Welcome to the ICE Library news page. Here you can find the latest news about developments in library services, as well as details of our recent additions and reviews of books that we think are especially useful.
Over 100 new publications a month are added to the Library’s collections and we are always interested in your suggestions or comments. Please contact us on library@ice.org.uk or +44 (0)20 7665 2251.
Accessing electronic books
One of our suppliers of electronic books, Taylor & Francis, has made changes to their platform which will affect members’ access to content. Also, an agreement has been made with Wiley, another publisher of electronic books, for access to a selection of their publications.
In both cases, please contact the library to obtain the new password by emailing library@ice.org.uk or calling +44 (0)20 7665 2251.
Emerald Journals – online access
An agreement has been made with publishers Emerald, which allows members remote access and unlimited downloads to two of their journals – Engineering, Construction & Architectural Management and Structural Survey.
iPhone Application
The library is experimenting with an iPhone app called BookMyne, which is free to download and allows members to search the library catalogue, check their account and renew their loans. It is hoped that with further development, members will be able to make lending requests and that access will be extended to iPad and Android devices.
Further details can be obtained by contacting the library at library@ice.org.uk or calling +44 (0)20 7665 2251. We would also welcome member feedback on any of the services listed above.
Book reviews
Title: Some Writers on Concrete: The Literature of Reinforced Concrete 1897-1925
Author: Edwin Trout
Year: 2012
Introducing reinforced concrete
The two decades before the First World War saw the majority of structural engineering projects associated with the introduction of reinforced concrete.
Globally, the development of this technology was assisted by some of the most innovative minds in contemporary civil engineering, roughly a century after the modern reintroduction of concrete.
Pioneering British engineers
This process was led by British engineers, with Telford advocating the use of ‘artificial’ cements and Fowler and Baker pioneering the use of concrete and expanded metal reinforced concrete on the Metropolitan and District Lines. In the North East, Wilkinson pioneered its application in buildings.
Focus on the UK
Limited as it is to English language authors, the joint biographical and bibliographical of this book approach gives a good flavour of developments in reinforced concrete in the UK, and to a lesser degree the USA.
Dividing the period into four sections based on the characteristics of the literature of the time, Trout provides biographical details for the authors of most monographs by date of first publication. The book gives a rounded appreciation of the literature of the time.
A great mix of literature and authors
What comes across immediately is the variety of both the literature – from academic treatises to operative guides – and of the authors themselves – academics, journalists like Whipple, immensely respected engineers like Mőrsch, and famous pioneers of scientific management like Taylor and Gilbreth. Architects, contractors and engineers all contributed.
Value and relevance
By using contemporary reviews Trout is able to provide a good indication of the value of most titles, and their relevance to conservation engineers in practice on both sides of the Atlantic.
Title: Theory of arched structures: strength, stability, vibration
Author: Igor Karnovsky
Year: 2011
Karnovsky’s book must be one of a very few to be published on this topic for 20-30 years, possibly since Jacque Heyman’s The Masonry Arch in 1982 or the TRL state-of-the-art review on Masonry Arch Bridges in 1993.
Communicating theoretical developments
In his preface Karnovsky notes that the theory of arches has been developing intensively since the 1940s, which is relatively recent given the widespread use and application of the form. Much of the work has been published in specialised and obscure sources, and so has not really been communicated to practicing engineers.
Modern structural analysis books address these structures, but Karnovsky clearly feels that their presentation is unsatisfactory.
Karnovsky’s new exposition
The book he has written here is a highly technical work on the analysis of arches, rich in formulae and equations, and aims to bring the existing scientific understanding to a wider engineering audience.
Unlike the two publications mentioned earlier, Karnovsky’s book isn’t limited to one material or to a single type of structure. He points to the use of arches in bridges, buildings and dams, and I presume he feels the techniques of analysis in his book will apply equally well to arches in masonry, concrete or steel.
How successful will it be?
Aside from the formulae, Karnovsky illustrates the use of influence lines and has chapters on issues in statics, stability and dynamics that are peculiar to arched structures, including moving and travelling loads, as well as an appendix of data and diagrams.
It will be interesting to see whether practising civil engineers adopt the book or whether they find the simpler procedures in Heyman, and other structural analysis texts, quite sufficient for their purpose.