Setting Standards for Underpinning

Some of the issues now facing the professions as a result of the Engineering Council’s recently published ‘Competence and Commitment’ report are reviewed in this commentary commissioned by The Structural Engineer.

The super highway We continue Mr R A Beeton’s contribution on this theme, part-published in our column for 21 March 1995. Mr R.A. Beeton - Internet No.: Bando@Pavilion co.uk and Compuserve No.100025,1352 - has sent very full comment and advice on the current state of the super highway for engineers. He writes: Access A few observations may help the uninitiated. I am not an expert in this field, but offer these views and experiences with the Internet and Compuserve. Two major global communications systems to which anyone can subscribe offer a myriad of interesting and informative sources of information and discussion. Several groups are related to civil and structural engineering. Verulam

The mutually beneficial effects of combining steel and concrete in the same structural member and system are commonly utilised to advantage in design under primary (static) loads. For earthquake loading, different problems have to be addressed, as greater damping may be offset by increased mass and stiffness, leading to higher seismic loads. However, since composite construction is used extensively, especially for highrise construction, the seismic performance of this form of construction requires investigation and the development of specific design guidance. Over the past 9 years, extensive analytical and experimental studies have been undertaken at Imperial College, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, Institute of Industrial Science. These studies confirmed that, with minimum design and detailing alterations, composite structures offer a most economical and reliable design alternative to steel and reinforced concrete structures. Professor A.S. Elnashai, B.M. Broderick and Professor P.J. Dowling