Eliminating Bow in Timber

Changing CPD Requirements Clive Shearer, writing from Washington State, USA, suggests some changes to CPD: First, I must thank Robert Horne for an outstanding contribution describing the path of many engineers of my generation. He must have read my resume! I am also fully in agreement with Messers Seaman and Bowden. Suggestion: (1) Scrap CPD as a blanket requirement. (2) Set up a body of peers to investigate public complaints about practising engineers: A review board: engineers who are found to be deficient in ethics, design approaches, noncompliant with Codes or standards shall be penalised. (There is a similar system in the USA.) For mild 1 transgressions, monitored CPD might be prescribed.

The Merle Bridge, opened in late 1999 is the largest wooden bridge in France. Built from Douglas fir, with a concrete slab forming the deck, it spans the 54m Maronne valley in the Correze region of France.

This paper describes tests on timber joints formed with punched metal-plate fasteners (nailplates) where the gap width between the timber members was varied. The resulting effects on compression and bending strengths are discussed, and comparison is made with relevant Codes of Practice. A. Reffold, B.S. Choo, M. Dietermann and T. Falz