Maitland Lecture 1984 Engineers, Economists, and the Marketplace

‘Back in the good old days you could design a beam on the back of an envelope: it was just a matter of WL/8. Now it requires pages of calculations and probably a computer to do the same job’. A.W. Beeby

Subsidence of residential property In October, Mr J. Arnold drew our attention to some of the difficulties encountered in adopting economic remedial measures for dealing with building subsidence. Two of our readers have responded to this letter. Mr J. B. Johnson writes from Dudley: I am surprised that the matter has arisen because, in my opinion, strengthening of existing structures because of subsidence is not subject to Building Regulations control. The original construction was subject to previous legislation, and by this action was deemed to have been approved. Verulam

The possible variations in the answer to the question passed in the title are many and depend directly on the circumstances of who perceives the question. J.J.G. Wheeler