The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the Golden Gate, a one-mile-wide strait that connects San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure connects San Francisco, California, the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to Marin County, carrying both US The strait is crossed by Route 101 and California State […]
The Washington Monument is an obelisk-shaped structure on the National Mall in Washington, DC, designed to memorialize George Washington, the first President of the United States and commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. But why is there a tiny aluminum pyramid on the top of the Washington Monument? The Washington Monument
Bridges are among the most remarkable engineering feats in history, and in rare cases, they have unexpectedly and catastrophically failed due to structural deficiencies, weather conditions, or too much weight. Buy did you know what happened on the Yarmouth Bridge in 1845? In 1845, 79 people were killed when a bridge collapsed as a large
The most common type is the ratcheting socket wrench, also known as a ratchet. A ratchet has a reversible ratcheting mechanism that allows the user to pivot the tool back and forth to turn its socket rather than remove and reposition a wrench. But did you know that a teenager invented this tool? Peter Roberts,
The brick tax was a property tax imposed in the United Kingdom in 1784 during King George III’s reign. This truly affected construction during those times. But why did the UK impose a tax on bricks? The United Kingdom imposed a tax on bricks to fund the war in America in 1784. As a result,
The Basilica of La Sagrada Familia is a church in Barcelona, Catalonia, and is currently the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. It was designed by the Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi. But did you know that Gaudi had a peculiar request for the construction of his work? According to the will of its late
Underground tunnels and bridge foundations below the water table are some of humanity’s most amazing civil-engineering structures. The working spaces, or caissons, are pressurized with compressed air during construction to keep out groundwater, and laborers known as sandhogs pass through pressure locks into and out of the caissons. But what are pressurized caissons? The construction
Glass recycling is a relatively good energy saver. Using recycled glass to make new glass products uses 40% less energy than using all-new materials. Crushed glass, known as a cullet, melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials used to make glass, saving energy. Sand, soda ash, and limestone are used to make new
Trash interceptors are becoming more common in large cities, preventing garbage from floating down waterways. Mr. Trash Wheel is Baltimore’s pride, contributing to a cleaner, more beautiful city waterfront. But do you know how Mr. Trash Wheel influenced other trash-collecting characters? Mr. Trash Wheel is an anthropomorphized trash collector who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr.
Guédelon is a must-see for anyone traveling to France for the castles or medieval history. Each year, more than 300,000 individuals come to the city, and a sizeable portion of them have been there previously, sometimes more than once. Even specialized tours that focus on castle construction from the middle of the 13th century, such
