The Economics of Fire-Resisting Flooring Construction Compared With Timber

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 :-

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

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