Editorial

When the word ‘heritage’ is used with regard to the built environment, most people probably imagine prominent works of architecture such as cathedrals, stately homes and castles, and assume that these are looked after by national heritage organisations such as Historic England or Historic Scotland. Although such organisations do, in their general remit, include works of engineering such as bridges, docks, canals and tunnels, such works are definitely a minority in comparison with buildings of architectural merit.

It was largely to address this gap, so to speak, that the Panel for Historical Engineering Works (PHEW) was formed by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in 1968. Its primary aims were to arrange for the recording and publicising of noteworthy works and structures that illustrate the history, development and achievements of civil engineering.

An historical engineering work was defined as a work conceived or designed by a civil engineer, and considered by the Panel to be worthy of recording, listing, conserving or preserving. As well as obvious works such as bridges, docks and tunnels, other structures are included, such as buildings in which external forces or the limits of strength of the materials used were an important factor in their design and needed special knowledge, ecclesiastical buildings where significant structural features are present, as well as megalithic structures, medieval castles, and so on, the construction of which involved substantial civil engineering work.

The worthiness of a civil engineering work with regards to its recording, listing or preserving is broadly assessed using the following criteria

• the engineering and aesthetic qualities of its design, the materials used and the workmanship in it, related to the period when it was built

• whether it illustrates a significant stage in the development of civil engineering

• whether it satisfactorily fulfilled the purpose and function for which it was built

• whether it harmonises with its environment.

The main objectives of PHEW are to discover and record historical engineering works considered to be of engineering importance and bring them to the attention of those who may be prepared to conserve them as monuments or refurbish them for continued use. To help achieve these objectives, the Panel also maintains databases of those members of the ICE who are technically able and willing to record civil engineering works, to undertake their conservation or to inform others – including engineers, those involved in the heritage industry and members of the public – as to the engineering and cultural value of the works.

The main task of PHEW is to ensure that important historical engineering works are identified, recorded and included in the list of recorded works on the ICE website (see https://www.ice.org.uk/disciplines-and-resources/ice-library-and-digital-resources/historical-engineering-works). As well as maintain the database, PHEW publishes a regular newsletter (PHEW, 2015), and there is now a LinkedIn network (see https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7473420/profile). Various members and associates of PHEW have also helped compile and published a comprehensive series of guides to civil engineering heritage, which are available from the ICE Bookshop (see http://www.icebookshop.com/index.asp).

England and the UK are, of course, not alone in aiming to raise the profile of historical engineering works; indeed most countries are now embracing industrial sites in their idea of heritage, as witnessed by UNESCO declaring the Völklingen Ironworks in Germany a World Heritage Site in 1994, and a few years ago, a wonderful book, sponsored by the European Council of Civil Engineers, celebrated works of civil engineering heritage throughout Europe (ECCE, 2009). Further afield, the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering has created an inventory of historic engineering sites (see http://history.csce.ca/inventory-of-historic-civil-engineering-sites/) and similar resources are available for Australia and the USA (see http://www.engineer.org.au/home.html and http://www.asce.org/engineering_projects/).

One of the aims of the new series of civil engineering heritage country profiles, the first two of which were published in issue 1 of 2016 (Bühler, 2016; Crespo et al., 2016), and the second two are published in this issue, is to make people more widely aware of what other countries are doing, in order that we may all share our national experiences, and to learn and benefit from what others have done.

Readers are invited to contact us at Engineering History and Heritage to let us know of similar initiatives in other countries and, indeed, offer to compile future civil engineering heritage country profiles.