Transforming Swampland into Nauvoo, the City Beautiful: A Civil Engineering Perspective

Authors

Kyle M. Rollins
Richard D. Smith
M. Brett Borup
E. James Nelson

Keywords

Mormon studies, Nauvoo, civil engineering

Abstract

The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes a number of significant engineering accomplishments. The Salt Lake Tabernacle was designated a national historic landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers because of the innovative bridge truss system used to support its roof. Latter-day Saints also pioneered a technique known today as dynamic compaction in their efforts to improve the soil below the foundation of the St. George temple. A one-thousand-pound cannon was repeatedly dropped from a height of twenty to thirty feet to drive lava rock into the soil below the foundation level. One of the Saints’ most important accomplishments, however, was the transformation of hundreds of acres of disease-infested swampland into “Nauvoo, the City Beautiful.”

Recommended Citation

Rollins, Kyle M.; Smith, Richard D.; Borup, M. Brett; and Nelson, E. James (2006) "Transforming Swampland into Nauvoo, the City Beautiful: A Civil Engineering Perspective," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 45: Iss. 3, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol45/iss3/6