HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

Structural engineering has been in use since ages, and one of the greatest ancient structures was the
Pyramid of Giza that was constructed in the 26th century BC. The major structures during the medieval
period were the pyramids since the shape of the pyramids is basically stable. Theoretical knowledge
about the structures was limited, and construction techniques were based on experience only. The
real advancement in the structural engineering was achieved in the 19 th century during the industrial
revolution when significant progress was achieved in the sciences of structural analysis and materials
science.

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Structural engineering is a specialty of civil engineering that deals with the design and analysis
of structures used to support loads in the most economical manner, with maximum element of
safety. The loads applied could be of a varied nature, including the load on bridges due to
traffic, effect of strong winds on high buildings, load on structures because of variation in
temperatures caused due to changes in weather, and load due to earthquakes. Specialties of
structural engineering are building engineering, industrial structures, and pipeline engineering.
Structural engineering has a significant influence on the life, healthiness, and goods of people,
due to which extra vigilance is required during the construction and inspection of the structures.

WHAT IS STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS?

Is concerned with the research, planning, design, construction, inspection, monitoring, maintenance, rehabilitation
and demolition of permanent and temporary structures, as well as structural systems and their components.
It also considers the technical, economic, environmental, aesthetic and social aspects of structures.

EGYPT

The early Egyptian builders used stone quarried from sites along the Nile to construct temples and pyramids. Since
the tensile strength of stone, a brittle material is low and highly variable because of a multitude of internal cracks and voids,
beam spans in temples had to be short to prevent bending failures.
THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA
Ancient Name: Khufus Horizon
Constructed:
c. 2560-2540 BC
Height:
146.5 m (481 ft), ancient
138.8 m (455 ft), contemp.
Base:
230.4 metres (756 ft)

The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated

2.3 million blocks which most believe to have been
transported from nearby quarries. The Tura limestone
used for the casing was quarried across the river.

The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in

the "King's" chamber, weigh 25 to 80 tons and were transported from Aswan, more than 800 km (500 mi) away. Traditionally,
ancient Egyptians cut stone blocks by hammering wooden wedges into the stone which were then soaked with water.
It is estimated that 5.5 million tonnes of limestone, 8,000 tonnes of granite (imported from Aswan), and 500,000 tonnes of mortar
were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid.

POST AND LINTEL

It is also called prop and lintel or a trabeated system, it is a building system where strong horizontal
elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large space between them. This is usually
used to hold up a roof, creating a largely open space beneath, for whatever use the building is
designed for.

HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

Massive stone beams balanced on relatively thick stone columns.

Has only a limited capacity for horizontal or eccentric vertical loads, buildings had to be relatively low.
For stability, columns had to be thick because a slender column will topple more easily than a thick column.

IMHOTEP
Imhotep was an Egyptian polymath who served under the Third Dynasty king Djoser as chancellor to
the pharaoh and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis.
Born: Memphis, Egypt
Died: Ancient Egypt
Structures: Pyramid of Djoser, Great Pyramid of Giza
Imhotep was one of the chief officials of the Pharaoh Djoser. Egyptologists ascribe to him the design of the Pyramid
of Djoser, a step pyramid at Saqqara in Egypt in 2630 2611 BC. He may also have been responsible for the first known use of
stone columns to support a building. As an instigator of Egyptian culture, Imhotep's idealized image lasted well into the
Ptolemaic period. The Egyptian historian Manetho credited him with inventing the method of a stone-dressed building during
Djoser's reign, though he was not the first to actually build with stone. Stone walling, flooring, lintels, and jambs had appeared
sporadically during the Archaic Period, though it is true that a building of the size of the step pyramid made entirely out of
stone had never before been constructed. Prior to Djoser, pharaohs were buried in mastaba tombs.

GREECE
The Greeks, greatly interested in refining the aesthetic appearance of the stone column, used the same type of postand-lintel construction in the Parthenon (about 400B.C.), a temple considered one of the most elegant examples of stone
construction of all time. Even up to the early twentieth century, long after post-and-lintel construction was superseded by
steel and reinforced concrete frames, architects continued to impose the faade of the classic Greek temple on the
entrance of public buildings.
THE PARTHENON
TYPE: Temple (currently Museum)
LOCATED: Athens, Greece
CONSTRUCTION STARTED: 447 BC & 438 BC
DESTROYED: Partially on 26 September 1687
OWNER: Greek Government
HEIGHT: 13.72 m (45.0)
DIMENSIONS: Cella 29.8 x 19.2 m (98 x 63 ft)
SIZE: 69.5 x 30.9 m (228 x 101 ft)
ARCHITECT: Iktinos, Kallikrates
SCULPTOR: Phidias

It is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis,

Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom
the people of Athens considered their patron.
Construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian
Empire was at the peak of its power. It was
completed in 438 BC although decoration of the
building continued until 432 BC. Parthenon was
built by the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates under
the supervision of the sculptor Phidias.

PHYTHAGORAS
Phythagoras was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and the
putative founder called Pythagoreanism. He was born on the island of
Samos and travelled, visiting Egypt and Greece, and maybe India. Around
530 BC, he moved to Croton, in Magna Graecia, and there established
some kind of school or guild. In 520 BC, he returned to Samos.

BORN: c. 570 BC Samos

DIED: c. 495 BC (aged around
75) Metapontum
NOTABLE IDEAS: Musica
Universalis, Pythagorean tuning,
& Pythagorean Theorem

HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

The one who originated the word mathematics, is famous for the right angle theorem that bears his name.
The theorem was actually known by Sumerians in about 2000B.C.

ARCHIMEDES
BORN: c. 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily
Magna Graecia
DIED: c. 212 BC (aged around 75)
FIELDS: Mathematics, Physics, Engineering,
Astronomy, Invention
KNOWN FOR: Archimedes principle,
Archimedess screw hydrostatics, levers,
infinitesimals & Neuseis constructions.

Law of the Lever:

Equal weights at equal distances are
in equilibrium, and equal weights at unequal
distances are not in equilibrium but incline
towards the weight which is at the greater.

Archimedes' worked on calculus and geometry, together with Euclidean geometry, which underpin much of the
mathematics & understanding of structures in modern structural engineering.

ROME

The Romans were outstanding builders and were very competent in using structural forms such as semicircular
masonry arches.
The curved shape of the arch allows a departure from rectangular lines and permits much longer clear spans than
are possible with masonry post-and-lintel construction.

THE COLISEUM or FLAVIAN AMPHITHEATER

Located in Pozzuoli, is the third largest Roman amphitheater in Italy. Only the Roman
Colosseum and the Capuan Amphitheater are larger. It was likely built by the same architects
who previously constructed the Roman Colosseum. The name Flavian Amphitheater is
primarily associated with the Roman Colosseum.

PONT-DU-GARD
The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River in southern France. Located near
the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard, the bridge is part of the Nmes aqueduct, a 50-kilometre (31 mi) system built in the first century
AD to carry water from a spring at Uzs to the Roman colony of Nemausus(Nmes).[4] Because of the uneven terrain between
the two points, the mostly underground aqueduct followed a long, winding route that called for a bridge across the gorge
of the Gardon River. The Pont du Gard is the highest of all elevated Roman aqueducts, and, along with the Aqueduct of
Segovia, one of the best preserved. It was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1985 because of its historical
importance.

DESIGN: Arch Bridge

MATERIAL: Shelly Limestone
TOTAL LENGTH: upper 275 m (902 ft) (originally: 360 m [1,180 ft]); mid: 242
m (794 ft); low: 142 m (466 ft)
WIDTH: 6.4 m (21 ft) (max); 1.2 m (4 ft) (aqueduct)
HEIGHT: 48.8 m (160 ft) (total); 1.8 m (6 ft) (aqueduct)
NUMBER OF SPANS: upper: 35 (originally: 47); mid: 11; low: 6

HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

The Romans, largely by trial and error, also developed a method of enclosing an interior space by a masonry
dome, as seen in the Pantheon still standing in Rome.
The stability of the masonry arch requires:

That its entire cross section be stressed in compression under all combinations of load.
That abutments or end walls have sufficient strength to absorb the large diagonal thrust at the base of the arch.

During the Gothic period, the arch was refined by trimming away excess material, and its shape became far more
elongated. The vaulted roof, a three-dimensional form of the arch, also appeared in the construction of cathedral roofs.

The ancient Romans made great bounds in structural engineering, pioneering large structures in masonry and concrete.
They include aqueducts, thermae, columns, light-houses, defensive walls and harbors.

FLYING BUTTRESS
It is a specific form of buttress composed of an arched structure that extend from
the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey to the ground
the lateral forces that push a wall outwards, which are forces that arise from vaulted
ceilings of stone and from wind-loading on roofs.

Arch like masonry elements

Used together with piers (thick masonry columns) or walls to carry the thrust of valued roofs to the ground.

THE PANTHEON
LOCATION: Regione IX Circus
Flaminius
BUILT IN: 118 128 AD (current
building)
BUILT BY: Publius Aelius Hadrianus
TYPE OF STRUCTURE: Roman
Temple

From Greek Pantheon meaning "[temple] of every god") is a

former Roman temple, now a church, in Rome, Italy, on the site
of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during
the reign of Augustus (27 BC 14 AD). The present building was
completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated
about 126 AD. He retained Agrippa's original inscription, which
has confused its date of construction.

The Pantheon at Rome, the finest of all illustrations of Roman construction, embodies every form of Roman buttress. The
building is two tiers high to the springing of the hemispherical dome inside, but there is an extra tier on the outside, providing
rigid and weighty haunches to prevent the dome from splitting outwards and as an extra precaution, a further series of steps
of concrete rises two-thirds the height of the dome. It is for this constructional reason at Rome domes are always saucer-

HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

shaped outside, though hemispherical within. The weight of the vault is reduced by omitting a portion at the crown the most
difficult part to construct to provide an eye which is the sole source of the natural light. The 6.1 m (20 ft) thick walls are not
by any means solid; the decorative recesses inside are contrived within spur buttresses linking inner and outer shell, and
between these recess are constructional niches which run full three-tier height and are crowned with semi-domes at the top
of each tier; in the upper tier they are split in half by spur buttresses. Thus all forms of buttress used later in developed mediaeval
architecture was anticipated by Roman architects, but with the difference that the Roman were farless light and compact,
and seldom plainly exposed to view.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

1.
LEONARDO DA VINCI
In the 15th and 16th centuries and despite lacking beam theory and calculus, he produced many
engineering designs based on scientific observations.

2. GALILEO GALILEI
In 1638 Galileo published Dialogues Relating to Two New Sciences, outlining the sciences of the
strength of materials and the motion of objects (essentially defining gravity as a force giving rise
to a constant acceleration). It was the first establishment of a scientific approach to structural
engineering, including the first attempts to develop a theory for beams. This is also regarded as
the beginning of structural analysis, the mathematical representation and design of building
structures.

3.
ROBERT HOOKE
In 1676, the first statement of Hooke's Law, providing a scientific understanding of elasticity of
materials and their behavior under load.

4. ISAAC NEWTON
In 1687, he published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, setting out his Laws of
Motion, providing for the first time an understanding of the fundamental laws governing
structures.

5. LEONHARD EULER & DANIEL BERNOULLI

Formulated the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation (17001782) circa 1750, the
fundamental theory underlying most structural engineering design. In 1757, Euler went
on to derive the Euler buckling formula, greatly advancing the ability of engineers to
design compression elements.
Leonhard Euler

Daniel Bernoulli

6. JOHANN (JEAN) BERNOULLI

With D. Bernoulli, is also credited with formulating the theory of virtual work, providing a tool
using equilibrium of forces and compatibility of geometry to solve structural problems.

HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

7.
CLAUDE LOUIS NAVIER
In 1821 Claude-Louis Navier (Marie Henri Navier) formulated the general theory of elasticity in a
mathematically usable form. In his leons of 1826 he explored a great range of different
structural theory, and was the first to highlight that the role of a structural engineer is not to
understand the final, failed state of a structure, but to prevent that failure in the first place.] In
1826 he also established the elastic modulus as a property of materials independent of the
second moment of area, allowing engineers for the first time to both understand structural
behaviour and structural materials.

8. CHARLES AUGUSTIN DE COULOMB

In his memoir Theoretical research and experimentation on torsion and the elasticity of metal wire
appeared. His general result is,
"... the moment of the torque is, for wires of the same metal, proportional to the torsional angle, the
fourth power of the diameter and the inverse of the length of the wire..."

9.
CARLO ALBERTO CASTIGLIANO
In 1873, presented his dissertation "Intorno ai sistemi elastici", which contains his theorem for
computing displacement as partial derivative of the strain energy.
C. Castigliano

10. JOSEPH ASPDIN

In 1824, he patented Portland cement as "a superior cement resembling Portland Stone", British
Patent no. 5022.

11.
JOSEPH LOUIS LAMBOT
In 1848, he built a rowing boat made of ferrocement (the forerunner of modern reinforced
concrete). Similar patents also were patented by William Birkinshaw Wilkinson and Joseph Monier.

12.
OTTO MOHR of Germany
Method of elastic weights presented in 1870

HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

13. CHARLES E. GREEN of the United States
Moment area theorems in 1873

14.
Benot Paul mile Clapeyron (French)
Three moment theorem in 1857

15. George A. Maney of United States

Slope deflection method - structural analysis method for beams and frames.

16.
ALEXANDRE GUSTAVE EIFFEL (or known as Gustave Eiffel)
A French engineer constructed many long span steel bridges in addition to his innovative Eiffel
Tower, the internationally known landmark in Paris. The addition of steel reinforcements to concrete
enabled engineers to convert unreinforced concrete (a brittle, stone like material) into tough,
ductile structural members. Improved methods of indeterminate analysis enabled designers to
predict the internal forces in reinforced concrete construction.

17. HARDY CROSS

He introduced the moment distribution in which engineers acquired a relatively simple technique to
analyze continuous structure.

In the late 19th century, welding was introduced that eliminated heavy plates and angles required by early riveting
methods that simplified the construction of rigid-joined steel frames.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the development of powerful computers has allowed finite element
analysis to become a significant tool for structural analysis and design.

In the 1960s and 70s computational analysis was used in a significant way for the first time on the design of
the Sydney Opera House roof. Structures can now be analyzed more accurately in minutes by one designer using
a computer.

HINDU ARABIC CONTRIBUTORS

One of the greatest and most noteworthy contributions to structural analysis, as well as to other scientific
fields, was the development of the Hindu-Arabic system.

2ND or 3RD Centuries B.C. the Hindu mathematicians originated a numbering system of one to nine

600A.D. Hindus invented the symbol sunya (meaning empty), which we call zero.

Arabs learned the numbering system from scientific writings of the Hindus.

In the following century, a Persian mathematician wrote a book that included the system. His book was translated
into Latin some years later and brought to Europe.

Pope Sylvester II - In 1000A.D. he decreed that the Hindu-Arabic numbers were to be used by Christians

HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

REFERENCES:
1)

J.S Kinney, Intederminate Structural Analysis (reading , Mass: Addison-Wesley, 1957), 1-16.

2)

S.P Timoshenko,. History of Strenth of Materials (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1953), 1-439.

3)

H.M. Westergaard, One Hundred Fifty Years Advanced in Structural Analysis, ASCE 94 (1930): 226-240.

4)

The World Book Encyclopedia (Chicago, IL, 1993, Book N-O), 617.

5)

MacCormac, J. C. and Nelson J.C., STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS, A CLASSICAL AND MATRIX APPROACH, 1997

6)

Structural Engineering. (2014, October 21) Retrieved from: http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_engineering

7)

History of Structural Engineering. (2014, October 21). Retrieved from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_engineering#History_of_Structural_Engineering

8) George S. Salvan. Architectural Character & the History of Architecture, 2005

9) http://www.aleckassociates.co.uk/structural-engineering/history-of-structural-engineering-the-pantheon/
10) http://www.brighthubengineering.com/structural-engineering/43152-essentials-of-structural-engineering/