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The Structural Engineer, Volume 45, Issue 8, 1967
Mr. R. J. M. Sutherland: First, I should like to say that this is an excellent paper on a restoration which clearly became a real work of love. I have one slightly critical point; the author says that this bridge is the last surviving remnant of Telford's work in cast iron. I do not really agree with this. Surely the Mythe bridge at Tewkesbury, almost identical in construction, 170 ft span, is still in existence in its original form, except for a concrete deck added in the 1920s. There is another similar Telford bridge of 150 ft span, the Gatton bridge in Birmingham, but I do not know whether anything has happened to that one; also the famous Bettws-y-Coed bridge which was slightly different. Another very similar one cast by Haseltine and clearly derived from but not designed by Telford is the 150 ft span Dee bridge at Eaton Hall and doubtless one could think of others.
Under the chairmanship of the President, Mr. A.J. Harris, BSc, CEng, MIStructE, MICE opened the debate in support of the motion ' That structural design is best carried out in professional offices ' and was followed by Mr. J.A. Derrington BSc(Eng), CEng, MIStructE, MICE who opposed it. This debate took place against the background of the note which appeared in The Structural Engineer, January 1967, pp. 3-4. At the end of the evening the two camps were equally populated and it was the Chairman's casting vote that carried the motion.
The process of prestressing can be used to advantage in improving the general performance and load-carrying capabilities of structures of composite construction involving interaction between structural steel and concrete, whether plain or reinforced. Up-to-date, the most notable successes have been achieved with bridge decks and composite floors in order to prevent development of shrinkage cracks in the concrete or to counteract negative bending effects over the supports. Professor Sean Mackey and Leung Kui-Wai