Construction Fundamentals

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Historical
Perspective
Architect comes from a Greek
word meaning
chief artifice,
masterbuilder,
director of works.

Chapter 1 - Historical
Perspective
Architect
Romans used the Latin form
architectus - the architects
responsibilities was to design
and superintend the
construction of the work.

Chapter 1 - Historical
Perspective

Contractor

comes from the legal agreement or contract

that is negotiated and executed between the
owner and the builder

General Contractor

As there can be many builders involved on

a project a hierarchy of responsibility and
authority needs to be established to insure
proper coordination of the various efforts

Construction
Engineering and
construction are a unique
combination of specific
need and specific design in
a process that yields an
engineered work.
Civilizations are built by
construction efforts.

Construction
Military Engineers

Civil Engineers

Engineering Education
LEcole Polytechnique
authorized in 1795 by Napoleon

U. S. Military Academy,
West Point
organized by President Thomas
Jefferson 1802

Canals
Man-made canals were a major factor
in the development of early civilization
Barge Canals
Chesapeake and Ohio (1828-1850)
Ship Canals
Suez (1869)
Panama (1914)

Rail Roads

Rail Roads
The railroads were the engine of
growth and expansion to the
West
By 1840 there were nearly three
thousand miles of track in the
United States

Rail Roads
Congress passed the Pacific Railroad
Act in 1862.
The act authorized the Central Pacific
and Union Pacific Companies to build
a transcontinental rail line along the
42nd parallel
May 10, 1869 Golden spike driven
home

Golden Spike
National Historic Site

"East Meets West" photo taken May 10, 1869 by

Andrew J. Russell (National Park Service Photo)

Golden Spike
The web site to learn more about this
historic engineering accomplishment.

http://www.nps.gov/gosp/
Additional reading:
C.P.R.R. The Central Pacific Railroad - Charles
Nordoff, Outbooks, Golden, CO 1976 (originally
written 1892).
Empire Express; Building the First Transcontinental
Railroad - David Haward Bain, Penguin Putnam, New
York, NY. 1999.

Golden Spike
Additional reading:
History of the Union Pacific Railway - Henry K.
White, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 1895.
Nothing Like It In The World- The Men Who Built The
Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 - Stephen E.
Ambrose, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY. 2000.
Rails From the West: a Biography of Theodore D.
Judah - Helen Hinkley, Golden West Books, San
Marino, CA 1969.
Ten Mile Day; And The Building of the
Transcontinental Railroad Mary Ann Fraser Henry
Holt and Company, New York, NY 1993.

Industrial Buildings
Buildings of the mid-19th
century tended to be narrow
enclosures with load-bearing
walls

Industrial Buildings
Between 1874 and 1904 many
advances made
Construction methods
and materials
fire protection
steel trusses framing

Industrial Buildings
1920s industrial buildings were
being constructed with skeleton
framing and curtain walls

Industrial Buildings
Concrete building systems have
also been developed.
cast-in-place
tilt-up
precast

Highways
Appian Way
Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate
Highway System (1956)

I-17/I-10 Phoenix AZ

Airports
Phoenix Sky Harbor International
Airport, Phoenix, AZ

Airports
Construction at Dallas/Ft. Worth
International Airport, 2002

Skyscrapers
1800s few buildings were more
than 100 ft high
Walls were load bearing (up to
5 feet thick)
Doors & window penetrations
were kept to a minimum

Skyscrapers
Four engineering innovations had to
come together before the height of
building would rise to a level where
they would be called skyscrapers.
Safe elevators
Steel Framing
Fireproofing
Caisson method of foundation
construction

Welded steel connections

Bolted steel connections

Construction Industry
Egyptians

Greeks
Romans
corvee - Latin corrogare, to
summon together

Collegia

Construction Industry
Romans Collegia
Membership for skilled craftsmen
became mandatory
Workers had to follow the same
trade for life and their descendants
after them
Wages were fixed
Craftsmen could be transferred to
any location as directed by the state

Master Builders
Reported to the owner
Responsible for both
Design and
Construction

Master Builders
Used the principle
of proportional
geometry to
construct
complicated
designs with a
minimum of
equipment

Contractors
From the legal agreement or contract
that is negotiated and executed between
the owner and the builder
General contractor (GC)
Specialty or trade contractors

Electrical
Plumbing

Heating and air conditioning (HVAC)

Assignment
Due next class
What is the largest or most famous
_____ in your state? And why!!
Canal
Road
Bridge
Skyscraper
Airport