The text of the address given by the President, Keith White, at the Institution’s annual dinner at Guildhall, City of London, on 6 May 1988, in response to the toast to the Institution proposed by the Rt. Hon. The Baroness Elles. May I first, on behalf of the members of my Institution and, I am sure, on the part of our guests too, express our sincere appreciation to you, Baroness, for speaking to us this evening and in proposing the toast to the Institution of Structural Engineers, so ably and so eloquently.
Dr. E. J. O’Brien (Roughan & O’Donovan (formerly, de Leuw, Chadwick & OhEocha)): I read this paper with great interest, as I am currently designing a grain germination vessel that is, in many respects, similar to the domed structures described.
Heathall, situated on the outskirts of Dumfries, was chosen for the construction of a factory by Arrol-Johnson Motor Car Company. This, now listed, building was completed in 1912 and was the first ferro-concrete factory erected in Britain. The main elevation is 170 m long, from which there are five projecting wings to the rear. The external construction is exposed reinforced concrete framing with brickwork dado walls and infill glazing. It has remained serviceable throughout its continuous life, and the original form has been maintained and enhanced through the current structural improvement works. C. Dinardo and J.R. Ballinghall
Design of flat slabs to BS 8110 Mr A . C . Shapcott of Horsham asks for enlightenment over the reasoning behind the factors given in Table 3.19 of the Code for the empirical design of flat slabs. He refers in particular to the moment values achieved at the first interior support: It appears that, historically, the slab moment values have been higher (CP114 and CPllO), but now equate to WL/16, the ‘L’ being modified in all cases. I note that the total moment at the joint equates to the old values, but at worst any stiffness analysis of slab alone should approach Table 3.13 values. Verulam