Monuments of the Millennium Civil Engineering Achievements Around

Monuments of the Millennium: Civil Engineering Achievements Around the World Dr. Lisa Spainhour Dept. of Civil and Environmental Eng. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

Civil Engineering Achievements of the Millennium* Ü Airport Design and Development Ü Dams Ü Interstate Highway System Ü Long-Span Bridges Ü Rail Transportation Ü Sanitary Landfills Ü Skyscrapers Ü Wastewater Treatment Ü Water Supply and Distribution Ü Water Transportation *As voted by ASCE members

Civil Engineering Monuments of the Millennium* Ü Large-scale engineering projects, notable for Complexity, innovative techniques, engineering achievements Benefit to public (health, safety, commerce, etc. ) Ü One “monument” selected to represent each “achievement” *As determined by ASCE

Airport Design and Development Ü Kansai International Airport In Osaka Bay, Japan Opened Sept. 1994 25 mill. passengers/day Functions 24 hours/day without violating noise regulations

Dams Ü Hoover Dam Competed in 1935 Electricity for 1. 3 million Irrigation for 1. 5 million acres Named Modern CE Wonder of the World in 1955

Interstate Highway System Ü Established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower Ü 42, 800 miles of limited access road Ü Based on Pennsylvania Turnpike (1940) Ü Carries 20% of nation’s traffic Modern Interstate highway Capital Beltway, mid-1960’s

Long-Span Bridges Ü Golden Gate Bridge Took 17 years to plan and 4 years to build Opened in 1937 Main span is 4200 ft. Uses enough cable to circle the earth 3 times

Rail Transportation Ü Eurotunnel Rail System Three 5’-thick concrete tunnels Third tube for emergency and maintenance vehicles 14’-wide double decker trains carry cars & buses Cold water pipes

Sanitary Landfills/Solid Waste Disposal Ü As countries urbanized, rural waste disposal practices led to problems Odor Rodents Public health problems Ü Sanitary landfills first used in 1930’s or

Skyscrapers Ü Empire State Building Completed in 1931 Built in 1 year, 45 days 1250 feet tall Tallest building in world for more than 40 years Ü In 1800’s, buildings mostly 16 stories or

Wastewater Treatment Ü Chicago Wastewater System In 1885, a cholera/typhoid epidemic kills 90, 000 when a storm washes sewage into Lake Michigan In 1900, engineers reverse flow of Chicago river, digging a 28 mile channel to

Water Supply and Distribution Ü California Water Project A system of aqueducts, dams, reservoirs, and plants Meets water resources needs of 2/3 of California’s population Includes 660 miles of open canals & pipelines, 32 reservoirs, 17 pumping

Water Transportation Ü Panama Canal Began by French in 1875 Continued by US in 1890 Completed in 1914 50 miles long, from Atlantic (NW) to Pacific (SE) Takes 8 -10 hours to traverse Saves 8000 miles of

Summary/Questions Ü Do these monuments truly cover the millennium? Ü What other “Achievements of the Millennium” would you designate? Ü What alternate “Monuments of the Millennium” would you designate? Ü Have CE’s introduced new problems with these “solutions”? How are these being addressed? Ü What would our world be like today without the contributions of Civil Engineers?