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The Structural Engineer, Volume 75, Issue 6, 1997
Mr D. A. Cook (M)/Mr P. McCombie (University of Bath) One of us attended the first presentation under this title, by Tomlinson, Driscoll & Burland (1978) as a member of the Institution, and participated in the ensuing discussion. This new contribution is appropriate to the changing circumstances of a drier climate and an increasing land scarcity leading to more construction on fill material. However, it is slightly disappointing to see that, after 17 years, the BRE still chooses to tackle one half of the problem only. The debate is about low-rise buildings, which are mainly in brick, and therefore for the most part we are talking about domestic houses.
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