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Birth of a Profession:
Structural engineering is a noble profession, having been established for
thousands of years, though under different names over the centuries. In the
early years they were the builders; having left us the Great Pyramids of Egypt,
the Great wall of China, the Roman aqueducts. In Medieval times they were often
referred to as architects, having left us the castles, churches and mosques of
Europe and Asia.
With arrival of the 1850s through early 1900s, with the beginning of more
sophisticated use of steel and concrete in building design, the specialization
of Structural Engineering was truly being born. Building design now required
more knowledge and understanding of how to use concrete, steel, masonry and wood
to build larger and taller buildings and bridges. Architects began realizing
that to put there best talents towards designing a building to meet and satisfy
their clients demands, they needed to find people, structural engineers to be
exact, that could design the skeleton or structure of the building for them.
Engineering achievements and marvels of this time period include the Eiffel
Tower, the Panama and Suez canals, The Brooklyn Bridge.
The 1900s began the design of high-rise buildings, what we commonly refer to as
Skyscrapers which would include the Empire State Building, the John Hancock
Building, The Sears Tower, The World Trade Center Twin Towers, The Petronas
Towers of Kuala Lumpur. Longer and longer span bridges were being designed such
as the Golden Gate Bridge.
Today the field of Structural Engineering has become even more sophisticated,
specialized and diverse. Structural Engineers are now involved in many
different areas besides just "traditional" building design such as: Bridge
Design, Ports and Harbors Design, Offshore Deep sea drilling platforms, Tunnels,
Oil Refineries, Amusement Park rides, and the final frontier: space itself.
Structural Engineers have been involved in the past design of rocket and the
space shuttle launch platforms, the current orbiting international space station
itself, and will be in future space exploration.
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