Bridges
The science and art of the world's most inspiring structures
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- €14.99
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- €14.99
Publisher Description
Bridges touch all our lives - every day we are likely to cross a bridge, or go under one. How many of us stop to consider how the bridge stands up and what sort of people designed and built something so strong?
Bridge building is a magnificent example of the practical and every day use of science. However, the story of bridges goes beyond science and technology, and involves issues relating to artistic and cultural development. After all, bridges are built by people, for people. Bridges can be icons for whole cities; just consider New York's Brooklyn Bridge, London's Tower Bridge, and Sydney's Harbour Bridge. Such bridges can be considered functional public art, as they have the power to delight or be an eyesore.
David Blockley explains how to read a bridge, in all its different forms, design, and construction, and the way the forces flow through arches and beams. He combines the engineering of how bridges stand up with the cultural, aesthetic, and historical importance they hold. Drawing on examples of particular bridges from around the world, he also looks in detail at the risk engineers take when building bridges, and examines why things sometimes go wrong.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this fascinating exploration for lay readers, Blockley lucidly explains both the basic forces at work on every bridge tension, compression, and shear and the structural elements combating those forces: beams, arches, trusses, and suspension cables. He succeeds in his desire to read a bridge like a book. Following fellow civil engineers and writers David Billington and Henry Petroski, Blockley makes clear that engineers as much as architects and scientists design bridges and that technology is not merely applied science. The author provides an excellent history of bridge construction, from primitive rope bridges and Roman aqueducts to 19th- and 20th-century railroad bridges and contemporary achievements like Japan's Akashi-Kaiky Bridge, which has the largest central span of any suspension bridge. The author also discusses important bridge failures and the lessons learned from them, including the Minnesota I-35 bridge, and the less seriously damaged London Millennium Bridge, which was closed for two years after opening day's huge crowds caused wobbling. Blockley concludes that bridges do not merely transport people and goods but also help us express some of our deepest emotions. Bold, insightful statements help make this a remarkable work. 50 b&w illus.
