The Design and Construction of the New Ship Hydrodynamic Laboratory Buildings and Tanks at Feltham,

IN 1953 as part of the general development of London’s airports and after careful investigation, including a public enquiry, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation decided in principle to develop a new airport at Gatwick. The increase in air traffic in the London area was such it was estimated that by the summer of 1958 it would be necessary for the new airport to be in operation. In August 1955, Messrs. Frederick S. Snow & Partners were appointed as Consulting and Co-ordinating Engineers for the whole of the work comprising the development of Gatwick Airport. Frederick S. Snow and E. V. Finn

Not the least difficulty encountered in the design and construction of the Forth Bridge was the number of joints, as will be seen all too clearly in Fig. 1. Fifty years were to elapse before welding was used to connect small diameter tubes and it became possible to construct efficient and economical tubular structures. Such structures are designed to take advantage of the favourable characteristics of tubes in torsion, compression and tension, but the members are proportioned in accordance with the normal laws of statics, as in any other structure, The method of jointing, however, is peculiar to this form of construction. While the whole concept of tubular structures is based upon welding, bolts being used only for site connexions, it must not be imagined that the joints evolved without careful research and experiment. Finality has not been reached, either in the scope of tubular structures or in the design of joints, but it is hoped that these notes will enable structural engineers already familiar with conventional steelwork to design the joints in all but the most unusual tubular Structures. G. Bernard Godfrey