Verulam

Engineers are for ever complaining about their lack of status and the low regard in which society holds those whom we refer to as ‘engineers’. In our opinion, this means corporate and noncorporate members of one of the recognised bodies, such as the Structurals. B. Clancy

Recent repairs to 18th century buildings have brought to light trussed girders, large timber beams with internal trusses, which were used extensively during the 18th and 19th centuries. The paper examines their origins, their rise in popularity, and their eventual demise. It goes on to review the opinions of contemporary authors, showing the wide disparity of knowledge regarding the behaviour of such structural members. Finally, it reports on a series of tests that provide information about the actual behaviour of the girders, the reasons for their use, and suggestions as to why they eventually fell from favour. M.H. Dawes and D.T. Yeomans

Mr M. D. Japes (Director of Engineering, British Waterways Board): Bearing in mind that the design and construction techniques were so innovative, if it was required to repeat the construction, are there any aspects that Mr Simpson would now change, either in the design or in the construction techniques?