1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910821921803321

Autore

Roberts Siobhan

Titolo

Wind wizard : Alan G. Davenport and the art of wind engineering / / Siobhan Roberts

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, NJ, : Princeton University Press, 2013

ISBN

1-4008-4470-3

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (289 p.)

Disciplina

624.1/75

Soggetti

Wind-pressure

Buildings - Aerodynamics

Bridges - Aerodynamics

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- I. Sowing Wind Science -- II. Tall and Taller Towers -- III. Long and Longer Bridges -- IV. Project Storm Shelter -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Interview Sources -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

With Wind Wizard, Siobhan Roberts brings us the story of Alan Davenport (1932-2009), the father of modern wind engineering, who investigated how wind navigates the obstacle course of the earth's natural and built environments--and how, when not properly heeded, wind causes buildings and bridges to teeter unduly, sway with abandon, and even collapse. In 1964, Davenport received a confidential telephone call from two engineers requesting tests on a pair of towers that promised to be the tallest in the world. His resulting wind studies on New York's World Trade Center advanced the art and science of wind engineering with one pioneering innovation after another. Establishing the first dedicated "boundary layer" wind tunnel laboratory for civil engineering structures, Davenport enabled the study of the atmospheric region from the earth's surface to three thousand feet, where the air churns with turbulent eddies, the average wind speed increasing with height. The boundary layer wind tunnel mimics these windy marbled striations in order to test models of buildings and bridges that inevitably face the wind when built. Over the years,



Davenport's revolutionary lab investigated and improved the wind-worthiness of the world's greatest structures, including the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Tower, Shanghai's World Financial Center, the CN Tower, the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, the Sunshine Skyway, and the proposed crossing for the Strait of Messina, linking Sicily with mainland Italy. Chronicling Davenport's innovations by analyzing select projects, this popular-science book gives an illuminating behind-the-scenes view into the practice of wind engineering, and insight into Davenport's steadfast belief that there is neither a structure too tall nor too long, as long as it is supported by sound wind science. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.