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"In the most important work on the Brooklyn Bridge in a generation, Richard Haw shows how and why it remains a central but contested American icon."—David E. Nye, author of America as Second Creation: Technology and Narratives of New Beginnings

"Absorbing and provocative. Richard Haw sells you the great bridge in a thousand incarnations."—Kevin Baker, author of Dreamland and Paradise Alley

Hailed by some as the Eighth Wonder of the World when it opened in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the world’s most recognizable and beloved icons. For over one hundred years it has excited and fascinated with stories of ingenuity and heroism, and it has been endorsed as a flawless symbol of municipal improvement and a prime emblem of American technological progress.

Despite its impressive physical presence, however, Brooklyn’s grand old bridge is much more than a testament to engineering and architectural achievement. As Richard Haw shows in this first-of-its-kind cultural history, the Brooklyn Bridge owes as much to the public’s imagination as it does to the historical events and technical prowess that were integral to its construction.

Bringing together more than sixty images of the bridge that, over the years, have graced postcards, magazine covers, and book jackets and appeared in advertisements, cartoons, films, and photographs, Haw traces the diverse and sometimes jarring ways in which this majestic structure has been received, adopted, and interpreted as an American idea. Haw’s account is not a history of how the bridge was made, but rather of what people have made of the Brooklyn Bridge—in film, music, literature, art, and politics—from its opening ceremonies to the blackout of 2003.

Classic accounts from such writers and artists as H. G. Wells, Charles Reznikoff, Hart Crane, Lewis Mumford, Joseph Pennell, Walker Evans, and Georgia O’Keeffe, among many others, present the bridge as a deserted, purely aestheticized romantic ideal, while others, including Henry James, Joseph Stella, Yun Gee, Ernest Poole, Alfred Kazin, Paul Auster, and Don DeLillo, offer a counter-narrative as they question not only the role of the bridge in American society, but also its function as a profoundly public, communal place. Also included are never-before-published photographs by William Gedney and a discussion of Alexis Rockman’s provocative new mural Manifest Destiny.

Drawing on hundreds of cultural artifacts, from the poignant, to the intellectual, to the downright quirky, The Brooklyn Bridge sheds new light on topics such as ethnic and foreign responses to America, nationalism, memory, rituals and parade culture, commemoration, popular culture, and post-9/11 America icons. In the end, we realize that this impressive span is as culturally remarkable today as it was technologically and physically astounding in the nineteenth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More Than a Bridge, More than a Borough
Back in 1983 when I was 15 I threw a full-scale protest against attending the Brooklyn Bride centennial birthday celebration. "I don't care about the bridge, I hate Brooklyn and I don't like birthday parties", I fumed before storming off back home. (I ended up watching the fireworks and accompanying commentary by then Mayor Ed Koch on TV). My position on the bridge has since softened but only to the point of gentle ambivalence. I wondered why am I such a crank to such a beloved icon (or is it a monument? I'll have to check with homeland security).

Richard Haw looks at a series of cultural and historical sources to show us how the bridge's history has been gilded over more times than it has been painted; and people like me are not mere party poopers but members of a long tradition of dissenters (as well as assenters) who have help to build the bridge into an international icon long since the final bolt was fastened into place.

Central to Haw's understanding of bridge is the footpath as a unique urban street and the experience of the pedestrian or cyclist crossing it. Starting on the Brooklyn side, the walker rises out of the dirt and exhaust of Tillary Street and downtown Brooklyn into the clear air above the bridge's roadways. Between the arches, the walker is elevated above the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan - alone at the top - before descending into the chaos and anonymity of lower Manhattan. On summer days the bridge serves as a parade ground for legions of tourists.

Haw's relationship with the bridge is complicated and his pursuit of information that might clarify or nuance his position is obsessive. He has studied the bridge through paintings of well-known artists and obscure romance novels, he collects memorabilia from special events, monitors construction, and culls through historical material zealously. All in an effort strip away the malarkey perpetrated by a long line of bridge boosters and elevate the voices of those on the losing end of the span's mighty reign. He is not afraid to use Washington Roebling's words to darken the hagiographic image of John Roebling who aside from his great achievements also seemed to be imperious, a wacko and a sadist.

Likewise the opening chapter tells how the bridge's inauguration was boycotted by the Irish workers, slighted the engineers in favor of dignitaries, corralled the general public in holding pens until midnight (at which point they were allowed to cross they were obliged to pay the toll); the event was so well whitewashed that even press reports upgraded the weather conditions on that day.

Haw's final chapter, in which he chronicles the recent past, is the strongest. It is here where the brunt of his analysis jumps out of the realm of the theoretical and is applied the great events like the blackout, September 11th, 2001 and the very hare-brained quasi-plot to bring down the bridge by applying a acetlyne torch to the bridge cables. In events like these, the bridge is reclaimed as a thorough fare for expression of free people, and in times like these, we can certainly use it.

Deconstructing the American Sublime
For students of U.S. cultural history, Richard Haw's THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE offers a complete, and engagingly written interpretation of the cultural meanings and materials inspired and evoked by this iconic American structure.Those who work in cultural studies would be wise to acquire this book, not only for Haw's superlative treatment of the bridge's cultural history, but because Mr. Haw also identifies and nimbly employs the discipline's key theoretical texts.His end notes are especially detailed and useful.

Mr. Haw seems to have read or viewed every cultural text that references the bridge and this extensive scholarship is laudable.At the same time, Mr. Haw, whose main theme is officialdom's exclusion of countervailing interpretations and histories of the bridge, should have given more thought to excluding some of the minor works he cites.True, there are works once thought to be minor whose reputations have waxed over time and vice versa.In addition, minor works can be employed to exemplify important insights, a strategy Mr. Haw uses very effectively, but a more rigorous selection of such minor works would have served to sharpen this history with little cost to it comprehensiveness.But this is a minor quibble.

As Mr. Haw's relates the official and non-official versions of the bridge's history and the meanings ascribed to it, he shows how official versions, such as the opening day speeches, present an idealized bridge freighted with high civic aspirations - democracy, social and economic justice, etc. --but actually exclude the voice of the average citizen and worker, and not just from the speeches and images, but from the ceremonies, too.He notes, for instance, that the opening day ceremony on May 24, 1883, as subsequent 50th and centennial celebrations, it was only government and business elites who interpreted the bridge's meanings and walked its walkway during the ceremonies.

On opening day, for instance, the mostly Irish immigrant men who built the bridge were excluded from the ceremony.Earlier, they had protested the fact that the date coincided with Queen Victoria's birthday.When they asked for the event to be rescheduled, the organizers refused and called in extra police to quell a potential disturbance (which did not materialize).Contrast this with the opening of the Ead bridge across the Mississippi in St. Louis 10 years before, an occasion where workers, citizens and city officials all participated in a massive 15 mile parade across the bridge.In the 1983 ceremony, which I personally observed from a tightly policed East Side highway along with thousands of other average New Yorkers, the more well-heeled citizens, those who could afford a $500 ticket were enjoying back-stage access to New York's other movers and shakers, where they could drink complimentary cocktails well away from lesser mortals.

This points up another of Haw's observations: the exclusionary tactics of Brooklyn Bridge's opening day ceremony where the average citizen participates only as a distant spectator has been the ruling condition of such events ever since.As Haw points out, this is an era in American history where the conditions of mass industrialization and the concomitant exploitation of workers was rampant, where, in the years immediately following, "strike actions would sweep through Jay Gould's expansive railroad network, and troops would be dispatched to the streets of Cincinnati.In just two years, the Haymarket affair would divide the nation.At this time of national crisis, the men responsible for the bridge's opening manufactured an image that blurred the realities of life in America and sponsored a wholly conservative vision.At the day's speeches, amelioration was less the promise than the desired effect" (page 32).Mr. Haw suggests that opening day was perhaps the first public relations event, or citing Daniel Boorstin's construction, the first pseudo-event, the beginning of the society of the spectacle.

Mr. Haw's discussion of Walker Evans' Depression era photographs of the bridge offers an example of how most depictions of the bridge serve the official version of reality.This version makes reference to the soaring aspirations of the American people, suggests that only a free people could build such a marvelous structure, that it is in keeping with Americans' innovative and daring spirit that the world's first suspension bridge was built in America, etc.So, unlike the powerfully affecting Evans' photographs of destitute farm families in the 30s Dustbowl, when he photographed the bridge Evans captured the socially approved version empty of individuals, a modernist emblem of the "technological sublime" to which people need not apply, except perhaps as witnesses kept well off-stage.

Haw makes brief reference to the "New Criticism" as a parallel manifestation of the modernist sensibility which preferred aestheticized interpretations of texts and provided readings shorn of social context, sealed off from an examination the political and economic arrangements.Having been schooled, albeit sloppily, in the New Criticism, I can attest to the powerful attraction of the method as entrée to an intellectual priesthood.I am also aware thatbecause the method mostly treats the surface of works that yields mostly surface insights.It was perhaps the most politically acceptable method for American intellectuals at mid-century, a time when to question the political orthodoxies of the Cold War was to invite blacklisting.And so we of the next generation were taught to look at the urn and its well-wroughtness, and not to wonder at the circumstances that supported or impeded its manufacture.

Until I read THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE, I was not aware of the place the bridge occupies in the firmament of America's civic religion.Mr. Haw convinced me of its importance as a sign of the plutocratic takeover of America political and economic system, the first "revolution of the bosses," a reprise of which we are experiencing today.Indeed Mr. Haw obliquely suggests that there are many parallels between the late 19th, late 20th and early 21st centuries, that the cynical coupling of exclusionary tactics and inclusionary rhetoric practiced on opening day continue to be employed now with an ever more cynical intent and to greater and more pernicious effect.
... Read more

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"Eda Kranakis has written a finely-researched study in the history of19th century technology that contrasts engineering ideas, education, anddesigns developed in France to those pursued in the United States. Hercomparative approach has the technological richness of suspensionbridges and the cultural depth of general social theories. This livelybook is accessible to the general public and will delight the specialisteither in history or technology." -- David P. Billington, CivilEngineering & Operations Research, Princeton University

If it is true, as Tocqueville suggested, that social and class systemsshape technology, research, and knowledge, then the effects should bevisible both at the individual level and at the level of technicalinstitutions and local environments. That is the central issue addressedin Constructing a Bridge, a tale of two cultures thatinvestigates how national traditions shape technological communities andtheir institutions and become embedded in everyday engineering practice.Eda Kranakis first examines these issues in the work of two suspensionbridge designers of the early nineteenth century: the American inventorJames Finley and the French engineer Claude-Louis-Marie-Henri Navier.Finley -- who was oriented toward the needs of rural, frontiercommunities -- designed a bridge that could be easily reproduced andconstructed by carpenters and blacksmiths. Navier -- whose professionaltraining and career reflected a tradition of monumental architecture andhad linked him closely to the Parisian scientific community -- designedan elegant, costly, and technically sophisticated structure to be builtin an elite district of Paris. Charting the careers of these twotechnologists and tracing the stories of their bridges, Kranakis revealshow local environments can shape design goals, research practices, anddesign-to-construction processes. Kranakis then offers a broader look atthe technological communities and institutions of nineteenth-centuryFrance and America and at their ties to technological practice. Sheshows how conditions that led to Finley's and Navier's distinct designsalso fostered different systems of technical education as well asdistinct ideologies and traditions of engineering research. The resultof this two-tiered, comparative approach is a reorientation of ahistoriographic tradition initiated by Tocqueville (and explored morerecently by Eugene Ferguson, John Kasson, and others) toward afiner-grained analysis of institutional and local environments asmediators between national traditions and individual styles oftechnological research and design. Inside Technology series ... Read more

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Oft-overshadowed by the imposing buildings that line the River Thames, the bridges of London are an intriguing part of the capital, past and present. This book traces the history of all 33 Thames bridges within Greater London, exploring the fascinating architecture and unique stories from Hampton Court Bridge in the west to the iconic Tower Bridge in the east. Accompanied throughout by colour photographs of the present bridges, as well as detailed paintings and engravings of the earlier structures that once stood in their place, this is a fully illustrated and absorbing narrative for anyone with an interest in the history of London. ... Read more

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Product Description
Everyone uses bridges in their day to day lives. In fact, England could not have developed as it has without them. As well as their environmental value, their aesthetic curves and graceful arches are an attractive feature of the landscape. From the beautiful simplicity of an ancient clapper bridge to the elegant, sweeping lines of a modern suspension bridge, these structures delight the eye and complement their surroundings. But what do we really know about them? How and when were these bridges built? What exactly does a particular part do? And, most importantly, why don't they fall down? In this easy-to-follow book, Trevor Yorke uses his own illustrations, diagrams and photographs to explain the basic principals and styles of bridges so the reader can better appreciate them, and recognise how they work and from what period they date. The book is divided into four sections. The first gives the background of the subject; the second describes arched bridges; the third explains other forms of bridges and investigates viaducts and aqueducts. The fourth is a quick reference guide with a list of bridges to visit and a glossary to explain any unfamiliar terms. ... Read more

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This volume examines the Roman, Saxon and No rman origins of the medieval bridge. It also considers the e ngineering techniques and social background that led to its development during the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. ' ... Read more

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The covered bridge is one of the last surviving icons of rural America. Originally designed with roof-like covers to protect the wooden support beams from the elements, the covered bridge dominated bridge design for fifty years, until the Bessemer process introduced the cheap steel which then became the material of preference. Yet these bridges over the years have been treasured for their rustic charm, romantic atmosphere (they are nicknamed "kissing bridges"), curious engineering, and historical value.Now, Historic American Covered Bridges presents a superb photographic record of 138 historic covered bridges found in the United States and Canada.

Compiled by Brian J. McKee, a leading authority on covered bridges, the book features a full color photography of each bridge, detailed truss diagrams, basic construction details, and information about the locale, including where to find the bridge. Plus, the book provides an index of the nearly 1,000 surviving covered bridges in North America. Among the featured bridges are two of the longest covered bridges left in the United States, the Medora and Williams bridges; Kentucky's Bennett Mill Bridge, the only surviving Wheeler truss bridge; and the Stark Bridge in New Hampshire, which provides one the the most picturesque scenes in America. The volume also includes the Roberts Bridge, the only remaining double-barreled covered bridge in Ohio and one of only six remaining in the United States, and the Parker Bridge, which was nearly destroyed by a fire in 1991, but restored in 1992, after a fundraising drive.

Boasting 138 full-color bridge photographs and including some bridges that are more than 150 years old, Historic American Covered Bridges provides a lasting reminder of America's heritage.Amazon.com Review
You don't have to be a fan of RobertJames Waller to admire the covered bridges of the AmericanMidwest. You'll learn from this heavily illustrated book how importantthose bridges were to rural communities; quite apart from spanningstreams of water, they served as gathering places, even makeshift townhalls and wedding parlors. You'll also learn that many of themare all but doomed to disappear in the face of "progress." The bridgeswere not originally confined to the Midwest, but many in the East arealready gone; only one, for instance, survives in New Jersey. Thisbook makes a quiet but powerful case for preserving those that remain. Ifyou're a fan of Eric Sloane'sbooks of rural Americana, you're sure to enjoy this excursioninto the countryside. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Historic American Covered Bridges
This book was beautifully illistrated, and informational. Each photographed bridge holds part of our past, and an oppertunity to understand a part of our history. Once inside the pages you are transported back into a time that others have forgotten. I recommand this book to allwho have been in love with the Covered Bridge for a long time, and to thoeslike me who have just fallen in love with this beautiful part of ourhistory.

An Inspiring Book for Covered Bridge Afficionados
What a wonderful book. It's a series of great photos of significant covered bridges, with descriptions that include building methods and styles, dates, history and best yet... driving directions!I find myselfitching to go out and visit some nearby ones. An enjoyable, easy read thatI know I will refer to over and over.

This is one of the best Covered Bridge books on the market!
Brian's book is filled with some of the most breathtaking photographs you will ever see of Covered Bridges.If a bridge had a soul, he certainly knows how to capture it with his photographs.The historical and technicalinformation is wonderful as well.It is a magnificent book! ... Read more

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Design of Buildings and Bridges for Wind is a practical guide that uses physical and intuitive approaches, and practical examples, to demonstrate how to interpret and use provisions of the ASCE-7 Standard and design structures for strength and serviceability. Written by two of the world's foremost wind engineering experts, this unique text is written specifically for designers and structural engineers.

Covering routine buildings, tall buildings, and bridges, Design of Buildings and Bridges for Wind contains a wealth of step-by-step numerical examples to assist structural engineers in understanding and using the elements of wind and structural engineering required for design. This hands-on guide features:
* Information on how to determine design wind loads and wind effects for both routine and special structures
* Information allowing structural engineers to effectively scrutinize estimates of wind effects submitted by wind engineering consultants
* Clear, transparent procedures for developing estimates of wind effects based on aerodynamic data supplied in electronic form by wind tunnel operators
* Access to wind speed databases and software for determining wind effects on rigid and flexible structures (nist.gov/wind) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Helpful in depth resource on Wind Design
This book provides a lot of useful information on designing using the ASCE 7 wind provisions.It also provides informative discussions on wind tunnel modeling and other advanced wind design concepts that are not covered in many other similar sources.In addition it contains some solved problems that present the basics of designing a real wind system.I also appreciate that it contains some insight and discussion of common mistakes, inconsistencies and other pitfalls within the code that should be avoided.

ASCE 7 is better
The book reads almost word for word like the ASCE7.The explanations of terms and methods used are verbatim of whats in the code - so if you're looking for better explanation of how to use the code or interperet the code - you're better off just buying the code and working your way thru it.

The examples in this book seem like they're geared toward someone writing a program rather than analysing a structure.(many tables and charts have been replaced by equations that can be programed into a spreadsheet).I got this book to help with the PE - but I'm not even going to take it with me to the exam.

just my opinion. ... Read more

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The Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava(born 1951) is known around the world for his bridgeconstructions. They combine technology and aesthetics in a uniquedisplay of elegance. The materials of concrete and steel achieve a newexpressivity in his bridges.

Calatrava Bridges is the standard work that extensively documents allbuilt and designed bridges (around 40) in precise descriptions,fascinating technical drawings, and attractive photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Calatrava redefines brige design
No one has such a unique style of building bridges as Calatrava, who is trained as an engineer and architect. He focuses not only on profile, shape, and unique solutions but he pays close attention to the underside of the bridge. This book is full of his very intriguing bridge styles with CAD drawings to complement the models and photos of the finished works. There are some essays at the end of the book (some by him) that outline his design philosophy and discuss the controversy his bridges have provoked.

Calatrava's works define contemporay. I might also recommend a look at Wilkinson/Eyre's bridge projects which are in a different style but equally creative.

Excelent Bridges in Calatrava
I saw the book in the library in my university and since the this time i want to have this book. I'm Civil Engienier and in this momenst i'm studing a master degree in México. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Industrial Archeologist
Eric Delony has written a wonderful book.It is replete with the photos of our built heritage that few people will realize is valuable until it is long gone.This book is a continuation of Eric Delony's life-long dedication to Industrial Archeology -- a subject that has not received the interest that it deserves.Hopefully we will see more books from Eric on a variety of similar subjects in the future.

Famous to obscure bridges - good overview.
This book provides an excellent overview of American bridge design.I particularly enjoyedthe attention paid to little-known but important rural bridges over smaller waterways - a thoughtful review of structuresthat are ingenius, pragmatic and artful solutions to the problem of gettingfrom point A to point B.The photography is good but could be better. ... Read more

Product Description
Although people had talked about building a bridge across the Golden Gate waterway since the 1800's, it was Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that financed it and made the Golden Gate Bridge project possible. The sheer size of San Francisco Bay, and the fierce winds and waves that roll into it from the Pacific, prompted many engineers to say that the bridge couldn't be built. Innovative design and brilliant engineering, however, enabled the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time to become a reality. Today, this bright orange structure stands as proof of the fact that human ingenuity can enable us to triumph over seemingly impossible odds.

Our nation's unique identity has been formed, in large part, by themonuments and landmarks we have erected. Structures such as the famousGateway Arch in St. Louis and the Washington Monument in Washington,D.C., stand today as permanent reminders of the people and events thathave built a strong America. Many of these structures made historyeven as they were created; most integrated the latest in design andtechnology and required the skills of thousands of workers. For thefirst time, the Building America series chronicles the massiveundertakings that mark some of the greatest triumphs of humanengineering. The fact that these projects were even attempted, andthen completed successfully, is a testament to the boldness of humaningenuity and a tribute to the brave spirit of the American people. Itis that special spirit that is now captured in the pages of theBuilding America series.

Grades 3-7; 7 1/2 x 9; 48 pages; 40-45 photos;Chronology; Glossary; Further Reading; Source; Notes; Index ... Read more

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Examines the history, design, construction, and uses of bridges and describes some notable examples. ... Read more

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"Steven Richman’s enthusiasm for New Jersey bridges is contagious. He helps us come to see the spans that he celebrates as structural gems and cultural treasures."—Henry Petroski, author of Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America

New Jersey is sandwiched between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, with the Raritan, Passaic, and Navesink cutting swaths across it. In spite of the state’s relatively small size, over six thousand bridges span its varied landscape. They traverse rivers, streams, railroads, and roadways. Several dozen bridges cut across the Delaware River alone, carrying pedestrian, vehicular, and railroad traffic. Three connect the state to Staten Island. Some are steeped in history, dating back to the colonial era and the Revolutionary War. Others are recognized worldwide for their size or significance in the annals of engineering.

In The Bridges of New Jersey, Steven M. Richman provides a rare photographic and poetic journey across sixty of the state’s bridges, ranging from impressive suspension spans such as the Ben Franklin and George Washington Bridges, to the small wrought-iron and stone bridges that are cherished by local citizens. The book provides a rich diversity of stories that place the bridges in the context of New Jersey history and culture. Richman also explores the contribution New Jersey bridges have made to engineering—some of the most prominent engineers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries either lived or established businesses in the Garden State or designed its bridges.

Lavishly illustrated with over seventy photographs, this book is much more than a documentary survey. It is a visual portrait that beautifully captures the metaphoric significance and aesthetic pleasures of New Jersey’s bridges, and indeed all bridges. Perhaps more than any other structure built by humans, bridges typify progress and they give us a sense of connectedness. The Bridges of New Jersey provides a compelling visual demonstration of these symbolic functions, as well as their practical purposes and engineering accomplishments. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great value book
When I visited NJ for the first time with my wife a decade ago, (I'm an Aussie from Melbourne and my wife was originally from Jersey City) all my new NJ in-laws were not a little suprised at my instant facination for the skyline as we drove along the Pulaski Skyway.Being an ex mechanical engineer old enough to have owned a train set as a kid, it was as if I'd been shrunk and dropped into the worlds best train set.The evidence of 20 century US industrial muscle was everywhere to be seen.Lift bridges, elevated steel highways, girders girders everywhere.I have been back a few times and never tire of looking out of the car window at the passing scenes.....my in-laws think I'm a little crazy to find interest in any of what is often considered by them to be rusty derilect eyesores.It finaly occured to me to look for a book on the subject and I'm so glad I did.This is a great book to dip into and appears to be thoroughly researched.Also I was pleasantly suprised to find it was a hardbook.Given my choices I'd rather have more photos, and perhaps a 'coffee table' version of such a book exists, but for the price it is excellent value.I really can't wait to take it with me on my next trip.I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in civil engineering and history, especially if you live in NJ or can visit.

If you are into Bridges you'll love this
Bought this for a dear friend.He is an engineer and works around bridges all of the time, and lives in New Jersey.when he openedthe package he was very excited...like a kid in a candy store! ... Read more

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Comprehensive profiles of the world's 100 most extraordinary bridges.

Few humanmade structures combine the technical with the aesthetic in such an evocative way as bridges. From ancient times to the present, bridges have had a unique attraction on the imagination, eliciting awe, wonder and passion.

Bridges celebrates the stunning technical and artistic achievements in the creation, design, engineering, construction and social history of 100 remarkable bridges. The book reveals the secrets and science of the timeless masonry of imperial Rome, the elegant wooden edifices of ancient Japan and the soaring steel structures of today.

Organized chronologically to follow the stages in the development of bridge engineering and construction, each chapter has an introduction followed by fascinating details.

The vital stats for each bridge include:- Location- Date of construction- Designer- Construction materials and dimensions.

An account of the creation of each bridge includes the difficulties, hardships and disasters endured as well as the solutions and innovations conceived. Superb color photographs and specially commissioned artwork celebrate these soaring feats of engineering.

The final chapter explores how future bridges will look through examining the latest groundbreaking designs and projects.

Bridges is a magnificently illustrated non-technical reference to fascinating engineering discoveries and innovations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Outstanding bridge book!
I've had this book for several months now, sitting on my coffee table, and have read it over and over. My only complaint is I wish it were 10 times longer! It is engagingly written, beautifully photographed. The writer strikes what for me was the right balance of history, aesthetics, and engineering. The only problem is the well-done writeups are just too short, leaving you wanting more. Still, very highly recommended.

missing something
This covers every possible aspect of bridge building that a layperson could think of. Except for one thing. It hardly mentions the laborers who are responsible for the work that made these bridges possible. Yes, a bridge is made from concrete, brick, steel, timber, cable, iron, and whatnot, but what about the blood, sweat, and tears? The book goes into the construction of piers, the methods used to erect various parts of the bridge, and so forth. But it stops short of mentioning how the laborers were organized, who they were, where they came from, and how many of them died building these works of art.

So, although the book filled me with knowledge, I finished it feeling a little bit empty, as if I had seen the surface of all the seas and oceans of the world, but never a whale or fish. ... Read more

Product Description
Bridges are great symbols of mankind’s conquest of space. They are a monument to his vision and determination, but these alone are not enough. An appreciation of the mathematical theories underlying bridge design is essential to resist the physical forces of nature and gravity.

The object of this book is to explain firstly the nature of the problems associated with the building of bridges with steel as the basic material, and then the theories that are available to tackle them.

The book covers:

• a technological history of the different types of iron and steel bridges


• the basic properties of steel


• loads on bridges from either natural or traffic-induced forces


• the process and aims of design based on limit state and statistical probability concepts


• buckling behaviour of various components and large-deflection behaviour of components with initial imperfections


• detailed guidance on the design of plate and box girder bridges together with some design examples

The Second Edition includes a completely new chapter on the history and design of cable-stayed bridges, the various types of cable used for them and their method of construction, and it addresses many of the changes introduced in the latest version of the British Standard Design Code for steel bridges, BS 5400: Part 3:2000. ... Read more

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Budding engineers can read about the how's and whys of real bridges and then construct their own using string, chairs, cardboard and other household materials. Sidebars feature information about bridges -- both past and present -- around the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent Primer on Bridges for kids!
My son loves this book! It is packed with a lot of information on bridges and has nicely drawn pictures on every page. There are easy projects to do, one of which my son used for his science project at school.

I highly recommend this book for the child - and their parents -who want to learn more about bridges! ... Read more

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These proceedings are from The Fourth International Conference on Bridge Management that consolidated the best and, more importantly, up-to-date research conducted in the field of bridge management. Since the first conference in 1990 the scientific art of bridge management has advanced at an astonishing rate. There has been a change from a curative to a preventative approach to bridge management, promising an increased longevity for the next generation of bridges and reduced whole-life costs, and practical and economical solutions have been found for some recurring problems. These proceedings represent the tremendous amount of research that has gone into improving ways of tackling the tasks associated with sound bridge management. ... Read more

Product Description
Everything you need to pass the test! Seismic Design of Buildings and Bridges: 2002-2003 Edition by Alan Williams, Ph.D., S.E., C. Eng., a leading structural engineering author DT Written for civil and structural engineers preparing for the: Special Civil Engineering Exam--California National Structural Engineering I and II Exams California Structural Engineering Exam DT Includes more than 100 problems and step-by-step solutions from recent exams DT Offers 18 HP-48G calculator programs for frequently occurring calculations in the appendix DT Contains an 8-page summary of useful equations DT Reflects current publications of SEAOC and FEMA DT Conforms to the 1997 edition of the UBC DT Updated based on the latest AISC and ACI standards DT Provides comprehensive clarification of applicable Building Codes and Standard Specifications DT Uses provisions of the 1999 SEAOC bluebook, 1999 FEMA Advisory No. 2, 2000 FEMA 350 Design of Steel Moment Frame Buildings, and 1997 AISC Seismic Provisions DT Cites extensive reference publications that reflect current design procedures Other Engineering Resources Available from Oxford University Press For the PE Exams Civil Engineering License Review, Fourteenth Edition, Donald G. Newnan, P.E. (1-57645-029-5) Civil Engineering: Problems and Solutions, Fourteenth Edition, Donald G. Newnan, P.E. (1-57645-030-9) Civil Engineering Problem Solving Flowcharts, Second Edition, Jorge L. Rodriguez, P.E. (1-57645-038-4) Structural Engineering License Review, Problems and Solutions, 2002-2003 Edition, Alan Williams, S.E. (0-19-515916-0) Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Second Edition, Alan Williams, S.E. (1-57645-051-1) Civil Engineering: Bridge Structures, Alan Williams, S.E. (1-57645-041-4) Civil Engineering: Building Structures, Alan Williams, S.E. (1-57645-040-6) Civil Engineering: Foundations and Retaining Structures, Alan Williams, S.E. (1-57645-042-2) Civil Engineering: Seismic Design, Alan Williams, S.E. (1-57645-043-0) For an Introduction to MATLAB Getting Started with MATLAB 5: A Quick Introduction for Scientists and Engineers by Rudra Pratap (0-19-512947-4) Getting Started with MATLAB, Version 6: A Quick Introduction for Scientists and Engineers by Rudra Pratap (0-19-515014-7) For Background on the Engineering Profession Fundamentals of Ethics for Scientists and Engineers by Edmund G. Seebauer and Robert L. Barry (0-19-513488-5) Engineers and Their Profession, Fifth Edition, by John D. Kemper and Billy R. Sanders (0-19-512057-4) Being Successful as an Engineer by W. H. Roadstrum (0-910554-24-2) Money Back Guarantee--Pass the test or get your money back. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Must Have Review Text
Mr. Williams presentation is clear and easy to follow. The text is well thought out and organized into separate chapters covering major design topics. He has taken the time to ferret out all the pertinent footnotes andincludes them in the appropriate sections. His summaries and tables areworth the price of admission alone. If you are taking the SE Exam .... Getthis book.

ANALISIS Y DISEÃ`O SISMICO DE ESTRIBOS DE PUENTES SOBRE PILOT
ANALISIS Y DISEÑO SISMICO DE ESTRIBOS DE PUENTES SOBRE PILOTES SOBRE ROCAS Y/O SUELOS BLANDOS, METODOS DE CALCULO ACEPTADO POR LA NORMA ASSHTO 1996-REVISION 1998. INTERACCICIÓN DEL RELLENO TRAS DEL ESTRIBO CON RESPECTOAL EFECTO SISMICO;EJEMPLOS DE CALCULO Y DISEÑOS PASO A PASO, TABLAS DEPARAMETROS DE RESISTENCIA, ANGULOS DE FRICCIÓN INTERNA. ... Read more