The Stories Behind Awesome Structures
This large hard back picture book, How Was That Built is written for children (and some adults I know) who are curious about structures, their purpose, and how they were built. The chapters are interesting in that they describe “How to build flat, How to build tall, and finally Building into the future.” Along with many other interesting chapters. Roma Agrawal is a structural engineer and relates how she always had a curiosity about the large buildings she saw as a child. She tells us about forces that act upon structures, what materials they are made of and how to keep them strong and stable.
The first building to be looked at is the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. The history behind this tells us that Spanish invaders captured the city, destroyed it and built another city there. Unfortunately, it was on a lakebed, and began to sink. The cathedral has been saved by drilling holes and removing soil. Water was pumped out from the downward slope, and the building levelled.
There is a chapter on London’s sewers which describes what happened to the waste produced by Londoners. The waste was all collected before it reached the River Thames and pumped east where it was held in tanks. In early days the untreated waste was pumped into the river to flow into the sea. Nowadays a huge tunnel has been built. It travels under 1300 buildings which will stop large amounts of waste from going into the River and the sea.
The pages on, “How to build on ice, and How to build in the sea, have large illustrations which help to clarify the processes used. The print is very small on these pages and so the pictures are useful.
Like Roma Agrawal, many interested children will experiment with Lego blocks or toys to understand how buildings work and stay stable. How Was That Built is a great introduction for interested people.
