Viewpoint: Could we use structures as material banks?

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.

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.

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.