Conference Paper

Author

Hagenbach, P.

Title

Looking Back at Our Structural Heritage - a Detailed Insight into Engineering Aspects of Early Community Buildings in New South Wales

In

Engineering Conference Newcastle: Engineering Towards the 21st Century; Conference Papers

Imprint

Institution of Engineers, Australia, Barton, Australian Capital Territory, 1983, pp. 43-48

ISBN/ISSN

0858251825

Url

https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.487996924465423

Abstract

Australia's colonial buildings have few of the complexities of a contemporary commercial project; an individual generally designed our early buildings. When one considers the many hardships it is incredible that our intrepid predecessors were able to design and build so many important public buildings and other structures. New South Wales was a typical remote colony situated in a harsh and totally new environment where much had to be learned the hard way. In addition to difficult surroundings and long distances, supplies of most materials were uncertain, and skilled tradesmen were relatively scarce. Most of the buildings, which have survived, are still in use; many have been selected for special restoration and preservation, while others have withstood the ravages of time with a minimum of maintenance. This paper presents a Structural Engineer's overview and visual appraisal of a selection of colonial buildings in New South Wales. Many of these buildings have been carefully described in standard texts, but an endeavour has also been made to locate some lesser-known structures built by virtually unknown pioneers, who nevertheless faced the same problems as their more celebrated counterparts.

Related Published resources

isPartOf

• Engineering Conference Newcastle: Engineering Towards the 21st Century; Conference Papers (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1983), 291 pp, https://search.informit.org/doi/book/10.3316/informit.0858251825. Details