Bridges: Three Thousand Years of Defying Nature - Softcover

Exceptional clarity of form and superb color photographs... written in clear, complete and suitably journalistic prose... Essential for undergraduate design collections.--Paul Glassman"Library Journal" (04/01/2006)

Comprehensive profiles of the world's 100 most extraordinary bridges.

Few humanmade structures combine the technical with the aesthetic in such an evocative way as bridges. From ancient times to the present, bridges have had a unique attraction on the imagination, eliciting awe, wonder and passion.

Bridges celebrates the stunning technical and artistic achievements in the creation, design, engineering, construction and social history of 100 remarkable bridges. The book reveals the secrets and science of the timeless masonry of imperial Rome, the elegant wooden edifices of ancient Japan and the soaring steel structures of today.

Organized chronologically to follow the stages in the development of bridge engineering and construction, each chapter has an introduction followed by fascinating details.

The vital stats for each bridge include:

• Location
• Date of construction
• Designer
• Construction materials and dimensions.

An account of the creation of each bridge includes the difficulties, hardships and disasters endured as well as the solutions and innovations conceived. Superb color photographs and specially commissioned artwork celebrate these soaring feats of engineering.

The final chapter explores how future bridges will look through examining the latest groundbreaking designs and projects.

Bridges is a magnificently illustrated non-technical reference to fascinating engineering discoveries and innovations.