Structural art: John S. Eastwood and the multiple arch dam

In his landmark book The Tower and the Bridge, engineering professor/historian David Billington proposes the concept of 'structural art' and, with a focus on bridges, thin shell roofs and tall buildings, describes its relationship to the ideals of efficiency, economy and elegance. Dams are not discussed in The Tower and the Bridge, apparently because the massive gravity designs commonly built for major projects represent bulky, inefficient designs. Moving beyond gravity dam technology, this paper explores how John S. Eastwood's work designing multiple arch dams accords with Billington's idea of structural art. Eastwood built the world's first reinforced concrete multiple arch dam at Hume Lake, California in 1908 and during the last 15 years of his life became a prominent proponent of the technology. Eastwood's designs, how they correlate to the ideals of efficiency, economy and elegance, and how he integrated mathematical theory into his design methodology comprise the focus of this paper. In addition, issues of visual appearance and their effect upon professional acceptance of Eastwood's design are also considered. By employing the concept of structural art as a prism for studying multiple arch dams, the article elucidates an important aspect of hydraulic engineering history.

Title	Structural art: John S. Eastwood and the multiple arch dam
Creator	Jackson, Donald C.
Publisher	Proceedings of the ICE - Engineering History and Heritage
Academic Department	History
Division	Social Sciences
Organization	Lafayette College
Date Issued	August 2009
Date Available	2011-12-21T16:43:07Z
Type	Article
Language	English
Keyword	dams -- history
Keyword	barrages & reservoirs -- concrete structures
Bibliographic Citation	Jackson, D. C. (2009) "Structural art: John S. Eastwood and the multiple arch dam." Proceedings of the ICE - Engineering History and Heritage 162 (3): 137 –146
Standard Identifier	DOI 10.1680/ehah.2009.162.3.137
Standard Identifier	Handle 10385/880
Permalink	http://hdl.handle.net/10385/880
Rights Statement	In Copyright
Rights Holders	Thomas Telford Ltd