PART 1

HISTORY OF ENGINEERING
 What is Engineering?
ABET—The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology— defines engineering as:
The profession in which knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences, gained by study; experience, and
practice, is applied with judgment to develop ways to use, economically, the materials and forces of nature for
the benefit of mankind.
 What problems did the first “engineers” solve?
 Safety
 Fortifications
 Walls
 Water
 Wells
 Canals
 Food
 Canals
 Irrigation for farming
 The first civil engineer
 John Smeaton
 In 1761, he is the first man to definitely call himself a “civil engineer”.
 He builds lighthouses who helped distinguish the profession of civil engineering from
architecture and military engineering.
 Construction was the primary focus of the civil engineer while the military engineer focused
on destruction.
THE BEGINNINGS OF ENGINEERING
 The Earliest Days
The foundations of engineering were laid with our ancestors’ effort to survive and to improve their quality
of life.
Find ways to improve hunting, shelter, etc.
 Egypt and Mesopotamia
Between 4000 and 2000 B.C., Egypt and Mesopotamia were the focal points for engineering activity.
Stone tools were developed to help man in his quest for food (hunting and farming [plow]).
 Earliest Engineers?
3300 b.c. - Egyptians develop dikes and canals.
Archeological records show the builders used primitive surveying instruments to lay out the canals.
Mesopotamia also made its mark on engineering by giving birth to the wheel, the sailing boat, and
methods of writing.
 Construction of the Pyramids
2700 b.c. - Imhotep builds first pyramid at Sakkara
2500 b.c. - Great Pyramid of Khufu built at Giza
Depends on primitive tools and human labor.

 Great Pyramid of Khufu

Largest masonry structure ever built
480 ft high, 756 ft on each side of the base
Constructed over 2.3 million limestone blocks.
Total weight of 58,000,000 tons
 Overview of ancient engineering
Engineering the Temples of Greece
Roman Roads and Aqueducts
The Great Wall of China
 Traveling through the ages
The People’s Comfort
 2000 b.c. - Sumerian builders develop canals, temples, city walls
 1800 b.c. - Hammarubi develops first building code in Babylonia
 700 b.c. - Assyrians develop the first public water supply - 30 miles of canals to feed Ninevah. (First use
of concrete)
 200 b.c. - Water supply to Pergamum includes an elevated reservoir, line pressure over 300 psi.
 Traveling through the ages
Trade
 450 b.c. - Greek architectons build harbor at Samos
 200 b.c. - 3300 foot long tunnel through solid limestone at Samos
 Ship building, light houses, etc.
 Traveling through the ages
Conquest
 312 b.c. - Romans build Appian Way
 214 b.c. Chinese build 1700 mile long wall
 Conquest of other lands leads to sharing of knowledge
 Moors in Spain
 Roman influence throughout the west
 Traveling through the ages
Roman Creations
 312 b.c. - Appian Way, Aqua Appius
 17 b.c. - Aggripa builds Pantheon
 98 a.d. - Alcantra bridge in Spain
 175 feet high, 600 feet long
 dry masonry construction
 122 a.d. - Hadrian’s Wall
 Roman cities were planned, developed to fit the surrounding environment
 Traveling through the ages
Other Cultures
 Mayan: 12,000 B.C. to 1600 AD
 Teotihuacan in central Mexico had a population of 200,000 in 350 AD.
 Calendars, roads, temples, chariots
 Chinese: 21,000 B.C. to present
 Shang Dynasty: 1700 BC – writing
 Han Dynasty: 200 BC – universities
 Silk, paper, gunpowder, printing
 Why Study History?
 Keeps our perspective on the “impossible”.
 Avoid repeating mistakes.
 Shows us the importance of “mundane” developments.
 Helps us see how historical cultural differences may impact modern solutions.

1200 BC – AD 1
 Archimedes introduces mathematics in Greece.
 Concrete is used for the arched bridges, roads and aqueducts in Rome.
1000 – 1400
 Leonardo Fibonacci (1170-1240), medieval mathematician, writes the first Western text on algebra.
1400 – 1700
 The first water closet (toilet) is invented in England.
 Robert Boyle finds that gas pressure varies inversely with volume (Boyle’s Law).
 Leibniz makes a calculating machine to multiply and divide.
1700-1800
 The instrument-maker Benjamin Huntsman develops the crucible process for manufacturing steel,
improving quality and sharply reducing cost.
 Louis XV of France establishes the Ecole des Ponts et Chausses, the world’s first civil engineering
school.
  Abraham Darby III constructs the world’s first cast iron bridge over the Severn River near
Coalbrookdale.
 Henry Cort patents the puddling furnace for the production of wrought iron.
 British civil engineer John Rennie completes the first building made entirely of cast iron.
1825 – 1875
 Reinforced concrete is used.
 The first synthetic plastic material—celluloid—is created by Alexander Parkes.
 Henry Bessemer originates the process to mass-produce steel cheaply.
 The first oil well is drilled near Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1875 – 1900
 The gasoline engine is invented by Gottlieb Daimler.
 The automobile is introduced by Karl Benz.
1900 – 1925
 Stainless steel is introduced in Germany.
1925 – 1950
 The first nuclear bombs are used.
 The transistor is invented.
1950-1975
 Computers first enter the commercial market and are in common use by 1960.
 The first artificial satellite—Sputnik 1, USSR—goes into space.
 Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, follows.
 The laser is introduced.
 Manned space flight begins.
 The first communication satellite—Telstar—goes into space.
 Integrated circuits are introduced.
 The first manned moon landing occurs.
1975-1990
 Supersonic transport from U.S. to Europe begins.
 Cosmonauts orbit the earth for a record 180 days.
 The Columbia space shuttle is reused for space travel.
 The first artificial human heart is implanted.
1990-Today
 Robots walk on Mars.
 Computer processor speed is dramatically improved.
 World’s new tallest building Burj Khalifa, Dubai (600 m).
 Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology is declassified, resulting in hundreds of
safety, weather and consumer applications.
 Civil Engineers Today
rapid transit systems
Bridges
highway systems
Skyscrapers
recreational facilities
Houses
industrial plants
Dams
nuclear power plants
Boats
shipping facilities
railroad lines
Tunnels
Harbors
offshore oil and gas facilities
Pipelines, and
canals.