Robert Maillart (February 6, 1872 - April 5, 1940) was a Swiss civil engineer who revolutionized reinforced concrete with such designs as the three-hinged arch, the deck-stiffened arch, and the mushroom slab.
Maillart attended the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Maillart did not excel in academic theories, but understood the necessity to mate assumptions and visualize when analyzing a structure. A customary train of thought prior to th...
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Robert Maillart (February 6, 1872 - April 5, 1940) was a Swiss civil engineer who revolutionized reinforced concrete with such designs as the three-hinged arch, the deck-stiffened arch, and the mushroom slab.
Maillart attended the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Maillart did not excel in academic theories, but understood the necessity to mate assumptions and visualize when analyzing a structure. A customary train of thought prior to the 1900’s was to utilize shapes that could be analyzed easily using mathematics. This overuse of mathematics annoyed Maillart, as he greatly preferred to stand back and use common sense to predict full-scale performance. Also, as he rarely tested his bridges prior to construction, only upon completion would he verify the bridge was adequate. The testing of Maillart's designs was often performed by Maillart himself. This attitude towards bridge design and construction was what provided him with his innovative designs.
A major challenge Maillart...
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