Did You Know?
The Statue of Liberty
Liberty Enlightening the World
Liberty Island, New York City, New York, USA
Artistic design by Sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. Structural design by Structural Engineer Gustave Alexandre Eiffel.
The construction of the 46.5-m-high (151-ft 1-in.) statue began in France in 1875 and was completed June 1884.
The total weights are: steel structure 125 ton (250,000 lbs) and copper sheathing 31 ton (62,000 lbs).
Presented to the USA by the people of France on July 4, 1884.
In early 1885, the 350 individual pieces of the statue were dismantled and shipped on the French frigate Isère.
The Roebling Bridge
The Roebling Bridge
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
The first prototype bridge combining the suspension and the cable-stayed designs.
Designed by Structural Engineer John A. Roebling, who later designed the Brooklyn Bridge based on the same principles.
Built between 1856 and 1867, the 322-m (1,057-ft) main span reaches across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, into Covington, Kentucky.
In 1899, a new steel truss replaced the original deck to accommodate increasing traffic loads and altered the appearance.
For a few years, it was known as "The Biggest Bridge in the World."
The Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco, California, USA
Designed by Structural Engineer Joseph B. Strauss, a native Cincinnatian and University of Cincinnati alumnus.
Construction began January 5, 1933 and was completed May 27, 1937.
Reaching across the San Francisco Bay, the suspended length is 1,966 m (6,450 ft), with a total length of 2,737 m (8,981 ft), a width of 27.4 m (90 ft), and height of towers above water of 227 m (746 ft).
The total quantities used are 389,000 cu. yds. of concrete and 83,000 ton of structural steel.
The total length of the wires is 129,000 km (80,000 miles) and the weight of the cable anchorages is 120,000 ton (240M lbs).
Under the most severe load combinations, the midspan deflects downward 3.3 m (10.8 ft) and upward 1.8 m (5.8 ft), and the towers deflect shoreward 56 cm (22 in.) and channelward 46 cm (18 in.).
The Stewart Street Bridge
The Stewart Street Bridge
This concrete and steel combination bridge was patented in 1893.
Bridge and Truss Types
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| Vierendeel |
King Post |
Queen Post |
Town Lattice |
Bollman |
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| Howe |
Howe Gable |
Fink |
Scissors |
K |
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| Pratt |
Pratt Gable |
Whipple
(double-intersection Pratt) |
Baltimore
(subdivided Pratt) |
Pennsylvania
(polygonal subdivided Pratt) |
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| Warren |
Warren Gable |
Warren w/ verticals |
Quadrangular Warren
(double-intersection Warren) |
Parker (polygonal Pratt)
Camelback (five slopes) |
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| Bowstring Arch |
Lenticular |
Cable Stayed |
Suspension |
Arch Suspension |
| © DF |
The Largest Building Stone
"The Master Course"
Western Wall excavations, Temple Mount, Jerusalem, Israel
Presumably the largest building stone in the world: ~12.5×4.5×3.5 m (~41×15×11.5 ft), ~370 ton (~830,000 lbs).
Second Temple construction by Zerubbabel (536-516 BCE).
The Oldest Known Building Code of Law
From the Code of Laws of Hammurabi, King of Babylonia, 18th Century BCE
Translated by R.F. Harper, "Code of Hammurabi," Univ. of Chicago Press, 1904, p. 83-seq.
>>>>>> Click on a cuneiform tablet to enlarge. Then, click Back in your browser to return to this page.
| # |
Code |
Transliteration |
Translation |
| (1) |
 |
sum-ma ba-num
a-na a-wi-lim
bi-tam ibu-us-ma
si-bi-ir-su
la u-dan-ni-in-ma
bitum i-bi-su
im-ku-ut-ma
be-el bîtum
b'us-tami-it
ba-nûm su-u id-da-ak. |
| If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction firm and the house which he has built collapses and causes the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. |
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| (2) |
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sum-ma mar be-el bitim
us-ta-mi-it
mar banim su-a-ti
i-du-uk-ku. |
| If it causes the death of the son of the owner of the house, they shall put to death a son of that builder. |
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| (3) |
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sum-ma warad be-el bitim
us-ta-mi-it
wardam ki-ma wardim
a-na be-el bitum
i-na-ad-di-in. |
| If it causes the death of a slave of the owner of the house, he shall give to the owner of the house a slave of equal value. |
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| (4) |
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sum-ma sa-ga
uh-ta-al-li-ik
mi-im-ma
sa-u-hal-li-ku
i-ri-ab
u-as-sum bitam i-bu-su
la u-dan-ni-nu-ma
im-ku-tu
i-na sa-ga
ra-ma-ni-su
a-bitam im-ku-tu i-ib-bi-es. |
| If it destroys property, he shall restore whatever it destroyed, and because he did not make the house which he built firm and it collapsed, he shall rebuild the house which collapsed at his own expense. |
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| (5) |
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sum-ma ba-num bitam
a-na a-wi-lim i-bu-us ma
si-bi-ir-su
la-us-te-is-bi-ma
igarum ik-su-tu-up
ba-num su-u
i-na kas pim
b'ra-ma-ni-su
igarum ik-su-a-ti
u-dan-na-an. |
| If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction meet the requirements and a wall falls in, that builder shall strengthen the wall at his own expense. |
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