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“The Actual Lateral Pressure of Earthwork” by Baker (1881)
1881 was truly a news-filled year, with headline-worthy events taking place all over the globe. In the United States, President James Garfield, newly sworn in that March, was shot in July but lingered in agony until his death in September (Whitney 1973). Meanwhile, in the so-called Wild West, Billy the Kid was gunned down in the New Mexico Territory (PBS…
Hool and Kinne (1923) Section 3, Part A
Section 3 (Foundations) of Foundations, Abutments, and Footings by Hool and Kinne (1923) is, at 119 pages in length, longer than Section 1 (Soil Investigation) and Section 2 (Excavation) of the same volume combined. The chapter provides a fascinating window into the foundation design and construction practices of a century ago. To provide adequate coverage of this section, it will…
An Elementary Course of Civil Engineering by Wheeler, 1877.
To present-day Americans, the main news story of 1877 might seem all too familiar – a US presidential election marred by disputed electoral votes and allegations of rampant fraud and voter suppression. The previous year’s race between Democrat Samuel Tilden, Governor of New York, and Republican Rutherford Hayes, Governor of Ohio, was one of the most fiercely contested in American…
Foundations, Abutments, and Footings by Hool and Kinne (eds.), 1923. Section 2: Excavation, by McDaniel.
The second chapter of Foundations, Abutments, and Footings by Hool and Kinne (1923) deals with excavation. The chapter is authored by Mr. A. B. McDaniel, then a member of the Civilian Advisory Board of the US Department of War. As of 1923, the War Department oversaw the US Army, while the US Navy was overseen by the separate Navy Department. …
“On the Stability of Loose Earth” by Rankine, 1857
1857 was a year in which the pace of world events was accelerating, foreshadowing larger trends to come. The US Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, which reaffirmed the lack of rights of slaves, further stoked divisions in the US over the question of slavery and portended a conflict over the issue (Garraty 1989). Also in the US, the Panic of…
Foundations, Abutments, and Footings by Hool and Kinne (eds.), 1923. Section 1: Soil Investigation, by Smith and Ferrenz.
1923 was an eventful year. In the USA, President Warren Harding died suddenly and was succeeded by Vice-President Calvin Coolidge (Whitney 1973). In Germany, hyperinflation made money worthless, and the government had to stave off an attempted coup by the fledgling Nazi Party and its leader, World War veteran Adolf Hitler (Shirer 1960). In Japan, the cities of Tokyo and…
“On railway cuttings and embankments; with an account of some slips in the London clay, on the line of the London and Croydon Railway” by Gregory, 1844.
Although 1844 was a relatively quiet year in terms of historical events, some important technological advances occurred. In the USA, Samuel F. B. Morse sent the first telegram in his eponymous code (Library of Congress ND), and Charles Goodyear patented the process of vulcanizing rubber (Somma 2014). Meanwhile, in the UK, Charles Gregory presented his findings on railroad cuts and…
21st Century Geotech: 2001 to Present
The 21st Century Geotech era extends from about 2001 to the present. To date, this period has been marked by further development of the topics mentioned in the Modern Geotech era. New areas of geotechnical engineering have also been explored during this time. These additional developments include reliability and risk assessment, finite element modeling, liquefaction and seismic behavior of soils,…
Modern Geotech: 1970 to 2000
The Modern Geotech era extends from about 1970 to about 2000. During this period, modern trends in geotechnical engineering began to emerge, including geotechnical earthquake engineering, ground improvement, computer analyses, unsaturated soil mechanics, and rock mechanics. This era saw a further proliferation of journal, textbook, and conference literature on geotechnical engineering, and, as Holtz and Kovacs (1981) accurately noted, there…
Classic Geotech: 1948 to 1969
The Classic Geotech era extends from about 1948 to about 1969. 1948 represented a watershed year for soil mechanics. The Second International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering was held in Rotterdam, with 7 volumes of proceedings published, and the eminent journal Géotechnique was founded and first published. In addition, two seminal geotechnical textbooks, Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics (Taylor)…
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Geotechnical History 