Civil and Building Engineering.

Builders have realized the need for stable foundations since structures began rising above the ground.

Builders in the time of the Greeks and the Romans certainly understood the need for an adequate foundation because many of their structures have remained unyielding for centuries. Portions of Roman aqueducts that carried water by gravity over large distances remain today. The Romans used stone blocks to create arched structures many meters in height that continue to stand without obvious settlement. The beautiful Pantheon, with a dome that rises 142 ft above the floor, remains steady as a tribute tobuilders in the time of Agrippa and Hadrian. The Colosseum in Rome, the massive buildings at Baalbek, and the Parthenon in Athens are ancient structures that would be unchanged today except for vandalism or possibly earthquakes.

Perhaps the most famous foundations of history are those of the Roman roads. The modern technique of drainage was employed. The courses below a surface course of closely fitted flat paving stones were a base of crushed stone, followed by flat slabs set in mortar, and finally rubble. The roads pro- vided a secure means of surface transportation to far-flung provinces and accounted significantly for Roman domination for many centuries. Some portions of the Roman roads remain in use today.