10. А) Составьте устное сообщение об особенностях строительных систем, упоминаемых в тексте

б) Обсудите в парах достоинства железобетонных конструкций.

UNIT 7

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

1. Подберите русские эквиваленты следующим словам, содержащим интернациональные корни

Special, function, design criteria, discomfort, physical, empirical, industrial, revolution, architecture, static, dynamic, structural, pyramid, propotion.

2. Запомните необходимый минимум профессиональной лексики

structural engineering	проектирование зданий и сооружений
resist load	нагрузка на сопротивление
safety	безопасность
scale	масштаб, шкала, измерять масштаб
upstructural systems	наземные сооружения
stable	устойчивый
repetitive structure	одинаковые сооружения
guild	гильдия, цех, союз
artisan	ремесленник, мастеровой
civil engineer	гражданский инженер-строитель
master builder	главный строитель, прораб
structural member	элемент конструкции
static and dynamic loading	статическая и динамическая нагрузка

3. Прочитайте текст. Пользуясь словарем, определите значение незнакомых слов

ENGINEERING FOR BUILDINGS

Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right.

Structural engineers are most commonly involved in the design if buildings and large nonbinding structures but they can also be involved in the design of machinery, medical equipment, vehicles if any item where structural integrity affects function or safety of the item. Structural engineers must ensure their designs satisfy given design criteria, predicated on safety or serviceability and performance.

Structural engineering theory is based upon physical laws and empirical knowledge of the structural performance of different landscapes and materials. Structural engineering design utilises a small number of basic structural elements to build upstructural systems that can be very complex.

Structural engineering has existed since humans first started to construct their own structures. It dates back to at least 2700 BC when the step pyramid for Pharaoh Djoser was built by Imhotep, the first engineer in history known by name. Pyramids were the most common major structures built by ancient civilizations because the structural form of a pyramid is inherently stable and can be almost infinitely scaled (as opposed to most other structural forms which cannot be linearly increased in size in proportion to increased loads).

Throughout ancient and medieval history most architectural design and construction were carried out by artisans, such as stone masons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. No theory of structures existed, and the understanding of how structures stood up was extremely limited and based almost entirely on empirical evidence of "what had worked before". Knowledge was retained by guilds and seldom supplanted by advances. Structures were repetitive, and increases in scale were incremental.

No record exists of the first calculations of the strength of structural members or the behavior of structural material, but the profession of a structural engineer only really took shape with the industrial revolution and the re-invention of concrete. The physical sciences underlying structural engineering began to be understood in the Renaissance and have been developing ever since.

Structural engineering became a more defined profession with the emergence of the architecture profession as distinct from the engineering profession during the industrial revolution in the late 19th century. Until then, the architect and the structural engineer were often one and the same — the master builder. Only with the understanding of structural theories that emerged during the 19th and 20th centuries the professional structural engineer came into existence.

The role of a structural engineer today involves a significant understanding of both static and dynamic loading, and the structures that are available to resist them. The complexity of modern structures often requires a great deal of creativity from the engineer in order to ensure the structures support and resist the loads they are subjected to. A structural engineer will typically have a four or five year Undergraduate degree followed by a minimum of three years of professional practice before being considered fully qualified.