This document provides information on several topics related to civil engineering and construction history: - It discusses the origins of civil engineering as a discipline, noting that the first engineering school opened in France in 1747. - It provides brief summaries of several famous structures from ancient times, including pyramids and temples from Egypt, Greece and Rome. Engineering details are highlighted about some of the structures. - It also covers topics like Roman concrete and aqueduct construction, noting techniques used and some of the largest examples from the Roman era. - The document concludes with a short section on the Industrial Revolution and some pioneering metal bridge designs from the 18th-19th centuries that pointed to the future of modern engineering

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2. Civil Engineering
Civil engineering is the oldest of the main
disciplines of engineering.
 The first engineering school, the National
School of Bridges and Highways in
France, was opened in 1747.
 John Smeaton was the first person to
actually call himself a "Civil Engineer".
(noted for his design of an all-masonry
lighthouse on Eddystone reef)
 In 1828 the world's first engineering
society came into being, the Institution of
Civil Engineers in England.


3. Homo erectus
1,600,000 - 500,000 BC: Homo erectus

4. Homo sapiens neandertalensis
100,000 - 33,000 BC: Homo
neanderthalensis
graves

5. Ice Ages  Stone tools 
125,000: Homo sapiens sapiens

8. The Pyramid of Chephren

9. The Pyramid of Cheops
The differences of the length of four base
sides are 111mm maximum and 7mm
minimum. The maxmum difference of the
level of base is only 21mm.

10. The pyramid of Chephren, Sphinx and the pyramid of Mycerinus
The Valley temple of King
Chephren. South half of Tshaped hypostyle hall

11. Deir El-Bahari; Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (18th Dinasty, B.C.
1490-1468) and Mentuhotep II,III (11th Dinasty, B.C.20611998), Thebes, Egypt

12. The Temple of Amon-Ra at Karnak, 12th dynasty-Ptolemaic
period, c.2000 B.C.-c.220 B.C. ; Karnak, Egypt
The center columns (opened papyrus columns) are 3.5m in diameter and 21.08m high

14. Teotihuacan, Mexico; Proto Classic-Early Classic; B.C.100-600
In Early Classic Period, The city covered
more than 20sq.km.(13 square miles) and
attained a maximum population of 200,000.
Plaza of the Moon and Avenue of
the Dead. View from the Pyramid
of the Moon.
The size of the Pyramid of the Moon is
140mx150m at the base, 45.8m height.
A.D.100-350.

15. Tikal, Guatemala, Tikal; Late Classic; B.C.300-900
Temple I (Temple of the Jaguars)
The temple has a sculpture of jaguars
and the secret crypt. The height is 51 m
Temple II (Temple of the Mask)
There is a relief of the Mask on the roofcomb. The height is 42m and the lowest
among the 5 pyramids

18. 趙州橋全長64.4米，拱頂寬9米，拱腳寬9.6米，跨
徑37.02米，拱矢7.23米。從整體看，它是一座單孔
弧形石橋，由28道石拱券縱向並列砌築而成。

21. Temple of Apollo; Greece, Korinthos; About 540 B.C.

22. Parthenon; Greece, Athens; 447 B.C

23. Odeon of Herodes Atticus; Greece, Athens; C. 161 A.D.

24. Temple of Hephaestos; Greece, Athens 450-440 B.C.
The base is 4.45m x 32.53m square and center of the base is slightly raised up
as the temple of Parthenon. The proportion of the base is almost 4 by 9 which is
same as the Temple of Parthenon but the temple of Hephaestos is smaller than
the cella of the Partenon.

25. Colinthian column.
About 17m height and
about 1.9m diameter.
Detail of Corinthian capital designed by
Roman architect Cossutius. The design of
this capital became the model of Corinthian
order.
Vitruvius, An old Roman architect, wrote that
the cella of the temple had not the ceiling and
roof.

27. Maison Carree; France, Nimes; approx. B.C.19
Meison Carree is one of those built in
about B.C.20-19 by Marcus Vipsanius
Agrippa, Augustus' son-in-law. Mason
Carre is a pseudoperipteros temple
with 6 Corinthian columns in front in
Early Imperial Rome period when the
Roman temples have been strongly
influenced by Greek temple style.

28. Pont du Gard, France, Nimes; late B.C.1c.(about B.C.20)
•The bottom arches, which spans are
15.75 m to 21.5 m, are about 155 m
long, 20 m high.
•On the top of the bottom arches is a 7 m
wide road which has expanded for the
traffic of cars in 1743.
•The middle arches are same spans of the
bottom arches and the length is about 265
m in total. The height of middle part is
about 21 m and width is 5 m.
•On the top of the 35 small arches, about
8.5 m high 3 m wide, support the
waterway.
•The big arch, the bottom arch and middle
arch, have 3 times or 4 times of the small
arch in span and 6 times of the small arch
in height.
•There was only 17 m fall from the
headwaters to Nimes and that meant the
incline was 34 cm per 1 km.

29. The protruding stones were for supporting
scaffolds at under construction.

30. Pantheon, Italy, Rome; 118-35 A.D.
The interior is a perfect circle which diameter
and height are exactly same, 43m.
The wall is 6.05m thick and on the lower level
are seven niches with a pair of Corinthian
columns.
The lower level and the second level are
divided by the cornis in the ratio of a square
root of 2 to 1.

31. Colosseum; Italy, Rome; 72 A.D.

33. Cathedral Paris; France, Paris; 1163-1250
Flying buttress

34. Cathedral Amiens; France, Amiens; about 1220-1410
Cathedral Amiens is the largest and most Classical of
French cathedrals in Gothc era.
The height of the ceiling is about 42.3m (about 37m at
Cathedral Chartres, about 38m at Cathedral Reims) and
the width of the nave is about 14.6m.
The Cathedral Amien was built in 1152 with the
Romanesque style and burnt in 1218 by lightnings.
The reconstruction was started in about 1220 and the
nave was completed in about 1245.

35. Duomo, Milano; Italy, Milano; 1386-1577, west front 1616-1813
The biggest and greatest late gothic
architecture in Italy.
The gothic style is unfamiliar in Italy and the
renaissance style is essentially Italian.
Extremely linear design shows unstructural
power against it's structure.

37. St. Maria del Fiore, Italy, Firenze; Dome=1418-1436; Dome=by Filippo Brunelleschi
This had started to built, originally Gothic architecture, in 1296.
The bell tower was built in 1334-87 by Giotto.
The octagonal dome was designed by Brunelleschi in 1418 and
was built in 1420-36.
The diameter of inside of the dome is 43m, which is same as
Pantheon, Roma.

39. Colonnade of S. Pietro; Italy, Roma; 1656-1667; by Lorenzo Bernini
Johann Sebastian Bach's life (1685-1750)

41. Roman Concrete
Roman concrete (opus caementicium), like
modern concrete, is an artificial building material
composed of an aggregate, a binding agent, and
water. Aggregate is essentially a filler, such as
gravel, chunks of stone and rubble, broken
bricks, etc.
 Binding agent is a substance which is mixed with
the aggregate wet (water added) and solidifies
when it dries, or "sets."
 Many materials, even mud, can be a binding
agent, and used to make, what we generally
call, mortar.
 Historically lime or gypsum, mixed with rubble
stones, have been used as binding agents in
making a strong mortar.


42. Roman contribution to this basic structural
mixture was the addition as primary binding
agent pozzolona, a special volcanic dust
found in central Italy.
 Pozzolona created an exceptionally strong
bond with the aggregate.
 In most parts of the Roman world, where
similar volcanic powders could not be
found, local materials such as lime or
gypsum were used as binding agents.
 The binding agent used in modern
concrete is called "cement," or Portland
cement.


44. 
In Pompeii, before the
construction of the city's
aqueduct at the end of
the 1st century
B.C., individual water
tanks (impluvium) often
located in the atrium of a
house, under the roof
opening, provided the
modest water needs of
the household.

45. 
Larger houses or
villas, often depended on
extensive cisterns. Villa
Jovis, emperor Tiberius'
retreat high up on the
rocky eastern end of the
water-starved island of
Capri, was virtually
designed around a
courtyard supported by a
vast netweork of
concrete, vaulted
cisterns.

47. 

One of the most
impressive and immense
cisterns ever created in
the Roman world is near
Pozzuoli, in the bay of
Naples.
Known locally as
"Piscina Mirabile," this
gigantic structure has
over fifty square bays of
tall, soaring vaults.

48. 




All things being equal, the constant fresh supply of
water brought by an aqueduct was preferred over
a reservoir supply.
Early in their history Romans developed a highly
effective systems of bringing water in conduits to
their cities from sources many miles away.
The conduits were either open channels, or more
commonly, pipes made of clay or bronze or
lead, laid underground.
The system relied predominantly on gravity, the
water source had to be higher than the city served
by it.
Impressive as these are, they constituted only a
small portion of a water-line which could be 30-40
miles long.

49. Rome's first aqueduct, Aqua Appia, dates
back to 312 B.C.
 By the beginning of the 2nd century
A.D., the capital was served by nine
aqueducts supplying a total of one-million
cubic meters of water daily.
 Once water was brought into the city it was
piped to different neighborhoods from
special distribution tanks (castella).
 Imperial establishments, baths and public
fountains received priority over private
uses.


51. Pont du Gard
One of the best
preserved, textbook, examples of a Roman
aqueduct is the Pont du Gard, built by
Augustus' friend Agrippa, ca. 20 B.C..
 This aqueduct brought water to Nimes in
southern France (ancient Nemassus) from
a source 30 miles away.
 The three-tiered arches of the structure
cross the valley of River Gardon at a height
of 150-feet.
 Water ran at a slope of 1:3000 in an open
conduit on the uppermost level


53. 





The bottom arches, which spans are 15.75 m to 21.5 m, are
about 155 m long, 20 m high.
On the top of the bottom arches is a 7 m wide road which
has expanded for the traffic of cars in 1743.
The middle arches are same spans of the bottom arches and
the length is about 265 m in total. The height of middle part is
about 21 m and width is 5 m.
On the top of the 35 small arches, about 8.5 m high 3 m
wide, support the waterway.
The big arch, the bottom arch and middle arch, have 3 times
or 4 times of the small arch in span and 6 times of the small
arch in height.
There was only 17 m fall from the headwaters to Nimes and
that meant the incline was 34 cm per 1 km.

54. The Ephesian aqueduct (Turkey)

55. Valencia Aqueduct

56. In the 3rd-century aqueduct which supplied the
hill-top city Aspendos in Pamphylia (in southern
Turkey), water was brought from a high
mountain source under pressure in closed and
sealed stone pipeline.
In order to relieve the excessive pressures built
up in such a closed system (technically a
siphon), three "pressure towers" were
incorporated into the 850-meter stretch of the
aqueduct arcade.

58. In the arid desert climate of North Africa
many of the present-day oases, such as
the Oasis near Gabes in Tunisia had
been developed by Roman engineers.
 The remains of a Roman dam built of
blocks of sandstone improved the
natural desert source and created a
large reservoir of water.


60. Aezane Dam
One of the best preserved and most
impressive operations in taming a
torrential and uneven waterway is the
dam built across the wide and
hauntingly beautiful valley of River
Rhyndacus, near Aezane in Asia
Minor (A82, A81).
 This dam also serves as a bridge
connecting the main highways across
the valley (B18, B17).


62. Urban Waterways
Many Roman cities had pools, artificial
lakes, and urban canals which were
integrated into the city's overall water
distribution and public fountain system.
 In Aezane, already
mentioned, colonnades and public
spaces lined both sides of the river
which seems to have been developed
as an urban artery just like a street.


63. A well-preserved and stunning example of
a similar urban canal occupying the
middle of a long colonnaded avenue in
Perge, in Pamphylia, a province in
southern Asia Minor

66. In a centralized administrative
system, such as the Romans had, a
comprehensive network of paved
highways, was a political and military
expediency.
 It ensured the fast and safe movement of
troops, imperial decrees, personal
mail, and provided reliable commercial ties
between the cities and provinces.
 In typical Roman road construction, a
mosaic of heavy paving blocks closely
trimmed and fitted is laid over a bedding of
gravel and sand. Often, sturdy curb stones
limit the sides.


68. Via Piperatica
Main southern highways
entered Rome through Porta
Maggiore

69. Ephesus, one of the largest cities in
Roman Asia Minor: the Arcadiane
connected the theater at the hearth
of the town to the busy harbor in a
straight shot
(Turkey)

70. In Djemila and Hippo Regius, small
but important provincial Roman cities
in North Africa, streets paved with
large, finely fitted paving blocks

72. The Industrial Revolution

“This extraordinary metal, the soul of
every manufacture, and the mainspring
perhaps, of civilized society.” Samuel
Smiles, Invention and Industry

73. Britannia Tubublar Bridge over the
Menai Straits - 1849


This bridge excited
the attention of the
world engineering
community unlike
any structure of its
time.
While criticism was
levelled at its
uneconomic use of
material compared
with various truss
designs, the
intellectual effort
involved in its design
and construction
was, and remains, a
source of wonder.

74. Chelsea Suspension Bridge 1860

Designed by Thomas
Page, the first
Chelsea suspension
bridge was
demolished in the
1930s due to
increased traffic
loads.

75. Pontcysyllte, completed
in 1805, to carry the
Ellesmeré Canal over
the Dee Valley near
Llangollen.
Length 307 m
Max. height 38.7 m
19 cast-iron
arches, each spanning
13.7 m
p.51

76. The Union Bridge across the Tweed, linking Scotland and
England, was built in 1820 by Captain (later Sir Samuel) Brown.

77. Conway River Bridge

78. The Menai Strait
Bridge, Wales, England. It was
never the world’s longest
unsupported span: the Taoguan
(Peach Pass) bridge in
Szechuan, China, built in
Total length 521 m
Suspended span 176 m
Total height of towers 46.6 m
Elevated deck above Strait 30.5 m

79. The Victorian Achievement
The Britannia Railway Bridge, Menai Strait, Wales

81. The Clifton Suspension Bridge as it is today, spanning 214 m
across the Avon Gorge.