Roads and Bridges Engineering School and Its First Regulation (1862)

Abstract

Turuk and Maâbir School is the first civil engineering school established in the Ottoman Empire. The main factor in the opening of the school was the idea of training the engineers needed for the construction of new roads and bridges in the country and the improvement of the old ones. For this purpose, it was planned to open a civil engineering school affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce in order to meet the engineering needs of the country during the Tanzimat period. In fact, a regulation was written in 1862 for this school, which was planned to be opened under the name of Turuk and Maâbir Mektebi. However, it is not known whether the civil engineering school was opened on this date. However, the common view is that the Turuk and Maâbir School was opened in 1874, but it is understood from the sources that a civil engineering school has been operating under the name of Mülkiye Mühendislik Mektebi since 1868. The closure of the first civil engineering school, which was active between 1868 and 1871, after continuing education for only four years, misled the researchers, and 1874, the second opening date of the school, was accepted as the starting date of civil engineering education in Turkey. In this study, some new determinations are made about the start date of civil engineering education and the first civil engineering school in Turkey by making use of archival sources. The said regulation of the Turuk and Maâbir School dated 1862 will also be discussed in detail, and new information will be given based on the sources that have never been contacted before.