Undulating mud brick walls in Egypt with alternating concave and complex sections - aesthetic or structural? Auguste Choisy thought it was a design feature to counter shrinkage and settlement (Beiersdorf, 2015). Credit: Lea Rees.
Isambard Brunel on his design for Clifton Suspension Bridge in 1831: "Of all the wonderful feats I have performed, yesterday I performed the most wonderful. I produced unanimity amongst 15 men who were all quarelling about the most tickish subject - taste. The Egyptian thing I brought down was quite extravagantly admired by all - unanimously adopted and I am directed to make drawings." Credit: Clifton Suspension Bridge Museum
An introductory video on the first the world's first effective testing machine for construction materials by David Kirkaldy. His pioneering research on the tensile strength of wrought iron and steel is accessible here and the machine is housed in a museum in London.