Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 1.17 The Hell Gate Bridge built across the East River in 1916, NewYork. (Library
of Congress from Detroit Publishing Co.)
theoretical and experimental mechanical investigations prompted, to a great extent,
by the need for rational and scientific bridge design in a rapidly developing and
expanding railroad infrastructure.
1.4 DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAY BRIDGE ENGINEERING
1.4.1 S TRENGTH OF M ATERIALS AND S TRUCTURAL M ECHANICS
The early work of Robert Hooke (1678) concerning the elastic force and deforma-
tion relation, of Jacob Bernoulli (1705) regarding the shape of deflection curves, of
LeonardEuler(1759)andC.A.Coulomb(1773)aboutelasticstabilityofcompression
members, and of Louis M.H. Navier (1826) on the subject of the theory of elasticity
laid the foundation for the rational analysis of structures. France led the world in the
development of elasticity theory and mechanics of materials in the eighteenth century
and produced well-educated engineers, many of whom became leaders in American
railway bridge engineering practice. Railroad expansion continued at a considerable
Between 1885 and 1889, F. Engesser, a German railway bridge engineer, further developed compression
member stability analysis for general use by engineers.
Charles Ellet (1830), Ralph Modjeski (1855), L.F.G. Bouscaren, Chief Engineer of the Cincinnati
Southern Railroad (1873), and H.E. Vautelet, Bridge Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway
(ca. 1876), were graduates of early French engineering schools.
 
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