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>> On the first page of David Billington's seminal book, "The Tower and the Bridge",

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he writes quote, civilization is civil works and insofar as these deteriorate so does society.

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Hello. I'm Maria Garlock, professor of civil engineering at Princeton University.

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This course is essentially about civil works, about civil engineering,

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and in particular about structural engineering.

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In David Billington's quote, the meaning of deteriorate is not just a reference

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to the aging process but also the ideals and attitudes with which we design our civil works.

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If these deteriorate so does society.

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Although he wrote these words more than 30 years ago, they are more relevant today than ever.

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This is a critical time for civil engineers

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since civilization is facing a perfect storm of challenges.

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For example, over 70% of the world's population is expected to live in cities by the year 2050.

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In addition to increasing population densities,

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other challenges include limited natural resources, aging infrastructure,

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increase in load demands such as in tense and heavy traffic and extreme weather, and natural

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and human induced hazards such as earthquakes and terrorist acts.

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Engineers must design our civil works with these considerations and typically

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within the context of severe financial constraints.

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At the same time, in regards to buildings and bridges, elegance must be part of the fabric

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of design since these civil works visually dominate the landscape.

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I have a question for you.

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What do you think a civil engineer does?

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This course illustrates how some of the best engineers of the past

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and present have faced challenges in their design of civil works.

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In this course, I will focus on bridges.

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In the future, I will speak of buildings and long span roof structures.

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The foundation for this course is a scholarship with my colleague,

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Professor David P. Billington, who has defined post-Industrial Revolution structures

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that are efficient, economical and elegant as a new art form called structural art.

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Structural art has three ideals and each of these can be related

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to the ideals of the built urban environment.

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Efficiency is the conservation of natural resources.

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Economy is the conservation of public resources.

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And elegance is the creation of an attractive urban environment.

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Efficiency and economy can be considered the ethic of the engineer

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and elegance the art of the engineer.

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Each of these three ideals can be matched to a dimension or perspective

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that can be used for measuring structural art.

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The scientific dimension is measured by efficiency.

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It is based on calculations that reveal quantitatively the efficiency of form

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and the quantity of material used.

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This measurement is done with consideration of achieving adequate levels of safety.

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The social dimension is measured by economy.

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These large built works must be supported through public taxation or private commerce,

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both of which are influenced by the societal context including politics.

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And finally, the symbolic dimension is measured by elegance.

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Here the measure is mostly subjective.

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However, we can examine how artists such as painters and poets are stimulated

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by these large utilitarian objects.

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We can also examine how society embraces such works,

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many of which become not only an icon of the city but of the country.

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Tell me what you think.

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Post a picture of a bridge that you consider to be structural art.

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After that, since I will next speak of engineering versus architecture,

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tell me what is the role of an engineer and the role of an architect in the design of bridges?

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What do you think?