Dams

Dams have been used to control water for thousands of years, with the oldest known dam being a small earthen structure in present-day Jordan dating to c.4000 BCE. Since then, cultures throughout the world have practised the art of dam-building and the technology has evolved in myriad ways. The papers selected here examine the key technical issues influencing dam construction from ancient times to the early 20th century. In addition they illustrate why various human societies have built dams and how 'social' (or seemingly 'non-technical') factors have influenced the process of dam design. Though hydraulic engineering is the primary focus of the book, it also reveals a keen interest in questions of water resources and environmental history.

Contents: Introduction; Sadd-el-Kafara, the world's oldest large dam, G.Garbrecht; The Roman dams of Subiaco, Norman A.F.Smith; The chapter on weirs in the Codex of Juanelo Turriano: a question of authorship, J.A.Garcia-Diego; Architecture for fish: the Sienese dam on the Bruna River-structures and designs, ca. 1468-1530, Nicholas Adams; The evolution of the arch dam, N.J.Schnitter; The evolution of buttress dams, N.J.Schnitter; The evolution of British dams, Geoffrey Binnie; The Jones Falls Dam on the Rideau Canal, Ontario, Canada, Robert F.Legget; 19th-century hydropower: design and construction of the Lawrence Dam, 1845-1848, Peter M. Molloy; The failure of the Bouzey Dam in 1895, Norman A.F.Smith; George Deacon (1843-1909) and the Vyrnwy works, I.Davidson; Engineering in the progressive era: a new look at Frederick Haynes Newell and the U.S. Reclamation Service, Donald C. Jackson; A narrow window of opportunity: the rise and fall of the fixed steel dam, Terry S. Reynolds; Considering the multiple arch dam: theory, practice and the ethics of safety in a case of innovative hydraulic engineering, Donald C. Jackson; Historical developent of British embankment dams to 1960, A.W.Skempton; Machine-age iconography in the American West: the design of Hoover Dam, Richard Guy Wilson; Hoover Dam: a study in domination, Donald Worster, Index.