Examiners' Reports. Part 3 and Associate-Membership Examinations, April 1997

Mr A. N. Beal (M) (Thomason Partnership) Dr Desai has presented an interesting paper on a proposition most engineers have probably not considered: the use of centrally-placed horizontal steel in a reinforced concrete beam as shear reinforcement. However, in the paper the derivation of the proposed design formula (1) is not explained clearly and it would be helpful to have some explanation of this, as it is not obvious that it is necessarily the most appropriate formula to assess the contribution of such reinforcement.

Most of us are aware of the various ways of resolving disputes (e.g. negotiation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration, litigation). Adjudication has grown in popularity in recent years; it involves the use of a third party (the adjudicator) who finds out the details of a dispute and decides what should be a fair settlement, in the light of the contract. Unlike litigation (and to some extent arbitration) there is normally no set procedure to be followed. A.L. Gilbertson

Factors of safety in Codes Alasdair Bed, from Leeds, has returned to the fray and writes: Colin Taylor’s invitation (Verulam, 16 September) to a game of pingpong with him and Alan Weller is tempting (if we could find a suitably shaped table!), but the correspondence on the derivation of the BS 5950 safety factors had a rather more serious purpose.