Comments on Philippe de la Hire’s Memoir on Arch Abutment Design (1712)

Philippe de la Hire (1640-1718), a multi-disciplinary French scientist, is generally credited as being the first person to apply the principles of statics to the analysis and design of arches. Prior efforts employed geometric design rules that were based on experience. Thus, de la Hire plays an important role in the transition to scientifically based methods for civil engineering structures. Therefore, it is of historical interest to understand de la Hire’s approach and perspective.