All articles from the August 2017 issue.
Publish Date – 1 August 2017
As he reaches the mid-point of his year in in office, President Ian Firth reflects on the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London and the problems uncovered earlier with the construction of schools in Edinburgh.
While it is too soon to talk about the specifics of Grenfell Tower, the report of the Edinburgh Schools Inquiry has thrown the issue of professional scrutiny into sharp focus. Ian laments a decline in professional oversight of construction works and believes that the time for change has now come.
Hammersmith Flyover is an early precast segmental bridge in west London. It has prestress which is described as external but runs in grouted ducts for some of its length. The prestress was deteriorating seriously and emergency strengthening was installed in 2012.
It was decided in anticipation of further deterioration that new prestress should be installed to make the structure independent of the original. This is believed to be the first time that full replacement prestress has been installed in a bridge where it was not possible to remove the original.
This month, our series turns its attention to cash flow. Peter Smith looks at the steps firms can take to ensure that invoices are paid promptly and how to address problems with late payments and debts.
This article explores the inherent uncertainties in design parameters, design process, issues with site execution and issues with performance in service, in reference to health and safety.
This article provides a brief introduction to some of the construction techniques of lifting, moving and jacking that may be needed to build more challenging permanent works.
Francis Archer has designed extraordinary structures, not all of them built. The engineer for London’s Garden Bridge talks to Jackie Whitelaw about how creativity is never wasted.
Neil Thompson of Digital Built Britain considers the possibility of treating building materials as financial instruments – with their value ensuring they are recirculated through the economy after demolition or refurbishment.
David Brown finds the second edition of this comprehensive guide to be a valuable addition to a designer's resources, thanks in large part to the many worked examples, which are easy to identify, comprehensive and instructive.
Alastair Hughes is disappointed by this new edition of a book that contains much wisdom but which would have benefitted from both more thorough updating and a good editor to be useful in the design office.
The new edition of this guide to The Party Wall etc. Act will be useful both as a fund of general knowledge and as a basis for professional practice as a party wall surveyor, with the guidance on ‘special foundations’ alone making it worth the cover price, concludes J.S. Johnston.
Topics discussed this month range from the risk in misusing software, a final word on buttress stability, seismic proofing and the danger of fracking, and having expert advice available 24-7 for when disasters strike.
Events held at Institution HQ and in the Regions.
The Library has extensive coverage on all aspects of bridge theory, design, construction, history, management, maintenance and retrofitting. With over 1500 books and reports, this short article can only scratch at the surface.
In this section we shine a spotlight on papers recently published in Structures – the Research Journal of The Institution of Structural Engineers.
A question considering bending moment diagrams from the Institution’s Structural Behaviour Course.