Main entry:

Petroski, Henry, author.

Title & Author:

Pushing the limits : new adventures in engineering / Henry Petroski.

Publication:

New York : Knopf, 2004.

Description:

xii, 288 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-269) and index.
Art in iron and steel -- Bridges of America -- Benjamin Franklin Bridge -- Floating bridges -- Confederation Bridge -- Pont de Normandie -- Britannia Bridge -- Tower Bridge -- Drawing bridges -- An eye-opening bridge -- Millennium legacies -- Broken bridges -- New and future bridges -- Dorton Arena -- Bilbao -- Santiago Calatrava -- Fazlur Khan -- The fall of skyscrapers -- Vanities of the Bonfire -- St. Francis Dam -- Three Gorges Dam -- Fuel cells -- Engineers' dreams -- Engineers' achievements.

Summary:

"Henry Petroski tells the stories of significant and daring enterprises - some familiar, some virtually unknown, and some that are still only dreams - in their historical and technological contexts. Among the achievements are Philadelphia's landmark Benjamin Franklin Bridge, London's incomparable Tower Bridge, and China's ambitious Three Gorges Dam project. But pushing the limits of technology does not come without risk. Petroski also chronicles great technological disasters, such as the 1928 failure of California's St. Francis Dam, the 1999 tragedy of the Texas A & M Bonfire, and the September 11, 2001, collapse of New York's World Trade Center towers. He deals with other calamities as well, such as the 1994 earthquake that struck Southern California and the embarrassingly wobbly Millennium Bridge in London, which had to be shut down only three days after it opened."--Jacket.

Resources:
ebrary
Sample text
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description
Contributor biographical information
Sample text
Publisher description

ISBN:

1400040515
9781400040513

Subject:

Engineering History.
Ingénierie Histoire.
Engineering.
Bruggen (weg- en waterbouw)
Bouwconstructies.

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 236753
Call No.: BIB 166605
Status: Available