Aldershot Training Facility. A Swim Fit for the Military

The status of engineers David Doran has written from London E11: In the continuing debate on the status of engineers, one thing occurs to me. Recent times have seen the growth of a number of specialisms (or subdisciplines) which have, my opinion, eroded the central role of the engineer. These include: - quantity surveying, - quality assurance, - value engineering, - risk management, - durabilty auditing, - project management.

Designed by the eminent French engineer Ferdinand Amodin, the Newport Transporter Bridge was closed in 1985 owing to concerns regarding its condition and safety. Despite its grade II* listed building status, it was not until 6 years later that funds were obtained to enable a comprehensive programme of refurbishment to be undertaken. Before repairs could be formulated, a detailed structural survey of every component of the bridge was carried out, and the data were used to investigate the behaviour of the bridge and its likely response to the proposed sequence of remedial works. This paper reviews what is believed would have been Arnodin's understanding of the bridge’s behaviour; and compares this with what can be deduced from contemporary analytical techniques and the current geometry of the structure. It describes the techniques used to carry out the repairs and summarises the procedures by which the replacement cable profiles and loads were determined. R.J. Lark, B.R. Mawson and A.K. Smith

My firm, John Ernest Gay Associates, is a medium sized firm of consulting civil and structural engineers dealing, in the main, with defects in buildings and producing reports for building societies, insurance companies, and the law recently purchased a package consisting of a web site and five e-mail addresses and downloaded Pegasus Mail. John Gay