Abstract
"The Evolution of Metallic Constructions
in IRAN"
Prof. Djafroodi, the Managing Director of the Syndicate of the Iranian Construction
Companies, has requested me to give a short lecture on the "Evolution of Metallic Constructions in
Iran". Because of the limited time that I have had and the lack of any published references, I did
not have an opportunity to study the subject thoroughly; therefore a general view of this technical
matter is taken into consideration.
In order to examine historically this subject, we have to distinguish two separate periods.
as follows:
I - The Application of metals before the Dynasty of His Imperial Majesty, Reza Shah
the Great,
II - The Application of metals during the Pahlavi Dynasty.
I - The Application of Metals Before the Pahlavi Dynasty.
From the existing evidences it appears that, in this period of time, the buildings were
generally made of traditional materials such as bricks, or stones and we observe that, in the older
days, these materials were used in primitive forms in bridges, tombs, minarets and domes. In this
period, even in developed countries the theory of welding was not clearly established and the
skill of the welders was not adequate to use the steel as much as it is used today.
So, not making use of steel in Iran is natural and understandable. Besides, in that time,
the development of the country was quite limited; therefore these materials were quite sufficient
for the civil engineering projects.
Since, the Iranians were aware of using the materials in best shapes, naturally they did
not need to use metals.
The stress analysis that has been done on some ancient monuments shows that, those
who had built these beautiful structures with optimum dimensions, had a natural comprehension
of forces distribution inside of the structures; whereas the science of strength of materials was
neither discovered nor edited in that time, since the strength of materials was originated from
Leonardo da vinci and Galilee in the late part of 15th century.
For the above reasons, the application of the metals in this period of time was quite
limited, and it was eventually used as tie rods of arches and in columns.
II - The Application of Metals During the Pahlavi Dynasty.
When His Imperial Majesty, Reza - Shah the Great became the king of Iran, because
of economic and technical development of the country and the construction of factories and rail roads,
numerous structures were built, either in metal or in reinforced concrete, by some foreign
companies. In many bridges, silos, sugar factories, pile foundations and sheet piling of harbour
structures, the roofs of airports and hangars, the steel was used.
It is evident that in this scale of technical activities, the traditional materials could not
be sufficient, especially that the big projects should be achieved in a short time. Therefore, the
usage of steel in Iran became prevalent. But still the application of steel frame did not strart until
fifteen years ago, during the sovereignty of His Imperial Majesty, the Shahinshah Aria - Mehr,
Before this time, the designers used mixed skeletons, namely, the columns were generally made of
reinforced concrete or brick and the roofs were made of steel I - beams connected to each other
by small brick arches. In important cases, the roofs or the whole buildings were made of rein forced
concrete. Nevertheless the application of steel frames begun 15 years ago. They are made
either in fields or in workshops by skillful specialists, then they will be carefully erected in their
place. These frames enjoy somehow the advantages of prefabrication. Because of big projects which
are spread all over the country, there exist now some qualified firms and workshops for constructing
such frames, under the direction of experienced specialists. But a considerable number of
steel users are not competent enough. Nevertheless, the application of steel in bridges is so widely
used
)