Correspondence on Foundations for Low-Rise Buildings by Mr. R.M.C. Driscoll, Mr. M.S. Crilly and Mr.

Mr R. C. Sturrock (F) Earthquakes have become a significant factor in engineering in Australia as a result of the Newcastle earthquake a couple of years ago. I know that a lot of work has been done in New Zealand on base isolation of bridges. I believe that base isolation in a building would have a tremendous effect in reducing the sort of joint forces you are talking about. Have they actually tried base isolation on a building in New Zealand, and is my assumption correct that it would reduce joint forces?

Contributions to Verulam A member has complained that his contribution on an important subject was summarised rather than being quoted in full. He feels that heartfelt comments on important issues should be heard by the Institution and quotes the Institution's mission statement to support his views. Verulam receives large numbers of contributions, most of them on important subjects and presumably equally heartfelt by their authors. Verulam

In this paper, it is suggested that there are now available, or can be made available, measurement devices, data collection, transmission and processing methods, together with the means of effectively presenting processed data, which will allow near real-time assessment of structural behaviour; known as ‘condition monitoring’. By using this approach, the present problems of analysing and predicting the performance of structural systems can be largely overcome and the management and operation of structures can be much more effectively achieved. Already in some branches of science and technology condition monitoring is widely employed. Experience gained in these other areas shows that, in order to move from occasional to continuous, real-time, long-term monitoring, it will be necessary to develop the concept of designing integrated monitoring systems which involve multilevel monitoring using instrumentation linked to fully automated and integrated data recording systems. Professor A. McGowan, Professor H.D. Wright and Professor J. James