I am proud to be a structural engineer

This post is supported by an extract (a very small piece of text) from the catalog of an exhibition, Light Structures at Deutsches Architektur Museum (DAM) at Frankfurt am Main and later at Freie Akademie der Kunste in Hamburg, and planned to have travelled to and been shown at Universitat fur Bodenkultur in Vienna, the Universita IUAV de Venezia, the Tongji University in Shanghai and the YSA Gallery of the Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

The extract is what an engineer (in the interest of full disclosure, I have had personal interactions with this structural engineer who is a little less than a generation older to me, and I am in awe of him) said about the iconic Second Hooghly Bridge across River Hooghly, also called Vidyasagar Setu, in Kolkata. The engineer responds to the following question:

Hot countries are often poor. You came up with a highly original idea for the bridge you built in Calcutta. When you mention such projects you often use the term social competence. What does the term mean to you?

The response:

I want it written on my gravestone that I collaborated on this bridge. The Hooghly Bridge is the structure of which we … can most honestly claim that we engineers did something for our fellow men. I went there for first talks in in 1971, and the bridge was finally completed in 1993. In other words, we wrestled with this bridge in Calcutta for over 20 years. The brief was for a bridge that could be built without imported materials—in order to create work for local people. Because there was neither welding steel nor welding devices, we faced the task of designing the bridge in such a manner that it could be riveted. Just imagine—riveting a 1,000-meter-long cable-stayed bridge! To this very day I am delighted that we did not call off the whole thing, but on the contrary took up the challenge willingly. The fascinating thing is that the rivets proved to be an excellent solution and saved us a lot of potential welding problems. “Good riveting is better than bad welding” was our witty slogan. As a result, the bridge has its own unique character, and could not be more attractive since there is nothing superfluous about it. The rivets lend the steel surfaces an attractive structure. The bridge connects West and East Bengal [my note: the obvious error may please be excused], and its construction kept thousands of families in work and food. The people in Calcutta see it as their bridge—what more do you want?

(Please take in the first sentence in the above response in all its import.)

I was one among those who felt not so proud of the long gestation period of the bridge. But, having come to know the context (there is lot more beyond what is given above), I know that my profession did indeed make a contribution to life.

If people talk derisively about Calcutta Metro (the first line, between Dum Dum and Tollygunge), particularly about its program of execution seemingly having extended to eternity, I say, most everything good takes time!

Think about it, the Vidyasagar Setu and Calcutta Metro are contemporaries. Then, justifiably their extended period of construction must have been influenced by the climes of those times, including concerns about foreign exchange, technology transfer, and other factors not within the control of the engineers. This is not a defensive position; rather it is the fact.

I am proud of my profession and I am proud of myself for being a part of it. Now, if Delhi Metro is growing much faster, I am proud on this score also, but acknowledging that time comparisons between now and 20-40 years ago are not valid unless appropriately contextualized.

Raghuram Ekambaram

P.S. Just two questions – if we are planning to have extensive networks of metro systems throughout the country (there really is no other option, given the pace of urbanization), and a significant proportion of it could indeed be underground, why not build our capabilities, including in manufacturing the machinery, in Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) and methods? Why not reduce foreign exchange outflow while looking to export our capabilities so developed?