Engineering Timeline

2600 B.C.: The Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), Giza, Egypt. The greatest of the Egyptian pyramids. It was built for the pharaoh Khufu. This engineering marvel was constructed with more than 2 million stones weighing approximately two and one-half tons each. No easy task without machines! The average length on the base-sides was 236 metres, and the pyramid was 146 metres high. The ground where the pyramid was formed had to be perfectly level to prevent the structure from being skewed, so the 5 hectare site was leveled to within a centimetre from one corner to the opposite diagonal corner.
	2200 B.C.: Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England. The mysterious site was created through three stages of development over 900 years. Stonehenge is comprised of multiple stone upright and lintel structures which form a "sarsen" circle, which has been suggested to predict eclipses of the sun and moon, and other astronomical events. The stones weigh upwards of 26 tons, and were quarried 30 kilometres from the site. The alignment and transport of these stones are extraordinary engineering feats!
700 B.C.: Great Wall of China. The construction of the "Great Wall" began in 700 B.C., but a major renovation beginning in 1368 created the wall as we see it today. The wall is the only human-made structure visible from the moon! It stretches over 6000 km, extending from Jiayu Pass in the west to the mouth of the Yalu River in the east of China.
	500 B.C.: Temple of Bel, Babylon, Mesopotamia. The temple was an eight storey "pyramid" topped by a lavish chapel. Each storey was a square, surrounded by stairs for pilgrims to reach the shrine. The Temple of Bel was one of many exquisitely engineered structures which existed in Babylon, including the Hanging Gardens.
300 B.C.: The Pharos of Alexandria, Egypt. The lighthouse was built by Sostratos of Knodos. It reached 130 metres high, and contained a light beacon on the upper tier. It is considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world.
	50 B.C.: The Pont du Gard, Nimes, France. The Pont du Gard is a bridge forming part of a 38 kilometre Roman aqueduct engineered to bring water to the Roman city of Nemausus (Nimes). Built by Marcus Vipanius Agrippa, it stands 49 metres high and is 275 metres long. The remains of over two hundred Roman aqueducts have been found throughout the borders of the empire.
250: Kukulcan Pyramid, Yucatan Peninsula. The pyramid was built at Chichen Itza by the Mayan civilization during their Classic period (the second of three periods) which stretched between 250-900 A.D. The Mayans engineered hundreds of impressive structures; however this one is intriguing in that at each Equinox, the dying sun casts a shadow of a serpent writhing down the steps of the pyramid.
	537: Church of St. Sophia, Constantinople. This church was so lavish that heavy taxes were imposed on citizens to subsidize its building. St. Sophia was built under the reign of Emperor Justinian. She was both beautiful and functional, being compared to "looking at heaven", and has withstood numerous earthquakes.
640: Windmills. Windmills were initially built by the Arabs in Persia and Afghanistan to pump water from wells for irrigation, and to grind corn.
	1100: Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France. Construction on the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame de Paris began in 1100. The gothic church uses the typical "flying buttress" design. Due to the height of the walls, and number of large windows used for the structure, building support is decreased. The buttresses are built perpendicular to the outside wall of the building, and prevent the weight of the stone from pushing the form outwards.
1875: Telephone, Boston, Massachusetts. Alexander Graham Bell developed his first telephone in 1875. Many improvements have been made since its invention.
	1879: Electric Light Bulb. Thomas Alva Edison created the first practical lamp.
1885: Canadian Pacific Railway. The Canadian Pacific Railway links British Columbia to Ontario. The development of this railway line was required by B.C. if it was to join Canada.
	1886: The automobile. Karl Benz produced the first commercially feasible automobile.
1889: Eiffel Tower, Paris, France. Built by Gustav Eiffel for the World Fair in Paris. Eiffel was also France's leading iron bridge builder, and was a collaborator in the design of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour. The Tower stands 300 metres high and has a maximum wind sway at the top of only 12 cm.
	1894: Radio. Guglielmo Marconi transmitted radio signals a distance of 1 km. The development of radio equipment continued so that by 1899, signals could be sent 48 kilometres.
1903: Flight! Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On December 17, Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved the first sustained, powered, and controlled flight in an aeroplane.
	1920: Panama Canal, Panama. The canal took 38 years of construction to complete. It links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through what was the Isthmus of Panama. The largest dry excavation, the Culebra Cut, was 14 kilometres long and had a minimum bottom width of 90 metres. Engineering hurdles arose not only in the construction of the canal, but in the control of disease (yellow fever and malaria) in the area so that work could continue efficiently.
1937: World's first combine. Thomas Carroll, an engineer with Massey Harris, designed the first modern agricultural combine. This machine separates seed from straw, and its successors can be seen in rural areas everywhere.
	1937: Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California. Chief engineer J. B. Strauss built the bridge linking San Francisco to Marin County across the mouth of San Francisco Bay. It has a span of 1,280 m, and when it opened it held the world record for its length. Technological advances are continually making suspension bridge construction lighter, more slender, and cheaper.
1949: World's First Aluminium Bridge, Arvida, Quebec. The world's first aluminium bridge in Arvida, Quebec was designed and built by Alcan in 1949.
	1959: St. Lawrence Seaway. The canal was engineered as a joint venture between Canada and the United States. Great feats of the canal include water control, navigation facilities, and power development. The Seaway enables freighters to travel directly from the Great Lakes to Montreal, and therefore, the Ocean.
1967: Laser (first commercial introduction). Laser or, Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Laser light is used to: play music, read price tags, carry phone calls, aid doctors in performing surgery, and much more.
	1969: Man on the moon. Apollo 11 ferried man to the moon. The engineering involved in space travel is itself out of this world! Over $25 billion U.S. were spent on the Apollo projects. There are many Canadian engineers involved in the U.S. space program.
1971: Computer microprocessor. A web of electronic circuitry which has now become a necessity for society. Can you imagine a world without computers?
	1976: CN Tower, Toronto, Canada. One of the tallest freestanding structures in the world, the CN Tower holds the record for the world's highest observation gallery. It stands 553.33 metres.
1976: Concorde airplane. The Concorde was an initiative between Great Britain and France to make supersonic passenger air-transport possible. The plane flies at twice the speed of sound (Mach 2, 2125 km/h). The streamlined structure is engineered from a special aluminum alloy developed specially for the project.
	1981: Canadarm. The Canadarm was first used on the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia. The arm was built in Canada by Spar Aerospace for the Shuttle. It allows for astronauts to remain on the flight deck and use hand controls to perform release and retrieve activities outside the shuttle.
1995: The Chunnel. A $15 billion railway line linking England to the European Continent. The Channel Tunnel has 3 interconnected tubes, 2 of which are rail lines, the third being a service tunnel. The line is 50 km, 23 km of which are under 45 m of water.
	1997: Hibernia, Newfoundland. Hibernia is an oil platform stationed off the east coast of Newfoundland. The first oil was drilled for production in 1997.Its design and construction required new development in engineering and design.