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Built to Last

Built To Last: Building America's Amazing Bridges, Dams, Tunnels, and Skyscrapers

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The stories of America's most magnificent canals, highways, dams, bridges, and skyscrapers.

Americans didn't let mountains stand in the way of trade with the American West--they tunneled right through them to make the Cascade Tunnel and Hoosac Tunnel. When water and power were needed, they built huge dams, such as the Fort Peck Dam and the Hoover Dam. Faced with water to cross, they built beautiful bridges, such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. And the American character is best reflected by the building it invented, the skyscraper. BUILT TO LAST profiles 17 architectural and engineering marvels, from the Erie Canal to Boston's Big Dig.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2005

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About the author

George Sullivan

364 books12 followers
George Sullivan is a best-selling nonfiction author with more than 100 books to his credit. He lives in New York City.

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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Max B..
8 reviews
April 11, 2013
This book it's awesome,it shows you how was before the arquitecture and how t changes to now.I like how they show you the pictures when they were building them.The things I like about the arquitecture is the bridges and Skyscrapers,when I saw the front page,That's why I checked out.I hope you read it
Profile Image for Hailey.
50 reviews
April 18, 2018
Built to Last: Building America’s Amazing Bridges, Dams, Tunnels, and Skyscrapers is a fun, informational book about the amazing advances in engineering and infrastructure in America. I found this book an interesting and fun read where you can flip around from place to place and learn a little more about things that have recently been engineered to make work. Although this is not a book that I would read aloud to a class solely based on the length of it, I would use it as a reference during a science or math lesson to connect a particular math problem or science lesson. I thought some areas had some dry writing, but the real images and diagrams that were provided made the book very interesting and educational in learning about engineering.
Profile Image for Brynhd96.
15 reviews2 followers
November 4, 2010
Built to last is about 17 different projects including the following.
The Erie canal, the canal that linked the Hudson river with the great lakes
The Hoosac Tunnel, the tunnel that linked new york with the new england states.
The U.S. Capitol, took about most of the 19th-century to build because of the war of 1812 and the civil war.
The Trans-Continental Railroad, it linked the East coast with the west coast directly.
The Flatiron building, was built as one of the 1st skyscrapers, at 5th avenue and broadway.
The Hoover dam, was built as a source of energy for the Las Vegas area.
The Fort peck dam. to build a dam and renewable power and was built over dangerous rapids.
The Cascade tunnel, was built to replace an old 2 mile tunnel where a major fatal avalanche took place.
The Empire state building, was another idea at breaking the record for the tallest building in the world.
The Interstate system, the largest concrete moving project and is able to bury conneticut in knee-foot concrete.
The Gateway arch, built to commemorate jefferson's louisiana purchase, and St. Louis 200th birthday.
The Sears tower, the tallest building in chicago, and in the united states.
Tunnel Project #3, an project to give extra water to New York.
24 reviews1 follower
November 21, 2016
This is one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read! I love architecture so this book is amazing. Even if you don't like architecture this an awesome book that everybody should read! It's about all of these amazing structures like bridges, dams, tunnels, and skyscrapers! My favorite structure is probably the St. Louis Arch! Did you know that The St. Louis Arch is 75 feet taller than the Washington Monument and 325 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty?
Profile Image for Katie.
1,380 reviews33 followers
December 23, 2014
This well-written nonfiction book contains the stories of several major American construction projects. They are organized chronologically beginning in 1790 to the present. The author does a very good job capturing some of the massive scale of these projects. Supplementary photos and facts are interesting and helpful.

Recommended for grades 5+
264 reviews1 follower
January 29, 2012
I read the first chunk of this book and enjoyed the short histories of various building projects. Kido likes the pictures for now and will hopefully read this with me later.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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