Civil Engineering 2

History of Infrastructure
Course Instructor:
Dr. Sabahat Hussan
Historical background of infrastructure
• With the increase in agricultural growth approximately 10,000 years
ago, people transitioned from hunting and gathering to raising crops
and forming settlements. As these ancient people started living
together in settlements, the need for infrastructure became apparent.
• For example, there was a need for defense, such as a wall or fence
surrounding the settlement.
• As more crops needed to be grown, irrigation projects were
undertaken.
• As settlements continued to grow to become towns and then cities,
people needed a way to deliver increasing quantities of drinking water
to the urban center; the nearby springs or streams that had been used
for drinking water and cleaning purposes no longer supplied enough
water to support the larger and more dense population.
• Also, removing refuse became necessary in order to reduce odors and
the number of insects.
History: Transportation infrastructure
• The earliest transportation mode by humans
was on foot, using worn-down paths often
originating as wildlife paths.
• Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Roman empire
constructed 50,000 miles of paved roads. The
most important roads, termed viae (“viae” is
the plural of “via”), ranged between 14 and 20
feet wide, which permitted the passage of two
carriages.
Contd….
• The first Roman roads were built with the idea
of strength. These were extremely time-
consuming, expensive, and labor-intensive to
build. They had similarities to modern
roadways, in that a series of layers were
incorporated into the roadway structure. From
the bottom to the top, the layers consisted of
well-compacted dry earth, crushed rock on
mortar, concrete, and aggregate. This top layer
was often crowned to shed rainwater.
Contd….
Contd….
• Next important advancement in road building
occurred in the early 1800s, which was the
creation of “Macadam” or macadamized
roads, named after their designer, John
McAdam. Like earlier roads, they were
constructed of several layers, but McAdam
realized that if the soil underneath the road
was well-drained, it would be stronger, and
thus the pavement structure itself would not
need to provide as much strength.
Contd….
History: Bridge infrastructure
• Through the ages, bridges have been built
primarily of two materials: timber or stone.
• Iron was used as a bridge material beginning
in the late 1700s. The unique rectangular
shape was found to be most efficient initially
• The truss was developed in the late 1800s and
was used widely in bridges for the next 100
years. A truss is a lattice that consists of many
triangular shapes.
Contd….
• In 1809, the first suspension bridge capable of
carrying vehicles was built to cross the Merrimac
River (a 250-ft span) in Massachusetts.
• The use of materials continued to evolve, and today,
one of the most common materials for bridge
construction is concrete. Concrete is notable because
it is very strong in compression, but relatively weak
in tension. Thus, the use of concrete in large bridges
was minimal until the widespread development of
reinforced concrete, which is reinforced with steel.
Steel is very strong in tension, and thus when
properly placed within the concrete structure, can
carry the tensile forces that concrete cannot.
History: Water distribution
infrastructure
• The earliest form of water conveyance was in
containers on the backs and heads of people.
• As civilizations became more advanced and as
water had to be carried greater distances,
conveyance systems using human-made channels
and later, pipelines, were constructed.
• Later on water was conveyed through Qanats in
Asia and North Africa. Qanats are human-made
underground tunnels that intersect the
groundwater table and convey the water to the
surface some distance away.
Contd….
Contd….
• Romans built an infrastructure that allowed fresh water to be
brought into Rome via aqueducts. An aqueduct is a
watercourse constructed to carry water from a source to a
distribution point far away.
History: Water treatment infrastructure
• Early treatment of water by municipalities

consisted of filtration through sand beds.
These were common beginning in the mid-
and late 1800s, and are still commonly used
today. It was found that filtration effectively
removed particles from the water, many of
which caused objectionable tastes and odors.
• Later analyses showed that the filters also
removed some pathogens.
Contd….
Contd….
History: Waste Water conveyance
infrastructure
• Wastewater conveyance via pipes and channels can be
traced to before 2000 B.C., with systems in ancient
Greece, Rome, China, and Egypt. Many of these
systems functioned by having a large quantity of water
continuously flush through them.
• Once indoor water closets were available with flush
toilets, the toilets needed to be connected to
conveyance pipes; the most readily available pipes
were the pipes in the storm sewer system. The
resulting sewer system is known as a combined system
(combining sanitary and storm water), and were
commonly constructed in the early 20th century.
Contd….

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History of Infrastructure

• Early treatment of water by municipalities

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