Large water engineering projects
The relationship between man and water has left many engineering treasures. In this book a few are presented by Ana Azpiri and Alberto González. Azpiri holds a PhD in Art History and González is a road engineer, and between them they have worked a beautiful book on 33 spectacular projects.
"The idea was published by NEREA. It was an idea related to the International Year of Water: Making a book called "Water History," with examples that related intelligence and human effort to water," says Azpiri. In addition, it had to have an informative book that combined technical data with clear explanations without being heavy. "We take care to give the data dimensions correctly. They are all giant tools, so speaking in cubic meters or tons, the numbers are perishable." Therefore, the data is provided by comparisons. For example, the cement of the Hoover reservoir presents twice the volume of the Moneo cubes in San Sebastian. This comparison facilitates the understanding of the technical (and chemical) challenge of drying cement.
Both authors found a quick way to work. The engineering works were selected by González, then the two authors met to shape each story and Azpiri wrote the chapters. "The criterion for selecting the works was that they should be spectacular engineering works. They are surprising projects." They are works from all over the world, modern and classic: The water system of the Alhambra, the Hoover reservoir, the Dutch dikes (modern and old), the Oresund intersea tunnel, the Suez Canal, the supra-water airports of Japan, the Troll platform, etc. They are projects of all kinds. Together with each of the technological treasures presented, large and spectacular photographs have been included.
The book was edited by NEREA and KUTXA in a very broad format. In addition to the Spanish edition, they published a bilingual Spanish-Basque edition. It is a book that can be read and seen at home, but in addition, the projects they present can be excuses for tourism. An interesting book, no doubt.
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