A Presdient's View

The Forces in Roofs Simon Course, a Graduate Member writing from Salisbury, has explained why calculations for tie forces are often wrongly derived: Consider a simple roof construction, as shown in Fig 1, with all three joints pinned and a rafter UDL. When checking submissions for Building Regulation approval, it seems that many engineers derive the tie force (and hence the load for the rafter/tie connection design) by using the expression T=R/tane. As tane=2H/L, this gives T=RL/2H. This is in fact incorrect.

The new parliamentary building, adjacent to the Palace of Westminster, provides offices and committee rooms for MPs. The location in a World Heritage site was an important factor in the design; equally significant was the presence below of the new Westminster underground station. J.A. Thornton, C.P. Dewy and D.M. Mitchell

As my year in office draws to a close, my immediate reaction is to wonder exactly where the last 12 months have gone! It really does seem only a short time ago that I gave my address - ‘Promoting the profession’ and, the next day, embarked on a whirlwind round of visits to Branches, Sections and, more recently, international Divisions of the Institution. Dr John Roberts