Engineering Structures 101

Structural Engineering:
From the Beginning

Professor Martin Fahey

Head, School of Civil & Resource Engineering
Room A1.10
(e-mail: fahey@civil.uwa.edu.au)
Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. 1150 -1220. Example of Gothic Architecture
Notre Dame de Paris.
1150 -1220.
Notre Dame de Paris
 Notre Dame de Paris:
North Rose Window.
Suspended in perfect
equilibrium on a web of
stone, the immense north
rose window remains
17 m
intact after 700 years, its
intricately interlocking
blocks so exact they ring
when struck. Though
individual blocks may be
removed for repairs
without collapsing the
whole, only minor
buckling has occurred
13 m
Notre Dame de Paris. Schematic sections showing the “flying butresses”
 Decorative features on tops of
columns (statues, pinnacles, as in
Notre Dame, below) have
stabilising function
Construction
of a Gothic
cathedral
Bourges Cathedral,
France, 1214. Most
efficient flying
buttress system ever
constructed.
Sections through various French Gothic Cathedrals, showing progressive
development
Amiens Cathedral,
France, 1220.
 Thrusts in flying buttresses
(left) and structure of a groin
vault (above)
 Dome: 3-dimensional equivalent of an arch.
Pantheon, Rome, 118-128 AD. Temple to “all the gods”
Pantheon, Rome, 118-128 AD. Construction of the dome (concrete).
Interior of dome of Pantheon is semi- circular (hemispherical)
Outward thrust of the dome taken by 8 m thick composite heavy wall
 Pantheon: Interior.
Biggest clear span until 19th
century
 Pantheon: Interior.
Light provided by circular
hole (“occulus”) in the top
Hagia, Sophia, Istanbul, 537 AD. Largest church for 9 centuries.
Hagia, Sophia, Istanbul,
537 AD. Interior,
showing support
system for central dome
Hagia, Sophia, Istanbul, 537 AD. Schematic showing support
system for central dome
Hagia, Sophia, Istanbul, 537 AD.
Comparison of sizes of various domes
Santa Maria del Fiore,
Florence, Italy.
Begun in 1296.
“Segmented dome”
added by Brunelleschi
in 1436.
42 m span, 91 m high.
Built without
“centering”
Santa Maria del Fiore,
Florence, Italy.
Begun in 1296. Dome
added by Brunelleschi
in 1436.
42 m span, 91 m high.
Built without
“centering”
Shape is arch “a quinto
acuto”
Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, is not hemispherical,
but is made up of 8 segments.
St Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Michaelangelo, 1546
Dome of St Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Michaelangelo, 1546
 Interior of St Peter’s
Basilica, Rome, showing
dome resting on four arches
supported by four great
pillars
“Hanging chain” analysis of Dome of St Peter’s, by Giovani Poleni, 1742
 Gateway Arch, St Louis,
USA.
This free-standing arch is
630 ft. high and the world's
tallest. Built of triangular
section of double-walled
stainless steel, the space
between the skins being
filled with concrete after
each section was placed.
Looks like perfect
“inverted catenary” shape.
Interior of Carmel
Mission. Built in 1793
it is an interesting
design in that the walls
curve inward towards
the top, and the roof
consists of a series of
inverted catenary
arches built of native
sandstone quarried
from the nearby Santa
Lucia Mountains.
(Carmel, California)
St Paul’s Cathedral, London (1675-1708). Christopher Wren
St Paul’s Cathedral Dome
St Paul’s Cathedral Dome
(3 domes inside each other)
 Hooke’s “hanging chain” concept applied to the dome of
Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral. The “lantern” on top of
the dome distorts the “chain”
 Sources

The pictures contained in this presentation were either

downloaded from the Internet, or scanned in from books. The
sources are too numerous to list.