The Design of the Channel Tunnel

A recent comment on 'Guidelines for the appraisal of structural components in HAC' issued by the Institution last October, suggests that this useful paper was unlikely to be acceptable by local authorities and others as a yardstick of adequacy. It was, of course, never intended to be and is no more than the title says; these are guidelines from the Institution to its members alone to assist them in reaching a well founded professional judgement for which they will be responsible. Verulam

In December 1972 the Secretary of State for the Environment asked Sir Robert Matthew, Past-President of the RIBA and Mr. Patrick Skillington of DOE to study and report upon a possible means of promoting high standards of design in government building. Their far-reaching two-part report was completed in July 1974 and the Institution, together with other professional societies in the construction industry, was invited to comment.

The Institution's Special Study Group on the History of Structural Engineering intends to promote short articles on subjects of historical interest for publication in The Structural Engineer as a fairly regular feature. R.J.M. Sutherland