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The Structural Engineer, Volume 61, Issue 5, 1983
By definition, a structural appraisal is concerned with establishing the strength of an existing structure and reporting on its safety and its fitness for a given purpose. Such an appraisal may become necessary for one or more of the following reasons: -The owner is contemplating a change of use for the structure. -The structure has suffered accidental damage due to fire, impact, or other forces. -The structure shows signs of distress under normal usage. -Deterioration of certain elements is suspected due to age, service conditions, or inadequate maintenance. -A report on structural adequacy and future safety and serviceability is required by a prospective purchaser, insurance company, or other interested body. Gerald McDonnell
Mr. R. M. Boston (Cooper & Turner Ltd.): This is an interesting paper on a subject that concerns many engineers involved in steel structures.
Mr B. Archer (Sunderland Polytechnic): Many of the applied research papers currently published in the journals of the engineering institutions deal with highly specialised topics that are of little interest to the majority of their members. Many of these papers contain typographical errors which are detected only by careful study. I have queried authors about such errors many months after publication and found that I have been the first to do so. I believe this to be an indication of how few people study these technical research papers, which are offered to the editorial boards of institution journals at no cost, because the researcher obtains his reward from the renown that accrues from the list of papers that he has had published. I would suggest that the editorial boards drop their present passive role of making a selection from a set of papers offered for publication and instead adopt an active role, inviting researchers to prepare review papers giving information on all research work being carried out in selected areas whiah are known to be of interest to their institution members. These papers need not be written in technical language steeped in jargon unfamiliar to practising engineers, but they must give information on who is doing what in particular specialisations. This type of information has always been available to researchers working in specialised areas through the professorial network, but it has not been readily available to practising engineers. Given this information, the practising engineers can contact the appropriate researchers to arrange ways in which they can discuss, in depth, topics of mutual interest.