Our editor asked if I would like to review this book. As I find bridges technically interesting and enjoyable to look at and to cross, and as I cannot resist holes in the ground, be they caves, mines or tunnels, I gladly agreed. I was impressed when the book first arrived, and I have been dipping into it in spare moments for a few weeks. It covers key bridges and tunnels, designers, engineers, bridge types, and engineering principles. There are 60 excellent photographs, lists of longest bridges and tunnels, bridge and tunnel Web sites, an extensive bibliography and a good index. Most of the structures I expected were present, and some of those not assigned an entry had some mention elsewhere in the book and could be found through the index. I like the main cover picture of Chesapeake Bay, where through the great suspension bridge one can see many small sailing boats. The image became more complex when I learnt that Chesapeake Bay is crossed by a combination of bridges and tunnel because it is used by some of the largest naval vessels.
To give some idea of the range of coverage, I shall mention a few of the 300 entries. Bridges, include the Golden Gate, an iconic US image, and Salinatobel, which some consider the most beautiful bridge in the world. Engineers include Brunel and Robling. Accidents include the Channel Tunnel fire and the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Nobel, who invented dynamite that made tunnels much easier to excavate, is given an entry. So too, are technologies like ground freezing, while there is coverage of concrete, iron, grouting and more. The categories can overlap, so the Greathead Shield is covered in the item on James Greathead. Overall coverage is very comprehensive. Even so there are two omissions that I would suggest for any future edition. The first is the canal tunnels of England, which were very early long tunnels, most of which are still in use; the longest the Huddersfield Narrow, has recently been re‐opened. The other omission, which I think is more important, is that there is nothing on Bazalgette and the London intercept sewer system. I visited this last year and although a day of drizzle prevented the party I was with actually walking through the tunnels, we still got a view of the construction that remains in good condition after 150 years. I could find nothing on sewer tunnels in the book at all, although I found a water supply tunnel, New York’s City Water Tunnel No. 3. The problem with sewers is that everyone takes them for granted, until they go wrong. One last comment for the authors. The Millennium Bridge over the Thames in London is now fixed, much to the confusion of tourists, some of whom think the new Hungerford Footbridges, half a mile upstream, are the “wobbly” bridge. As the Hungerford Footbridges are attached to a rail bridge, I would be very alarmed if they ever wobbled!
This is a good school and public library book. People ought to know something about civil engineering, just as they should know something of art and music. The encyclopedia will be of interest to industrial historians and engineers as a starting point to further study. The paperback is cheap enough for them to buy their own copy.
