Reinforced Concrete

Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BuildingsEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1929JP Morgan Chase BuildingHoustonState: TXZip: 77002Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/texas-commerce-bank-building/Creator: Simpson, William E.

The tower was designed to rest on a continuous reinforced concrete mat, 4 feet thick, with the base of the slab 24 feet below street level.

What makes the Texas Commerce Bank Building revolutionary in the civil engineering world is not so much the building itself, but its foundation. Initial studies for the type of foundation to be used began in the fall of 1927. William E. Simpson, the building's chief structural engineer, suggested using a mat foundation, something new for Houston's multistory buildings.

YearAdded:

1997

Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Reagan Rothenberger Image Caption: The Texas Commerce Bank Building, now called the JP Morgan Chase Building, had a reinforced concrete mat foundation that was revolutionary at the time.Era_date_from: 1929

Alvord Lake Bridge

Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1889San FranciscoState: CACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/alvord-lake-bridge/Creator: Ransome, Ernest

Alvord Lake Bridge, along with many of Ernest Ransome's reinforced concrete buildings, survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and several subsequent tremblers with no damage. Built in 1889 by Ernest L Ransome of New York, this reinforced concrete arch bridge in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is believed to be the oldest concrete bridge in the United States that used steel reinforcing bars to improve the behavior of the concrete. The reinforcement consists of a series of square cold-twisted steel reinforcing bars, an invention of Ransome.

YearAdded:

1969

Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Alvord Lake BridgeEra_date_from: 1889