Through the generosity of Mr. E.J. Buckton, senior partner of Messrs. Rendel, Palmer and Tritton, the Council was enabled to appoint a Board of Trustees to accept and administer independently of the Institution the freehold property known as “Kokine,” at Orpington. The property is administered on a non-profit making basis for the benefit of members of this and kindred Institution and their wives and families.
The Council have awarded a Research Prize to Dr. A. W. HENDRY (Associate-Member), of Aberdeen, for a paper entitled "An Investigation of the Stress Distribution in Steel Portal Frame Knees," which was read before the Institution on the 27th March, 1947. The prize takes the form of a monetary grant, together bith a letter of commendation.
The development of efficient shear-resisting joints is unquestionably one of the most significant advances in modern timber engineering. Timber itself is comparatively weak in shear and, owing to the lack of a suitable means of transmitting tensile forces in frameworks, orthodox construction in the past has restricted the use of timber to compression members and solid beams in spite of the fact that timber is from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 times as strong in tension as compression. Phillip O. Reece