This paper describes the design of a machine to enable inspection and minor repairs to be carried out to a wide range of railway structures. The machine, operating from the railway tracks, can be quickly brought into position and will work with minimum interruption to normal rail traffic. K.C. Falcon and A.F. Houghton
Many minerals, including coal, stone, gypsum, chalk, and common salt, are extracted from beneath the earth’s surface by mining methods. H. Barber
The following Examiners’ reports are published in the hope that candidates, learning from the mistakes of 1983, will be successful in future examinations leading to a qualification as either Chartered or Technician Engineers.
President’s diary With the Anniversary session now under way, the President and Mrs Rowe look forward to meeting many members, their ladies, and guests, at a number of commemorative events in the weeks and months ahead, including the Thanksgiving service and reception in the City of London on the afternoon of 24 November (see The Structural Engineer, September 1983, p267)
Mr Peter Bullman (M) (Building Design Partnership): In amplification of Mr Cousins remark that the Regulations on structure are not so complicated as other sections, I believe that, as a profession, we are fortunate not to be over-prescribed. If we omit Regulations that govern small buildings, i.e. D2(3), D15, D17 and schedules 6 and 7, then the remainder of Part D is generally a set of functional requirements, with technical standards set by deemed-to-satisfy documents which are produced, through BSI, by the profession itself. The exception, of course, is the section on ‘Accidental damage’.
Research to date has dealt with only the static aspects of warehouse racks, i.e. strength, stiffness, and stability, of the individual members and of the whole structure. This paper reports the findings of an investigation to identify the progressive collapse characteristics of racking. R.E. Mcconnel and S.J. Kelly
Health, safety, and certification In July this year, we quoted, at some length, from Mr A. Wenham-Prosser ’s letter dealing with the continuing trend to erode margins of structural safety-a subject that has brought a substantial response from our readers. Verulam