Structural Engineering
Buildings and structures take careful planning in order to ensure that they don't collapse or fail in any way. Structural engineers analyze and study the way in which buildings support loads.
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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?
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?
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?
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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?
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?
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?
This dragon is illuminated every night, spitting out both fire and water on weekends and holidays, as it sways its way over the Han River in Da Nang.
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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
Until 2022, the longest suspension bridge in the world was in Japan. Now, the 1915 Canakkale Bridge in Türkiye has taken the title
Underwater tunnels are so commonplace that we rarely think of the great dangers -- and extreme construction techniques -- these modern wonders require. With the opening of the Marmaray Tunnel in October 2013, it's time to take a second look.
It's always been a dilemma for humans: how to move that super-heavy object to a new place. But we always seem to find a way, don't we?
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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?
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.
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?
Steel is getting more expensive because the prices of iron and coal are rising. Are there alternatives to steel that can do the same job -- or better -- for less?
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If you think regular old domes took the world of structural engineering by storm, you should meet their geodesic cousins. What is a geodesic dome, and who first came up with the idea of building triangle-covered spheres as practical structures?
Bridges span the gap and help us get from point A to B, but who knew they could float, too? Find out what the deal is with floating bridges in this article.
Jenga seems like such a simple game -- all you have to do is keep a tower of wooden blocks from toppling over. It may be simple, but it's anchored by several complex structural engineering concepts.
By Dave Roos
Playing with Lego blocks isn't just child's play. In fact, these blocks and products present a hands-on opportunity to learn the basics of structural engineering.
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You may see most bridges as those things you cross on your way to somewhere else, but where would you be if one collapsed? We've figured out 10 reasons why the worst happens.
The World Trade Center employed several new approaches to skyscraper construction. From slurry walls to sky lobbies to "tube within a tube" design features, what made this project distinctive from an architectural engineering standpoint?
The materials used to build the World Trade Center's twin towers have been heavily scrutinized since the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- including the steel that formed the frames of the skyscrapers.
It's been compared Jerusalem's Wailing Wall. What purpose did the slurry wall serve the World Trade Center, and what is its significance now?
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Controversy surrounds the removal of public monuments honoring the U.S. Confederacy. But who or what determines which monuments go up or come down?
By Dave Roos
It's easy to confuse the Parthenon and the Pantheon. The names are so similar, and they're both ancient ruins. But despite those similarities, the two structures are very different.