The President 1979-80

Insurance and underpinning Both Mr. Bratchell and Mr. A. J. 0. Russell have expressed views on this issue, first raised by Mr. Collett (January 1979) and commented on by Mr. Park (May l979). From Mr. Bratchell: I suggest that the question of insurance of house foundations should be related to a reasonable expectation of life of the building. If a domestic house is expected to be designed and built for a life of, say, 50 years, one can hardly claim for foundation renewal at, say, 60 years. It ought to be possible to lay down guidelines which take account of expected life, and thus to allocate costs between repair and betterment. In my view, the need for underpinning should be covered by insurance only if it relates to a cause other than deterioration from age. Verulam

The preparation of the revised design rules for steel bridges is now in its final stages. The new standard incorporates the fruits of the research that has taken place since the establishment of the Merrison Committee some 7 years ago. J.E. Harding and R.E. Hobbs

A review of computer systems philosophy is presented. The effect of this philosophy on software development is examined. A typical suite of interactive programs for the plastic design of multibay portal frames in steel, PORTAL is described in detail. A short design study is included that highlights the effect on costs of varying the number of portal frames of a typical building. R.E. Yeadon