Bethlehem Structural Shapes 1943 Steel Engineering Catalog S-53 WWII
$60.00
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Vintage structural-engineering, architectural, and American industrial-history reference published by Bethlehem Steel Company during World War II.
This original 1943 catalog is intended for structural engineers, architects, steel fabricators, construction historians, preservationists, Bethlehem Steel collectors, and readers interested in the industrial infrastructure behind America’s wartime production. It documents the standardized steel components from which factories, shipyards, bridges, warehouses, military facilities, and other major structures were designed and built.
For the modern reader, the catalog makes the hidden framework of twentieth-century America visible. Buildings and bridges can appear permanent and almost inevitable after completion, but every structure begins with careful decisions involving dimensions, weight, load capacity, tolerances, connections, and material efficiency. These tables reveal the practical numerical language engineers used to transform raw steel into functioning infrastructure.
Published in 1943, the manual also provides tangible historical context for Bethlehem Steel’s enormous wartime role. The company was one of the country’s leading military contractors, and its shipyards produced more than 1,100 vessels during World War II. This catalog preserves the engineering environment of that period rather than merely describing it decades later.
Titled Bethlehem Structural Shapes: Information and Tables for Architects, Engineers and Designers of Buildings and Other Steel Structures, Catalog S-53. The manual contains specifications and dimensional tables for American Standard beams and tees, columns, channels, angles, structural tees, sheet piling, and other rolled-steel products.
Detailed illustrations show the cross-sectional forms of individual steel members, while the accompanying tables provide depths, flange dimensions, web thicknesses, weights per linear foot, section areas, rolling tolerances, cutting tolerances, and other design information. The foreword also explains material standards, accepted identification practices, allowable manufacturing variations, and the relationship between nominal size and actual structural properties.
The book allows a collector to hold an authentic piece of American engineering history and gives technically minded readers a direct view into how engineers selected and ordered the physical components of large steel structures during the 1940s.
Original flexible softcover with gold lettering and Bethlehem Steel emblem. The covers show substantial age and use, including heavy rubbing along the edges, corner wear, surface scratches, discoloration, creasing, and areas of finish loss. The rear cover has additional scuffing and staining. A former owner’s name is handwritten above the title. Interior pages show age toning, scattered spotting, and occasional handling wear but remain readable and securely attached in the photographed areas. No extensive highlighting or modern annotations were observed. Please inspect all photographs for the exact condition.
SKU D-4
Bethlehem Structural Shapes 1943 Steel Engineering Catalog S-53 WWII
$60.00
This original 1943 catalog is intended for structural engineers, architects, steel fabricators, construction historians, preservationists, Bethlehem Steel collectors, and readers interested in the industrial infrastructure behind America’s wartime production. It documents the standardized steel components from which factories, shipyards, bridges, warehouses, military facilities, and other major structures were designed and built.
For the modern reader, the catalog makes the hidden framework of twentieth-century America visible. Buildings and bridges can appear permanent and almost inevitable after completion, but every structure begins with careful decisions involving dimensions, weight, load capacity, tolerances, connections, and material efficiency. These tables reveal the practical numerical language engineers used to transform raw steel into functioning infrastructure.
Published in 1943, the manual also provides tangible historical context for Bethlehem Steel’s enormous wartime role. The company was one of the country’s leading military contractors, and its shipyards produced more than 1,100 vessels during World War II. This catalog preserves the engineering environment of that period rather than merely describing it decades later.
Titled Bethlehem Structural Shapes: Information and Tables for Architects, Engineers and Designers of Buildings and Other Steel Structures, Catalog S-53. The manual contains specifications and dimensional tables for American Standard beams and tees, columns, channels, angles, structural tees, sheet piling, and other rolled-steel products.
Detailed illustrations show the cross-sectional forms of individual steel members, while the accompanying tables provide depths, flange dimensions, web thicknesses, weights per linear foot, section areas, rolling tolerances, cutting tolerances, and other design information. The foreword also explains material standards, accepted identification practices, allowable manufacturing variations, and the relationship between nominal size and actual structural properties.
The book allows a collector to hold an authentic piece of American engineering history and gives technically minded readers a direct view into how engineers selected and ordered the physical components of large steel structures during the 1940s.
Original flexible softcover with gold lettering and Bethlehem Steel emblem. The covers show substantial age and use, including heavy rubbing along the edges, corner wear, surface scratches, discoloration, creasing, and areas of finish loss. The rear cover has additional scuffing and staining. A former owner’s name is handwritten above the title. Interior pages show age toning, scattered spotting, and occasional handling wear but remain readable and securely attached in the photographed areas. No extensive highlighting or modern annotations were observed. Please inspect all photographs for the exact condition.
SKU D-4