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Armstrong, A (2022) Revenue patterns of piped water services in rural Africa, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

Chapman, C (2023) Green and grey drainage infrastructure: costs and benefits of reducing surface water flood risk, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

Driessen, M (2014) Asphalt encounters: Chinese road building in Ethiopia, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

Huang, J (2020) Infrastructure, the economy and policy, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

Lau, C H (2019) The global trading activities of consulting engineering firms: managing risk and geographical choice, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

Marwah, H (2011) Investing in ghosts: Building and construction in Nigeria's oil boom and bust c1960-2000, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

Merdinger, C J (1949) A history of civil engineering, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

O'Mahony, M M (1990) Recycling of materials in civil engineering, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

Peveler, E (2018) The supply of building materials to construction projects in Roman Oxfordshire: Logistics, economics, and social significance, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

  • Type: Thesis
  • Keywords: built environment; construction project; investment; logistics; case studies
  • ISBN/ISSN:
  • URL: http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9208b07b-7c9d-447b-a2b1-26873f951018
  • Abstract:
    Whilst Roman architecture has long stood as a discrete branch of classical studies, investigated for its artistic merit and cultural importance, the technical details of Roman construction have only recently started to receive considerable attention. This thesis contributes to a growing trend in Roman scholarship, that of the investigation of the processes, materials, and technologies behind the Roman built environment. The most prestigious buildings of the Empire often remain the focus of many of these studies, and so this thesis turns to explore the use of more everyday buildings and building materials, seeking a Romano-British vernacular, and investigating the processes of construction, building material production, and transport. It is argued, through using theoretical calculations of building material quantities, that even for relatively minor constructions, considerations of building material supply must have represented highly significant economic and logistical investment. To comprehend fully the subject it is asserted that building materials should not be treated, as they often are, as disparate artefacts, divided by substance into stone, ceramic, mortar, metal, etc., but rather they should be considered as related fragments of a building. They require synthetic analysis, through which a far truer understanding of the incredible effort involved in construction in the ancient world can be gained. The built environment of Roman Oxfordshire, and the Roman building material assemblage from Dorchester on Thames, are used as case studies. Primary analysis of building materials is carried out using an integrated analytical approach, combining thin section petrography with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The outcomes of these analyses are interpreted against a background of archaeological and historical evidence for construction and material supply, in both the Roman and later periods, in the region and beyond.

Pickhaver, J A (2006) Numerical modelling of building response to tunnelling, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.

Sheng, X (2018) Public-private partnership in the development of infrastructure under the 'Belt and Road' initiative, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Oxford.