Structural Engineering

When you think of the imposing stature of pyramids, you might picture the Great Pyramid of Giza. But the Egypt-based structure is by no means the only impressive pyramid in the world.

By Yara Simón

Why are blueprints blue and not some other color? There's a specific chemical process behind it, and its discovery has all the elements of a dark fairy tale.

By Laurie L. Dove

One of the most travelled stretches of U.S. highway was designed by a woman who loved mathematics and wasn't interested in being a teacher. Who was she, and where is it?

By Terri Briseno

Steel-framed skyscrapers are common sights in any city skyline these days. But someone had to be the first to build up, up, up. Find out where this architectural standard was born.

By Wesley Fenlon

It took years to construct the 110-story World Trade Center towers and less than an hour to bring them down to rubble. What ultimately caused the towers to collapse on Sept. 11, 2001?

By Clint Pumphrey

Bridges move cars, trains, bikes and people, among other things. These 10 may even move your soul with their engineering ingenuity and beauty. So which 10 make the cut?

By William Harris

Have you ever passed by an abandoned warehouse or gas station and wondered why the government doesn't just tear it down? Well, it may be a brownfield.

By Echo Surina

Bridges are amazing displays of scientific engineering. This collection of pictures highlights some of the most spectacular structures ever created.

Hefting a sofa up a flight of stairs can take a lot of logistics. So what does moving thousand-ton buildings across cities -- or even oceans -- entail?

By Molly Edmonds & Laurie L. Dove

EPCOT was Walt Disney's "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow." But it didn't actually turn out the way he had envisioned it.

By Alex Krieger

Whether they make you think of Hurricane Katrina or Led Zeppelin, levees are a critical safety feature for low-lying areas located near water. Why do they break?

By Marshall Brain & Robert Lamb

Is there an easy way to measure the height of a cell phone tower in my neighborhood?

Safe, professional building implosions combine mathematics, intuition and sheer explosive power. Find out how the experts bring down huge structures without damaging the buildings nearby.

By Tom Harris

When the heat sets in, there's nothing like a day at the water park to cool things down -- water parks and their massive wave pools are a huge weekend attraction. Ever wonder what kind of machinery it takes to produce a wave? Learn exactly how an oce

By Tom Harris

It's a leap of faith onto a curvy steep wet chute... Discover how water slides work and what draws thrill-seekers to them.

By Tom Harris

The twin towers of the World Trade Center were true originals -- their history is one of innovation, persistence and grand ideas.

By Tom Harris & Yara Simón

The Hoover Dam holds back 10 trillion gallons of water. That's enough to cover the entire state of Connecticut. How much damage would be done if the dam broke?

By Patty Rasmussen

If you wanted to build a Great Pyramid in today's market, you would need to take into consideration a lot of factors. How much labor would you need? What about materials? And how much would it cost you?

By Marshall Brain

Domed cities would provide the same temperature year-round, no rain or snow, and the ability to go outside without worrying about a sunburn. Have they been tried before, and what about the people who enjoy their seasons?

By Marshall Brain

When pyramids come to mind, most of us think of Egypt, but pyramids exist in many parts of the world. How were they constructed without earth-moving or heavy-lift machinery? And most of all, why were these amazing structures built?

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

When it came to building or improving things, the ancient Romans really knew their stuff. Which cool engineering tricks did they pass along to us?

By Gallagher Flinn

Pisa without its precariously tilted landmark is like San Francisco without the Golden Gate or London without Buckingham Palace. Will the peculiarly enduring tower ever vanish from the Italian skyline?

By William Harris

Sometimes it seems as though Earth has been hitting the caffeine a little too hard, with all the shakes from earthquakes. So, how do structures stand strong amid all those quakes?

By William Harris

The Bay Bridge is a wonder of structural engineering. Find out how multiple architectural styles were incorporated into the bridge that unites Oakland with San Francisco.

By Wesley Fenlon

A soft-story building has a first floor that's more flexible than the ones above -- think apartments over a department store that's mostly open space. How does soft-story retrofitting keep such buildings from collapsing in a quake?

By Jonathan Atteberry