Structurae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Structurae is an online database containing works of structural and civil engineering of all kinds such as bridges, high-rise buildings, towers, dams, etc. It is probably the largest and most comprehensive database of its kind. As of November 2006, it contained more than 25,000 structures illustrated by over 70,000 images. Additionally, the database contains information on companies and persons (engineers, architects, and builders) involved in the design or construction of the structures.
The name Structurae is based on the Latin word strūctūra, which signifies the act of construction as well the result of that action.
Structurae is supported by contributions from hundreds of volunteers who share their data, information and images to the various entries. Most entries contain references from specialized journals and other sources.
The founder, Nicolas Janberg, is a Franco-German bridge engineer who decided to create Structurae in 1998 after creating a similar course home page while a teaching assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering at Princeton University.
The Structurae database and web site are currently available in three languages — English, French, and German. The project is financed through online advertising, sponsoring, and premium entries for companies and a product database. The website is composed of more than 100,000 individual pages programmed in ColdFusion and using a MySQL database.
Structurae was based in idea and structure on the architecture database archINFORM, which is considered a pioneering project in cataloging building data on the Internet.
