. • Argues that engineers explained failure though the metaphor of conflict with nature. • Shows the importance of personal reputation in gaining support for engineering works. • Examines how local residents challenged claims to engineering expertise. • Argues for the importance of a geographical approach to the analysis of historical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]