Building tunnels

From immense needs such as crossing a river, storing water, responding to city growth, and travel through mountains come bridges, dams, skyscrapers, and tunnels. After explaining the many reasons for creating these massive structures, these titles in the Great Engineering series describe their planning and building. Color photos and charts complement the text, which focuses on the required people (e.g., civil engineers, geologists, and hydrologists) and resources (e.g., caissons, excavators, and tunnel-boring machines). Building Tunnels discusses the three types of tunnels: cut-and-cover, bored, and immersed tube. The final chapter in each book looks at famous and modern examples of each engineering feat, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Chunnel, the Burj Khalifa (at 2,723 feet tall), and an Ethiopian dam being built on the Blue Nile River, as well as what the future of engineering may offer. Budding engineers will find these great introductions indeed.--Leeper, Angela Copyright 2015 Booklist

Gr 2-4-These examinations of large-scale infrastructure elements focus particularly on the role of civil engineers in planning and construction. Each volume opens with a lucid explanation of the chosen structure's function-"People and beavers are alike in one way," the author begins one, going on to explain why and how both build dams-and proceeding to present a historical overview, describing construction methods, and highlighting significant examples. The level of specific detail varies considerably; Stefoff differentiates between caissons and cofferdams, in Building Bridges, for instance, but only mentions three types of bridges. But along with mentioning significant design challenges, she considers relevant environmental issues in several volumes and even the value of dam removals. Pictures, mostly photos, take second place to the narrative throughout; in Building Roads, for example, Stefoff mentions several renowned ones but supplies illustrations for only a few (and no maps at all). VERDICT Though these titles have a few flaws, as case studies in engineering at work, they offer clear and cogent pictures. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.