Issue 11

An Ordinary Meeting of the Institution of Structural Engineers was held at 11, Upper Belgrave Street, London, S.W.l., on Thursday, November 23rd, 1944, at 5.30 p.m., the President (Mr. Gower B.R. Pimm, M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Struct.E.) in the Chair.

The paper presents a direct method of obtaining ordinates for plotting the Influence Lines for a Support Reaction, or Bending Moment or Shear Force at a point, using any of the current methods of analysis of Continuous Beams, but avoiding on the one hand the necessity of calculating such ordinates from numerous solutions with the unit point load disposed at different points on the beam, and on the other the inaccuracy inherent in the laboratory method using splines or the like,unless considerable care is taken, and accurate methods of measurement are used. J.W.H. King

The only excuse for offering this paper to such an Institution as this is that the author has, during the last year or so, had the task of examining very many proposals for alternative methods of construction for small houses. Not himself having attempted to make any original contribution and not being wedded to any particular method of construction or material it is possible to present something of a bird's eye view of the problem as a whole which may perhaps be helpful to somebody who is entering the field with tremendous enthusiasm for some particular form,but perhaps somewhat lacking in experience of the general background into which his particular project has to be fitted. R. Fitzmaurice

An Ordinary Meeting of the Institution of Structural Engineers was held at 11 Upper Belgrave Street, London, S.W.1, on Thursday, 26th April, 1945, Mr. Gower B.R. Pimm, M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Struct.E.(President) in the Chair.