Pushing the limits
Subtitle: new adventures in engineering
By: Henry Petroski
Publisher: Knopf
Published: 2004
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9781400040513
Subjects: Bouwconstructies; Engineering; History; Bruggen (weg- en waterbouw)
Description: "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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 257-269) and index.

Also issued online.