Read Text 2A to find out if you are right or wrong. Use the introductory phrases given in Unit 1.

TEXT2A

Vladimir G. Shukhov

Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov (1853— 1939) was a great Russian engineer, scientist and architect renowned for his pioneering works on new methods of analysis for structural engineering that led to breakthroughs in industrial design. Besides the innovations he brought to the oil industry and the construction of numerous bridges and buildings, Shukhov was the inventor of a new family of doubly-curved structural forms. These forms based on non-Euclidean hyperbolic geometry are known today as hyperboloids of revolution. Shukhov developed not only many varieties of light-weight hyperboloid towers and roof systems, but also the mathematics for their analysis.

V.G. Shukhov is referred as the Russian Edison. He was one of the first to develop practical calculations of stresses and deformations of beams, shells and membranes on elastic foundation. These theoretical results allowed him to design the first Russian oil tanker, new types of oil tanker barges, and oil reservoirs. The

same principle of the shell on an elastic foundation allowed calculating the optimal diameter, wall thickness and fluid speed for the fluid pipelines.

V.G. Shukhov also left a lasting legacy to the Constructivist architecture of early Soviet Russia. As a leading specialist of metallic structures (hyperboloid structures, thin-shell structures, tensile structures), he may be compared with G. Eiffel. Shukhov's innovative and exquisite constructions still grace many towns across Russia.

For the 1896 All-Russia industrial and art exhibition in Nizhniy Novgorod V.G. Shukhov built the steel lattice 37-meter tower which became the first hyperboloid structure in the world. The astonishing hyperboloid steel grid shell caused delight of the European specialists. After the exhibition had closed, the tower of rare beauty was bought by the well-known Maecenas of that time Yu.S. Nechayev-Maltsov and placed in his estate PoUbino, Lipetskoblast, where it has preserved until now under the state protection. In the subsequent years, Shukhov developed numerous structures of various hyperboloid steel grid shells and used them in hundreds of water towers, sea lighthouses and supports for power transmission lines. The hyperboloid structures appeared abroad only 10 years after Shukhov's invention.

Petrovsky Passage is an elite department store opened in Petrovka Street in downtown Moscow in 1906. Vladimir Shukhov designed a covered arcade with two wide three-storey galleries covered with high-pitched semi-cylindrical glass vaulting. The second storeys of opposite galleries are connected by exquisitely designed ferroconcrete catwalks. In the 1990s, the shop was revamped as the centre of one of the most expensive shopping areas in Europe.

The Kiyevsky Rail Terminal is one of the nine rail terminals of Moscow. The station was built between 1914 and 1918 in the Byzantine Revival style. Originally named the Bryansk Rail Terminal, it was designed by Ivan Rerberg and Vladimir Shukhov; it is considered an important landmark of architecture and engineering of the time. The station building is flanked by a gigantic landing

42 I Английский язык для студентов строительных специальностей

UNIT 2. GREAT CIVIL ENGINEERS

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platform which is distinguished by its simplicity and constructive boldness. The platforms are covered by massive glassed arch structures in the form of a parabola. Open-work steel trusses are clearly visible, and they demonstrate the elegance of the grandiose building.

The Shukhov radio tower, also known as the Shabolovka tower, is a broadcasting tower in Moscow designed by V. Shukhov. The 160-metre-high free-standing steel structure was built in the period of 1919 — 1922. It is a hyperboloid structure. Due to its lattice structure the steel shell of the Shukhov Tower experiences minimum wind load (the main hazard for high-rising buildings). The tower sections are single-cavity hyperboloids of rotation made of straight beams, the ends of which rest against circular foundations. The tower is located a few kilometers south of the Moscow Kremlin.

Shukhov is also reputed for his original designs of more than 180 bridges across the Volga, Yenisey, Dnieper, and other rivers.