Civil Engineering History

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  maria flor

  Historical Timeline of Concrete
  12,000,000 BC----Reactions between limestone and oil shale during spontaneous combustion occurred in Israel to form a natural deposit of cement compounds.
  3000 BC----------Egyptians used mud mixed with straw to bind dried bricks. Also furthered the discovery of lime and gypsum mortar as a binding agent for building the Pyramids
  3000 BC----------Used cementitious materials to hold bamboo together in their boats and in the Great Wall.
  300 BC----------Romans used slaked lime a volcanic ash called pozzuolana, found near Pozzouli by the bay of Naples. They used lime as a cementitious material. Pliny reported a mortar mixture of 1 part lime to 4 parts sand. Vitruvius reported a 2 parts pozzolana to 1 part lime. Animal fat, milk, and blood were used as admixtures.
  200 AD-----------------The Pantheon
  After 400 AD-----------The art of Concrete was lost after the fall of the Roman Empire
  1678-------------------Joseph Moxon wrote about a hidden fire in heated lime that appears upon the addition of water.
  1756-------------------John Smeaton, British Engineer, rediscovered hydraulic cement through repeated testing of mortar in both fresh and salt water
  1779-------------------Bry Higgins was issued a patent for hydraulic cement (stucco) for exterior plastering use.
  1796-------------------James Parker from England patented a natural hydraulic cement by calcining nodules of impure limestone containing clay, called Parker’s Cement or Roman Cement.
  1812 -1813------------Louis Vicat of France prepared artificial hydraulic lime by calcining synthetic mixtures of limestone and clay.
  1818---------------------------Maurice St. Leger was issued patents for hydraulic cement.
  1818---------------------------Canvass White, American Engineer, found rock deposits in Madison, County, New York, that made hydraulic cement with little processing
  1820-1821--------------------John Tickell and Abraham Chambers were issued more hydraulic cement patents.
  1822---------------------------James Frost of England prepared artificial hydraulic lime like Vicat’s and called it British Cement.
  1824---------------------------Joseph Aspdin, bricklayer and mason in Leeds, England, patented what he called portland cement, since it resembled the stone quarried on the Isle of Portland off the British coast.
  1825---------------------------Erie Canal created the first great demand for cement in the US
  1828---------------------------I. K. Brunel is credited with the first engineering application of portland cement, which was used to fill a breach in the Thames Tunnel.
  1850s--------------------------Jean-Louis Lambot was the first to use reinforcing in boats
  1854----------------------------William B. Wilkinson erected a reinforced concrete servants cottage
  1859-1867---------------------Portland cement used in the construction of the London sewer system
  1867---------------------------Joseph Monier patented a design for reinforces garden tubs, beams and posts
  1868---------------------------The fist recorded shipment of portland cement to the US
  1850-1880--------------------Francois Coignet, a builder in France, responsible for the first widespread use of concrete in buildings
  1871---------------------------David O. Saylor established the first portland-cement plant in the US in Coplay, PA
  1871-1875-------------------William E. Ward builds the first landmark building in reinforced concrete in Port Chester, NY. Designed by Architect Robert Mook
  1883---------------------------Ward delivered a paper on the house to the Society of Mechanical Engineers.
  1884--------------------------Earnest L. Ransom patented a reinforcing system using twisted rods.
  1885--------------------------F. Ransome patented a slightly tilted horizontal kiln which could be rotated so the material moved gradually form one end to the other
  
  
  
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  maria flor

  Here's the continuation of the Historical Timeline of Concrete
  1887-------------Henri Le Chatelier of France established oxide ratios to prepare the proper amount of lime to produce portland cement. He named the components: Alite (tricalcium silicate), Belite (dicalcium silicate), and Celite (tetracalcium aluminoferrite). He proposed that hardening is caused by the formation of crystalline products of the reaction between cement and water.
  1889------------The first concrete reinforced bridge is built.
  1891------------George Bartholomew placed the first concrete street in the USA in Bellefontaine, OH. which still exists.
  1891-----------George Bartholomew placed the first concrete street in the USA in Bellefontaine, OH. which still exists.
  1904-----------Ingalls bldg. using the Ransome system, was the first concrete skyscraper.
  1870s-----------Francois Hennebique patented the Hennebique system. He was responsible for the widespread acceptance of reinforced concrete.
  1902------------Thomas Edison was a pioneer in the further development of the rotary kiln.
  1903------------August Perre makes concrete an acceptable architectural material .Perre builds 25 bis Rue Franklin and the Theatre Champs Elysee
  1904-------------Ingalls building, probably the beginning of high-rise concrete construction.
  1916-------------Portland Cement Association founded
  1917-------------The US Bureau of Standards and the American Society for testing Materials established a standard formula for portland cement
  1919-------------Meis van der Rohe proposes concrete high-rises
  1922-------------The tallest concrete building was built – 230 ft., the Medical Arts bldg., Dallas
  1922--------------Notre Dame du Raincy
  1927--------------Eugene Freyssinet develops successful pre-stressed concrete
  1930--------------Eduardo Torroja, designed the first thin shelled roof at Algeciras
  1935--------------Eduardo Torroja, designed the Madrid Hippodrome.
  1936--------------The first major concrete dams, Hoover Dam and Grand Coulee Dam, were built.
  1935---------------Pier Luigi Nervi built the hangers for the Italian Air Force using thin shell construction
  1931---------------Le Corbusier builds Villa Savoye
  1936---------------Frank Lloyd Wright was the one of the first to exploit the cantilever at Fallingwater.
  1940s---------------Portland Cement Laboratories perfect air-entrained concrete
  1947--------------FLLW builds on Meis’ ideas at the Johnson wax tower
  1956--------------FLLW builds the Guggenheim made of reinforced concrete
  1957--------------Le Corbusier builds Ronchamp
  1958--------------Felix Candela masters the concrete shell
  1958-------------Felix Candela builds the restaurant at Xochimilco
  1958---------------Executive House Hotel, Chicago, exceeds the Medical Arts record at 371 ft.
  1959---------------Le Corbusier builds La Tourette
  1960---------------Bank of Georgia Building in Atlanta beats Executive House at 391 ft.
  1961--------------Le Corbusier builds the government complex at Chandigara India
  1962--------------Bertrand Goldberg’s twin towers at Marina City marked the beginning of the use of reinforced concrete in modern skyscrapers and set the height record to 588 ft.
  1964-------------1000 Lake Shore Drive beats Marina City at 640 ft. 6000 psi concrete in the lower columns was used for the first time.
  1964--------------Place Victoria in Montreal, ht 624 ft. using 6000psi concrete columns
  1967--------------First concrete domed sport structure, the Assembly Hall, was constructed at The University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign.
  1968--------------Lake Point Towers, 70 stories, 645 ft. 7500 psi concrete
  1970--------------One Shell Plaza, Houston, ht 714 ft., using 6000 psi concrete
  1970s--------------Fiber reinforcement in concrete was introduced.
  1975--------------Water Tower Place, 859 ft., 9000psi conc. using superplasticizers
  1985--------------Peak shipment of portland cement to the US increased to nearly 3 million barrels
  1985--------------The "highest strength" concrete was used in building the Union Plaza constructed in Seattle, Washington.
  1989--------------Scotia Plaza Building, Toronto, 907 ft.
  1990---------------311S Wacker and Two Prudential Plaza in Chicago sets new height record at 920 ft.
  1996---------------Petronas Twin Towers, 1476 ft.
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  maria flor

  History of Irrigation
  The history of irrigation consists of an evolution of very basic systems used centuries ago. While the irrigation systems used then can't be compared to today's sophisticated irrigation systems they fulfilled their simple purpose of providing water to the crop-filled lands.
  
  What is irrigation?
  The broadest definition of irrigation is simply the deliberate application of water to soil. Considering that there's really no reason to implement an irrigation system to a barren land, perhaps a better definition of irrigation is the application of water by ditches or pipes to help crop production or to sustain plant life. The ultimate goal of irrigation is to make the land fertile and lush.
  
  Early beginnings
  The Egyptians are typically credited with the idea of irrigation. In about 5000 B.C. the Egyptians used the Nile River to create the first irrigation system. Over the years they made improvements and enhancements to the irrigation system, eventually creating a fairly elaborate one. In fact by 2100 B.C. the Egyptians had implemented an irrigation system that used a channel to divert water to its ultimate destination.
  History indicates that other civilizations were using irrigation around the same time. For example, it is recorded that the Sumerians used irrigation as early as 2400 B.C. and the Chinese by 2200 B.C. Believed to have built very sophisticated irrigation systems early on, the Peruvians are another example.
  
  A closer look at some of the first irrigation systems
  
  One of the challenges of irrigation that Egyptians and other civilizations had to overcome was ensuring that the water reached elevated land. To accomplish this, innovative irrigation equipment and systems were created to deliver water to those parts.
  Egyptians incorporated the use of a shadoof into their irrigation systems. A shadoof is simply the use of a bucket and a pole that allowed them to control the application of water. Another irrigation device that is actually still used today in India is the Persian wheel. Buckets line the rim of a submerged wheel, which collects water as it is turned. This particular irrigation device empties water into a trough that is then transported to the desired fields.
  
  A common solution in early irrigation
  
  Though not nearly as sophisticated as the dams built today, early civilizations quickly realized that dams were an effective irrigation system. Not only was this irrigation solution less burdensome, but a dam also could raise the water to a level that would ensure the saturation of elevated land.
  
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