If I was to ask that question, 9 times out of 10, the respondent would not know and would take a stab and say perhaps a railway station in London. If it was the last question on “Who wants to be a Millionaire” to win £1 000 000 (that’s Pounds not Rands) would you phone a friend, ask the audience or take a 50:50? (supposing in the unlikely event those options were still available to you). If you had a friend who was a Structural Engineer of mature years and you rang him he would know the answer and you would be a Millionaire; please spare him a thought and give him a “bonsela” (gift).
Of course the reader is still none the wiser as to the correct answer, was it a railway station, a bridge, a major road intersection, a monument, maybe a battle fought a long time ago; no it would be none of the afore mentioned it was in fact the name of an American who was an eminent engineer and college professor at the University of Illinois (1921-1937) and then Yale (1937-1953).
Hardy Cross (1885-1959) was an engineer, analyst, educator and philosopher and he had a profound influence on the design of buildings across the globe in the period between 1930 and 1970. He did not build but his theories contributed greatly to the spread of the modern framed building in its two manifestations, reinforced concrete and structural steel. “HX” at the time of the 50th anniversary...
