75th Anniversary Conference 'The Art and Practice of Structural Design'

Structural masonry In April, we sought our readers’ views on what Mr T. J. Dishman described as an anomaly in BS 5628: Part 1: 1978, Code of Practice for the use of masonry (unreinforced). He noted that the design moment of resistance of a vertically spanning wall according to clause 36.4 was higher when using a low strength block manufactured with ‘special control’ than when using a higher strength block manufactured with ‘normal control’. Mr A. N. Beal of Leeds has followed up this point and has now drawn our attention to what he regards as a curious feature of clause 36.8. He writes: I can only point out that Mr Dishman has added another interesting example to the list of ‘anomalies’ in limit state Codes which is getting worryingly long and which seems to stem directly from errors and confusion at the heart of limit state theory. Verulam

This paper describes the way in which the principles of soil-structure interaction have been applied in the analysis and design of rafts and other surface foundations. Various techniques of modelling the soil and structure are outlined, as is the method of coupling the foundation structure to a layered soil continuum. The general approach to design is also discussed, and summaries are given of eight structural design projects ranging from simple strip footings to complex raft foundations. J.A. Hooper

Presidential tour On 22 August, the President and Mrs Rowe, accompanied by the Secretary and Mrs Clark, embark on a 3-week tour of South Africa, taking in the principal centres of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth. Obituary: Dr Oleg Kerensky