On Dokuzuncu Yüzyıl İngilteresinde İnşaat Mühendisliği

On Dokuzuncu Yüzyõl İngilteresinde İnşaat Mühendisliği
On dokuzuncu yüzyõl mimarisine geçmeden once, bu mimarinin özelliklerini ve mimarõn nasõl bir
ortamda çaõlõştõğõnõ daha iyi kavramak için kõsaca bir konuyu daha ele almak gerekiyor: İnşaat
mühendisinin kavuştuğu yeni konum. Yukarõda gördüğümüz tür gelişemelerin õşõğõnda
düşündüğümüzde—yani, teknolojik, toplumsal ve ekonomik hayatõn yapõlaşmaya ne şekillerde
yansõyabileceğini düşündüğümüzde—inşaat mühendisliğinin (a) prestij kazanmasõ ve (b) ilk defa
bir bilim olarak kabul edilip, eğitiminin üniversite dahilinde yer almasõnõn uygun görülmesi, çok
şaşõrtõcõ gelmeyecektir. Bir bakõma, bu yeni yüksek meslek, son teknolojik ve endüstriyel gelişmeler
ve bu gelişmelerin ürettiği yeni olanaklarõ özümseyip yeni ihtiyaçlara cevap verecekti. Tarihçiler,
İnşaat Mühendisi’nin, on dokuzuncu yüzyõlõn ruhunu temsil eden en özlü figür olduğunu yazar. Batõ
kültür tarihinde, on dördüncü yüzyõlda Şair Dante’nin biyografisinin yazõmõyla başlayan bir gelenek
uyarõnca, çağõn baştacõ ettiği yeni meslek erbabõnõn biyografisi yazõlõr. Aslõnda geleneği,
Rönesansda, ressam ve heykeltõraşlarõn hayatlarõnõ yazan Vasari başlatmõştõr. Geleneğe gore
böylece anlatõlan hayat örnek hayattõr. İşte on dokuzuncu yüzyõl da inşaat mühendislerinin
yaşamlarõnõ yazmaya başlamõştõr.
Bugün İngilizcede construction engineering ifadesi yayõlmaktaysa da, mesleğin orijinal adõ civil
engineering, ne tür ihtiyaçlara cevaben doğduğunu açõkça ifade etmektedir. Civil son derece
komplike bir terim ve kavramdõr ve Türkçeye girmiş olan sivil kelimesi, kavramõn sadece bir
boyutunu ifade eder: askerî olmayan. Nitekim civil engineering de bir yönüyle on sekiz ve on
dokuzuncu yüzyõllarda bu anlamõ taşõyordu: askerî konstrüksiyon gereksinmeleri dõşõnda, toplumun
yapõ gereksinmeleri. Fakat aynõ zamanda devletin askerî olmayan gereksinmelerine de cevap
verecekti. Öteki anlamõ ise doğrudan ‘toplumsal’, ‘insanlara ait’ yönündedir. Fakat civil, en başta,
‘uygar’ demekti. Bu meslek, öodern uygarlõğõn ta kendisiyle özdeşleştiriliyordu. Bu yeni mesleğin
aksine kökü çok eskilere dayanan, daha Tevratta adõ geçen mimar ise, tam da o köklü geçmiş
nedeniyle geleneksel yapõ malzemelerini olduğu gibi, bu malzemelerin ürettiği mimarî üslûp ve
tarzlarõ kolay kolay elden bõrakmadõ. Bunun ayrõntõlarõnõ daha sonra göreceğiz. İnşaat
mühendisliğinin yükselişini ise, konunun uzmanõ tarihçi Dale H. Porter’dan okuyalõm. Aşağõdaki
pasajlar, sõrasõyla s. 162 ve devamõ, s. 167 ve s. 166’dan alõnmadõr:
In the late 1850s, civil engineering was consolidating its status, gained during the previous
three generations, as a recognized profession. It followed the path of other professions in
the nineteenth century by establishing a formal association, regulating its membership,
tightening apprenticeship and examination standards, seeking political and legal recognition
of its avowed status, and adopting, through individual initiatives, the conventions of family,
suburban life, and church. The eighteenth-century British engineers were ‘a motley crew’,
according to R. A. Buchanan: they were generally classed as skilled artisans along with
mechanics, smiths, molders, and millwrights. But some, like Robert Mylne, John Smeaton,
and Thomas Telford, rose to a higher position by designing, rather than it building, public
works and large machines. The major canal, railway, and waterworks projects of the first
half of the nineteenth century made engineering’s reputation. In the great mid-Victorian
period of prosperity following the Crystal Palace Exhibition, engineers enjoyed, as
Buchanan has said, a unique self-assurance amounting almost to euphorias. The excesses of
the railway mania, which led engineers into all kinds of adventure and mispresentation,
were gradually being replaced by the conservatism of success.
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Although many of the earlier practitioners had been indifferent to honors and social
pretension, mid-century engineers eagerly sought social gentility, ‘with all the
accoutrements of titles, estates, and the way of life to go with them’. Samuel Smiles’s Lives
of the Engineers enshrined them as paragons of self-help, and their collective attitudes soon
became stereotypically Victorian. By this time, an occupational hierarchy had emerged, led
a by independent consulting engineers, with assistant engineers, clerks, and pupils ranged
below.
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), founded in 1818, served (and still serves) as a
research center, a London club, and a professional society for British engineers around the
world. Mechanical engineers, who worked in tandem with the ‘civils’ on the great railway
systems, were at first included in the ICE, but they formed their own institution in 1847.
Their work was oriented more toward the provinces, while civil engineers focused on the
London area; but many ‘mechanicals’ belonged to both institutes. Membership in the two
groups grew from 220 in 830, to 2,000 in 1850, and 3,500 in 1870, with over four hundred
engineers registered in London alone. The roll of ICE presidents and vice-presidents,
elected for two-year terms until 1880, includes almost every notable engineer of the
century. Meetings were held weekly during sessions of Parliament, with members
presenting papers for extended and often lively discussion. Their Transactions were
published periodically in respectable formats, and, from 1837, they also produced annual
Minutes of Proceedings. The ICE kept dues high enough to exclude the casual amateur but
voted honorary membership to aristocratic enthusiasts and retired military engineers.
Careful to maintain its image as a gentleman's club, the ICE regarded formal discussion of
current projects, wages, and working conditions, or related political issues, as taboo. Even
an enthusiastic call for a public resolution in favor of the Thames Embankment, proposed
after a spirited debate in January 1856, was ruled out of order by the chair of the session,
John Fowler (1817-1898). The ICE established a model for most other engineering groups
arising in the second half of the nineteenth century. In fact, its determination to maintain an
intimate and cohesive club-like ambiance for its members contributed to a gradual
proliferation of societies for other types of engineers, which emulated its rules, style, and
publications. Nevertheless, until the 1880s the ICE regarded itself as the leading
representative of the profession. Having received a royal charter, in 1828, and maintaining
premises in Westminster close to Parliament, it jealously guarded its members’ interests.
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