building the world€¦ · engineering projects in history frank p. davidson and kathleen lusk...

BUILDING THE WORLDAn Encyclopedia of the Great Engineering Projects in History

Frank P. Davidson and Kathleen Lusk Brooke

Greenwood Press

www.buildingtheworld.comFrank P. Davidson and Kathleen Lusk Brooke

What defines What defines macroengineeringmacroengineering??

● Davidson, Macro (1983)

● New field, Ancient history


Seven Signs of Macro1. Long Time Frame

2. Planning and Profit

3. Many Voices

4. One Vision

5. Environmental Concerns

6. Technical and Scientific Innovations

7. Cooperative Advantage


Seven Signs of Macro

1. Long Time Frame

• Decades, Centuries

• Funded in stages



1. Long Time Frame

● Grand Canal of China

● Launched 600 B.C.E. and still in construction

● Beijing Olympics 2008


Grand Canal, China

Source: Library of Congress



2. Planning and Profit

● Time/Budget/Safety/Environment

● Channel Tunnel:1959 = $100 Million to 1994 = $15 Billion

● Eiffel Tower: On time, no fatalities, immense profit

● Hoover Dam: Two years early, Six Companies, Inc


Eiffel Tower, France

Source: Corbis


Hoover Dam, United States

Source: Pharino, 2005



2. Planning and Profit (continued)

Big Picture Planning


System Dynamics of Macro Engineering

Source: "Contract Design for Profitability in Macro-Engineering Projects," Khalid Saeed and Kathleen Lusk Brooke, System Dynamics Review, Vol. 12, no. 3 (Fall 1996) pp. 235-246



3. Many Voices

● Stakeholders: Engineers, Bankers, Governments, Environmentalists, Residents

● MASSIVE employment



3. Many Voices (continued)

● Charlemagne’s Europe

● Bridges, Battles

● Peoples, Languages

● Education: Monasteries, Universities


Charlemagne, Europe



Seven Signs of Macro3. Many Voices (continued)

New cities:● Cyrene (630 B.C.)● Baghdad (762 A.D.)● St. Petersburg (1703)● Washington D.C. (1787)● Singapore (1819)● Brasília (1956)● Abuja (1976)


“Singapore 1903” and “Singapore 2002”

Source: Library of Congress Source: Corbis



3. Many Voice (continued)

MASSIVE employment

● Trans-Siberian Railway: 90,000

●Panama: 60,000 died

● Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric: 100,000

●Canadian Pacific Railway: 3,500,000


Trans-continental Railway, United States




4. One Vision

Ignited by visionary

●Historical: emperor, king, czar

●Recent: legislator, passionate leader



4. One Vision (continued)

● Taj Mahal

● Visionary: Shah Jahan


Taj Mahal, India

Source: Corbis




●Canal des Deux Mers(Canal of the Two Seas)

●Visionary Riquet de Bonrepos


Canal des Deux Mers, France

Source: Greenwood




● Erie Canal

● Visionary: DeWitt Clinton


Erie Canal, United States




5. Environmental Concerns

● Environmental change

● Preservation



5. Environmental Concerns (continued)

●Roman Aqueducts

●Tiber River

●Aqua Virgo, Aqua Marcia

●1000 Fountains


Aqueducts, Rome





● Hydroelectric Power: Salinity

● Aswan Dam

● Snowy Mountains

● ITAIPÚ




● Preservation and Recreation

● Appalachian Trail


National Trails System, United States

Source: Shutterstock



7. Technical and Scientific Innovations

● “Humankind’s capacity to accomplish what was often held to be unachievable.”– Dr. Jeffrey K. Stine, Smithsonian

● Macro as force in evolution?


Groma, Rome



Time Zones, Canadian Pacific Railway



Miniaturization Industry: International Space Station

Source: NASA



7. Cooperative Advantage

● Influencing dynamics of systems

● Mobilizing through shared purpose



7. Cooperative Advantage (continued)

● Solomon’s Temple

● Israel and Lebanon cooperation

● “A house of prayer for all nations”Isaiah, 56:7


Solomon’s Temple with Cedars of Lebanon



Seven Signs of Macro7. Cooperative Advantage (continued)

● Suez Canal

● Ferdinand de Lesseps + Mohammed-Said Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt

● “Shall always remain open as a neutral passage to every merchant ship crossing from one sea to another” Article XIV, Charter of Concession, 30 Nov., 1854.


Suez Canal, Egypt





● Channel Tunnel

● Fixed link of England and Europe

● Improved train system for continent


Channel Tunnel, France and England

Source: Shutterstock




● International Space Station

● From Cold War to Comity


Building the World

Role of large-scale infrastructure in the evolution of the world’s societies.

Dr. David Marks, MIT

Macro projects bring people and nations together.

Dr. Hasan-Uddin Khan, Roger Williams University, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT/Harvard


IAMES Top Ten

Building the Future


Building the Future

AIDS Control and Prevention Program


Building the Future

Development and Deployment of Economic Renewable

Energy Systems


Building the Future

Use of Hydrogen to Power Motor Vehicles


Building the Future

Electric Car Commercialization System


Building the Future

Nuclear Waste DisposalComplex


Building the Future

Universal Removal of Land Mines


Building the Future

Large Reverse-Osmosis Plants in Heavily Populated, Arid

Coastal Areas


Building the Future

Global Disaster Relief Service


Building the Future

International Food Reserve


Building the Future

Superconducting Maglev Rail Systems


Building the Future

Importance of Resolving the New Ethics Issues posed

by Complex Projects


www.buildingtheworld.com


Thanks toYujin Asai

Jennifer Chu

Kevin Downing

Tom Faulhaber

Jay Forrester

Linda Garmon

Cordell Hull

Frank Iudiciani

Hasan-Uddin Khan

Richard Hantula

George Litwin

Benjamin Levy

Susan Lumenello

Yasmin McCarthy

David H. Marks

Fred Moavenzadeh

Nate Nickerson

Chanathip Pharino

Cherie Potts

Khalid Saeed

building the world€¦ · engineering projects in history frank p. davidson and kathleen lusk...

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