THE evolution of the bridge has been one long heroic struggle on the part of man to throw a roadway over a river or a yawning ravine. Whenever a savage stretched a rope of fibre or a strip of hide across a river or chasm, in that lay the embodiment of the principal of the latest suspension bridge. If he threw a tree-trunk over, he anticipated the girder bridge. When he overhung logs from opposite sides to meet in the centre, he anticipated the true cantilever bridge. If he inclined two logs or stones towards each other and covered and connected them at the top with a flat stone, he came very near to devising the cantilever and girder bridge in one direction, or the arch in the other. Capt. R.D. Heseltine
The expression “Building Regulations” It has come to be used very widely (and one is afraid somewhat loosely) of recent years to cover the whole range of rules applied by authority to ensure that building shall be carried on to the advantage of the community and not otherwise. C. Roland Woods
SIR,-Will Mr. F. H. Thomas kindly give information on one point suggested by his useful article on Combined Stresses in Beams, in the October Structural Engineer?
THE floors of multi-storeyed framed buildings represent 6 per cent. to 10 per cent. of the total cost of the structure, ignoring encasing of the main framework, and recently more attention is being given to endeavours to reduce this cost without reducing the resistance to fire or increasing the transmission of sound. Donovan H. Lee
The Northern Counties Committee of the London Midland and Scottish Railway has been severely handicapped by the fact that all main line trains have to reverse at Greenisland, 69 miles from Belfast, the main line terminus. This involves delay to trains together with added expense owing to the necessity of providing additional staff and facilities. It was decided to construct a loop or avoiding line 26 miles long, whereby trains could run straight through, thus effecting substantial economies and providing a.n accelerated service to the north and Portrush, which latter place is a popular seaside resort. This work has been carried out in collaboration with the Government of Northern Ireland as an unemployment relief scheme. R.L. M'Ilmoyle
THERE is at the moment considerable controversy contrasting the relative merits of fire-resisting and timber floors, especially as applied to the ordinary dwelling house. In our present state of financial stringency the question of cost is naturally a very important factor in the discussion, and it is proposed to make the relative cost of timber and fireresisting floors the essential feature in this article. W.G. Shipwright
THE results of the Portland Travelling Scholarship for 1933 were announced at the General Meeting of the he was awarded the Neale Bursary of the Institution on the 26th October. It will be remembered that the Directors of the British Portland Cement Association Limited, generously agreed to establish this scholarship value;E306; :he competition to be divided into two sections-one for £150 to be held in 1932, and the second for £150 to be held in 1933. The subject for the 1933 competition was the design of a concrete sports stand. After careful consideration, the Adjudicators made the following awards, which were confirmed by the Council :-