TheStructuralEngineer

September 2018
Volume 96 | Issue 9

The flagship publication of The Institution of Structural Engineers

SIMPLE STEEL
CONNECTIONS

UNDERSTANDING RISK

EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION

WIND,
FORM AND
STRUCTURE
Aerodynamic shape optimisation
of the 530m tall Tianjin CTF
Finance Centre

TSE80_01_Cover.indd 1 23/08/2018 11:11

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 Upfront
thestructuralengineer.org Contents

PAGE 10 KENNETH SEVERN AWARD PAGE 24 UNDERSTANDING RISK PAGE 27 SIMPLE STEEL CONNECTIONS

TheStructuralEngineer
Volume 96 | Issue 9

Upfront Project focus Opinion

5 Editorial 14 Tianjin CTF Finance Centre: wind, form and structure 32 Viewpoint: Managing risk in a changing business
world: BIM, international contracts and megaprojects
6 Institution news:
Professor Ding Jiemin FIStructE announced 34 Viewpoint: BIM: what’s the point?
as 2018 Gold Medallist Professional guidance 35 Book review: Disaster risk reduction for the built
109th Annual General Meeting environment
22 Business Practice Note No. 18:
23rd Benevolent Fund Annual General Meeting
Effective communication 36 Verulam
7 Institution news:
24 Going bananas – an introduction to the public
Institution election/transfer/reinstatement list:
understanding and communication of risk
14 June 2018
Watch the Institution’s Technical Lecture Series
At the back
on YouTube 39 Diary dates
8 Industry news
Technical 41 Spotlight on Structures
27 Technical Guidance Note Level 2, No. 17: Simple 42 Products & Services
connections in steel frames
43 Services Directory
Features 44 TheStructuralEngineer Jobs
10 Kenneth Severn Award 2018: What will structural 50 And finally…
engineering practice look like in 10–15 years’ time
and how can our professional community help us
prepare for this?

Front cover: TIANJIN CTF FINANCE CENTRE © REX

The Structural Engineer www.thestructuralengineer.org

PRESIDENT ADVERTISING EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP © The Institution of Structural Engineers. All non-member authors
Faith Wainwright are required to sign the Institution’s ‘Licence to publish’ form.
MBE, FREng, DEng (Hon), DISPLAY SALES Will Arnold MIStructE Authors who are members of the Institution meet our requirements
FIStructE, FICE Lucy Filamba Allan Mann FIStructE under the Institution’s Regulation 10.2 and therefore do not need
t: +44 (0) 20 7880 7632 Don McQuillan FIStructE to sign the ‘Licence to publish’ form. Copyright for the layout and
CHIEF EXECUTIVE e: [email protected] Chris O’Regan FIStructE design of articles resides with the Institution while the copyright
Martin Powell Angus Palmer MIStructE
of the material remains with the author(s). All material published in
RECRUITMENT SALES Simon Pitchers MIStructE
The Structural Engineer carries the copyright of the Institution, but
EDITORIAL Beth Fifield
the intellectual rights of the authors are acknowledged.
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Price (2018 subscription)
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TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 3

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 Call for papers
Special issue: Future trends in structural engineering
Climate change, urbanisation and demographic change, technological, material and computational advances, artificial
intelligence, automation. The world stands on the cusp of a period of change of unprecedented pace and scale.
How will these challenges affect the structural engineering profession? What threats and opportunities do they present? What steps
must structural engineers take to shape their future roles? What will the profession look like in the year 2040?

The Structural Engineer seeks contributions to a special issue addressing the changing nature of the profession over the next 20 years.
Articles may take the form either of thought pieces exploring anticipated challenges and opportunities, or case studies discussing
how new materials, technologies and techniques are being trialled and how these may continue to develop into the future.

Articles are invited on the following broad topics:

• Adoption and application of new materials and construction techniques
• Adoption and application of advanced technologies and data-centric processes
• Impact of wider availability of sophisticated digital tools
• Sustainability and changing requirements for structures and buildings
• Changing requirements for managing the design, procurement and construction process
• Changes to business practice and the legal/insurance landscape
• Education and skills requirements for the future
If you would like to contribute an article, please submit a brief synopsis (approx. 150 words) outlining what you propose to cover to
[email protected] by 16 November 2018.

Guest Editors
Ed Clark Tim Ibell
FIStructE, MICE FREng, FIStructE
Ed Clark is a Director at Arup and Chair of the Tim Ibell is Professor of Structural Engineering
Structural Futures Committee at The Institution at the University of Bath, and a Past President
of Structural Engineers. of The Institution of Structural Engineers.

Ceremony tickets now available

16 November

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p04_TSE.Sep18.indd 2 22/08/2018 12:56

 Upfront
thestructuralengineer.org Editorial

Editorial
Have your say
Robin Jones Managing Editor

As we move towards the end of the year, I’d like to elicit your views on In this issue…
The Structural Engineer to help us plan for 2019 and beyond. Many of The future is also very much on the mind of Radu Trancau, this year’s
you will be aware that there are significant digital changes afoot at the winner of the Kenneth Severn Award. In his winning essay (page 10),
Institution to enable it to continue serving members’ needs effectively Radu takes an imaginary trip to the future to spend a day at a successful
(and may well have volunteered your thoughts on this). I’d like to engineering practice in the year 2030. What do other readers think: is this
ensure that The Structural Engineer also remains a valuable member what structural engineering will look like in a dozen years or so? Letters to
benefit, and to that end I ask to you spare a few minutes to take part Verulam, please!
in our reader survey at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ Elsewhere in the issue, our Project focus article describes the wind
TSEsurvey2018 (or by scanning the QR code with engineering performed on the 530m tall Tianjin CTF Finance Centre
your phone). All those completing the survey will be tower in China with the goal of ensuring that wind loads did not govern the
eligible for a prize draw in which three respondents structure’s design (page 14).
chosen at random will each receive a £100 Amazon In Professional guidance, we present a Business Practice Note offering
gift card. advice on how to communicate effectively (page 22); and also an article
considering ‘risk literacy’ and its relevance to structural engineers
Future trends (page 24).
Next, I’d like to draw your attention to the ‘Call for papers’ opposite. In Technical, we bring you a new Technical Guidance Note introducing
The Structural Engineer is planning a special issue devoted to ‘Future the topic of simple connections in steel frames (page 27).
trends in structural engineering’ in which we hope to explore how the In Opinion, we have two Viewpoint articles this month: first, Stephen
profession is likely to develop over the next 20 years. Whether your Hargreaves of Griffiths & Armour discusses the risks that BIM,
interest is new materials and construction techniques; digital tools and international contracts and megaprojects present (page 32); Kate
data-centric processes; sustainability and changing requirements for Leighton then considers the long-term future of BIM and asks whether
structures; or evolving business and design practices, we’d like to hear enough is being done to ensure that the system is future proof (page 34).
from you. Last but not least, regular features include Verulam (page 36), Diary
If you’re interested in contributing an article, please send a short dates (page 39), Spotlight on Structures (page 41) and ‘And finally…’
outline to [email protected] by 16 November. (page 50).

The Structural Engineer The Institution The Structural Contributions published in The Structural Engineer are
 provides structural engineers and related  has over 27 000 members in over 100 countries Engineer (ISSN published on the understanding that the author/s is/are
professionals worldwide with technical information around the world 1466-5123) is solely responsible for the statements made, for
on practice, design, development, education and  is the only qualifying body in the world concerned solely published by the opinions expressed and/or for the accuracy of
training associated with the profession of structural with the theory and practice of structural engineering IStructE Ltd, a the contents. Publication does not imply that any
engineering, and offers a forum for discussion on  through its Chartered members is an internationally wholly owned statement or opinion expressed by the author/s
these matters recognised source of expertise and information subsidiary of reflects the views of the Institution of Structural
 promotes the learned society role of the Institution concerning all issues that involve structural engineering The Institution Engineers’ Board; Council; committees; members
by publishing peer-reviewed content which advances and public safety within the built environment of Structural or employees. No liability is accepted by such persons
the science and art of structural engineering  supports and protects the profession of structural Engineers. It is or by the Institution for any loss or damage, whether
 provides members and non-members worldwide engineering by upholding professional standards available both caused through reliance on any statement, opinion
with Institution and industry related news and to act as an international voice on behalf of in print and or omission (textual or otherwise) in The Structural
 provides a medium for relevant advertising structural engineers online. Engineer, or otherwise.

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 5

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 Upfront
Institution news thestructuralengineer.org

Professor Ding Jiemin FIStructE announced as 2018 Gold Medallist

2018 Gold Medal. of very fast development in than today”!’
The award recognises his China, accumulating invaluable Martin Powell, Chief Executive
outstanding leadership directing experience in the structural of The Institution of Structural
the structural design of many design of super high-rise buildings Engineers, said: ‘Professor
iconic mega-structures which and long-span structures. Ding is an outstanding leader in
now define modern Shanghai. ‘Structural engineering will Chinese structural engineering
Professor Ding is perhaps best face many challenges from and a major figure in the
recognised for his work on the digitalisation in the coming Institution’s global membership.
Shanghai Tower, a remarkable years, but if I had a message for His vision in structural design has
632m mega-tall skyscraper in members it would be that such helped define the astonishing
Pudong, Shanghai. developments can also offer great development in Shanghai over
Professor Ding said: ‘I am support in our work. We need to recent years, and he is a worthy
Professor Ding Jiemin of Tongji honoured to receive the Gold make good use of information and recipient of our award, which over
Architectural Design (Group) Medal award. During my digitalisation to provide the best the last century has recognised
Co., Ltd. has been awarded The career I was lucky to have the possible service for our clients. greats from Ove Arup to Pier Luigi
Institution of Structural Engineers’ opportunity to work at a time My motto is, “Do better tomorrow Nervi.’

109th Annual General Meeting 23rd Benevolent Fund Annual

The 109th Annual General Meeting of the Institution of Structural General Meeting
Engineers was held at The Crystal, One Siemens Brothers Way, Royal
Victoria Dock, London E16 IGB, UK, on Thursday 19 July 2018 with The 23rd Annual General Meeting of members of the Institution of Structural
Ms F.H. Wainwright MBE, FREng, CEng, DEng(Hons), FIStructE, FICE Engineers Benevolent Fund took place at The Crystal, One Siemens Brothers
(President) in the chair. A quorum of more than 10 Voting Members Way, Royal Victoria Dock, London E16 1GB, UK, on Thursday 29 July 2018.
was present. Mr J.M. Allen BSc(Hons), CEng, FIStructE, MICE, Chairman, was in the
The Chief Executive, Martin Powell, read the notice convening the chair. A quorum of at least five members was present.
meeting (published in The Structural Engineer, June 2018). It being The notice convening the meeting (published in The Structural Engineer,
agreed that the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 20 June 2018) was read by the Secretary, Dr S.M. Doran BSc(Eng), AKC,
July 2017 (published in The Structural Engineer, September 2017) PhD, CEng, MICE, ACIS. It being agreed that the minutes of the Annual
be taken as read, it was duly proposed and seconded that they be General Meeting held on 20 July 2017 (published in The Structural Engineer,
confirmed. The resolution was passed, and the minutes signed by the September 2017) be taken as read, it was proposed and seconded that the
Chairman. minutes be confirmed. The resolution was passed, and the minutes signed by
The Chairman introduced the Annual Report and Accounts for the Chairman.
the year to 31 December 2017, the availability of which had been The Chairman then referred to the financial statements and reports for the
announced in the notice of the meeting, and drew attention to its year 2017 (the availability of which had been announced in the notice of the
contents. She thanked those members who had given of their time to
meeting). It was proposed and seconded that the financial statements, and
serve the Institution. The Chairman also referred to the consolidated
directors’ and trustees’ report, and the auditors’ report of the year ended 31
financial statements for 2017 and the auditor’s report (published
December 2017 be adopted. The resolution was carried on a show of hands
with the Annual Report and Accounts). The motion that the financial
by members.
statements and balance sheet for the year 2017 be received, having
It having been proposed and seconded, BDO LLP, chartered accountants
been proposed and seconded, was carried on a show of hands.
and registered auditors, were reappointed for the ensuing year, at a fee to be
The reappointment of BDO LLP, chartered accountants and
registered auditors, as auditors to the Institution for the ensuing year, agreed with them by the trustees.
at a fee to be agreed with them by the Board, was then proposed and The Chairman next reminded the meeting that Mr M.F. Ryland, Mr G.E.
seconded, and the motion carried. Watts and Mr N.C. Wheeler were retiring as trustees by rotation but were
The Chairman having introduced a motion relating to annual offering themselves for reappointment. It having been proposed and
subscriptions, of which due notice had been given, it was moved and seconded it was resolved that Mr Ryland, Mr Watts and Mr Wheeler be
seconded: reappointed trustees.
The Chairman then explained why the trustees were recommending that
‘That in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 3.1, and in the Fund’s Articles of Association be amended. On being put to the meeting
confirmation of proposals of the Board, annual subscriptions with the special resolution ‘That with effect from the conclusion of the meeting,
effect from 1 January 2019, and until otherwise determined, shall be: the Articles of Association presented to the meeting and available before the
meeting on the Charity’s website be approved and adopted as the Articles
‘Fellow £434; Member, Associate £341; Associate-Member £223;
of Association of the Charity in substitution for and to the exclusion of the
Technician Member £173; Graduate, Companion, Student (working)
existing Articles of Association (including the relevant provisions of the
£167.’
Memorandum of Association that would otherwise be treated as provisions
Following discussion, upon being put to the meeting, the resolution of the Articles under s28 of the Companies Act 2006).’ was passed
was adopted on a show of hands. unanimously.
With the completion of the formal business, the Chairman closed The Chairman then closed the 2018 Annual General Meeting of the
the 109th Annual General Meeting of the Institution. Benevolent Fund.

6 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

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 Upfront
thestructuralengineer.org Institution news
Institution news

Institution election/transfer/reinstatement list: 14 June 2018

At a meeting of the NEOGI, Amar Nath LEDDY, Donal Paul FAIRMAN, David Graduate (39)
Membership Committee on WAHEED, M Farooq LEUNG, Yiu Chun FARRELL, Stanley Thomas
14 June 2018, the following ZAHER, Arwa Samir MAIDA, Fahed FINDLAY, Greg Student (4)
were elected/transferred/ MUNCASTER, Christopher FORD, John Lloyd
reinstated in accordance Student Employed to John GRAHAM, John DEATHS
with the Institution’s Member (2) NILAN, Paul HARDEN, John Charles The deaths of the following
Regulations: O’CONNOR, Alan PANG, Wai Sze Lennox are reported with regret:
ACHINTHA, Mithila SADEQ, Mohammed Adnan HILTON, Kenneth Edwin
ELECTIONS Shaban HYDE, Neil Stewart Fellow (8)
Member (6) Student/Graduate to SEBASTIAN, Dilip KINDYNIS, Loizos Theodosis
DICKSON, Michael George
CASEY, Kevin Associate (1) SHIM, Gek Piang MADELEY, Ian Michael
Tufnell
HAMBURGER, Ronald Owen JONATHAN, Vivian Scott SWAP, Alan Glen MAJUMDAR, Arunendu
HARDY, Samuel Clifford
MASCHE, Ken TAN, Siew Luan MARLOW, Andrew John
Student to Graduate (73) TIRUMANI, Subrahmanyam NEAMA, Alaa KIRKPATRICK, James
REYNOLDS, Andrea
SMITH, Robert WEST, James PEARSON, John LAMB, Allan Roy
RAMOS, Brendan Student Free to Student WOODS, Robert Michael PLATER, Roger David LUMLEY, John Walter
Employed (3) YASHKOV, Grigory RICHARDS, David Leonard
Graduate (212) ROBERTS, Geoffrey Leslie MURRAY, Colin Granville
Student Free (710) Student Free (119) SILVEY, Paul Gary PRITCHARD, Gerald Alan
Student Employed (1) SKILTON, Eric John Morgan
REINSTATEMENTS NOTICE SMITH, Garry Kenneth SHAW, Geoffrey Frank
TRANSFERS Member (5) RESIGNATIONS TAYLOR, Malcolm Richard
Member/Associate to CHAN, Chi Ming Maverick The Membership Committee John Member (11)
Fellow (13) EATON, Alan has accepted, with regret, the WOOD, Alan BALSARA, Rustom Jehangir
AGBABIAKA, Elias Olawale JABLONSKA, Aleksandra following resignations: WOODS, Graham William CLARKE, Arthur Bruce
AGRAWAL, Roma LEE, Hok Wai WRIGHT, Peter John DIXON, Roger
AYRES, Peter James LIU, Songhua Fellow (4) LOUW, Timotheus
COBB, Fiona Margaret ANDERSON, Denis Roy Associate-Member (11) MAYES, John Trevor
FERNANDEZ, Stephen Graduate (27) William BEACHAM, Ian David MCDONNELL, Gerald
Anthony ABITKAR, Abhimanyu BATTEN, Peter COOKE, Alan Graham MCNICOL, Robert
GARSIDE, Nigel ANGULO ORTEGA, Jose HADFIELD, John David DOUGLAS, Robert
MORTEN, Peter
KARSH, Joseph Jean Eric Antonio WIGGLESWORTH, Geoffrey FOULDS, Robert Henry
QUINTYN, Walter Hezekiah
LEE, Ping Kuen BROWN, Benjamin David GRANT, James Alexander
SERCOMBE, John Gilbert
MANDER, Timothy David Cranston Member (33) Ritchie
MODARRES, Peyrouz DAOU, Ahmad ABRAHAM, Bernard Paul MILLARD, John Edwin WRIGHT, Christine
QUAH, LyeHock ELAZHARY, Khalid Ismail ARMSTRONG, Michael John PYE, Barry
ROBINSON, Toby Miles ELLIS, Matthew BANKS, Jeffrey ROGAN, John Kevin Associate-Member (2)
TEGART, Roger Stephen FRIEL, Rachael Wendy BAUER, Michael STIFF, Graham George COLE, Stephen Howard
GANAPATHY, Muthukumar BEADLE, Philip Roy TAYLOR, Alan Robert REDMOND, James
Graduate to Member (6) HERRIDGE, Joseph BIRCH, Leigh TOWNSEND, Stuart Keith Christopher
PERONTO, John HOLLAND, James Alexander BRACE, Linsey Katherine
MITRA, Bhabotosh KAGAWADE, Sachin CABLE, Christopher James Technician Member (1) Graduate (1)
NAIN, Sara Bibi LARKIN, Craig COX, Richard Anthony BROCKBANK, Jamie MTANGADURA, Ernest

Watch the Institution’s Technical Lecture Series on YouTube

The Institution’s popular Technical Lecture Series are now available to view on its YouTube channel. Recent lectures include:

MASS Design Group’s impact driven Form follows functions: Computational Avoiding common mistakes in
approach to design and construction in Africa design of the Hive (and other works) FEA modelling
This lecture discusses MASS’s approach to Tristan Simmonds explores his engineering In this talk, Peter Debney – a structural
innovative architectural and engineering design work on sculptural projects including the engineer with Arup, an application specialist
in the context of Rwanda and East Africa. 2015 Milan Expo UK Pavilion ‘Hive’ with artist at Oasys, and a visiting lecturer at the
Case studies demonstrate how they are trying Wolfgang Buttress, now residing at Kew University of Bradford – will explore some
to develop a higher-quality built environment in Gardens. He will show how he has leveraged classic mistakes made in FEA models and
resource-limited settings through collaborating computational tools to design, detail and how to avoid them.
with government agencies, suppliers, clients, fabricate complex structures with limited Peter has spent many years building FEA
contractors and designers. The lecture also resources. models of dubious quality. He now puts that
looks into local material research such as Tristan speaks about his experiences with experience into practice by helping engineers
earth construction, burnt brick alternatives and artists and how small offices can use digital with their own modelling problems. There are
sustainable timber construction. tools to execute larger, more conventional a number of errors that appear time and time
To view the lecture, scan the QR code or projects. again, some with minor consequences and
visit https://youtu.be/AJ7Xr3KWbtU To view the lecture, scan the QR code some with very serious ones.
Find out more about MASS or visit https://youtu.be/ To view the lecture, scan the
Design Group at https:// itKn4JoPBOU QR code or visit https://youtu.
massdesigngroup.org/ be/-M-5_6_1DDE

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 7

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 Upfront
Industry news thestructuralengineer.org

SCOSS Alert: Building a Safer Future

£500 000 MBA scholarships to help
Structural-Safety has released a new SCOSS Alert summarising
engineers lead in business selected parts of the Independent Review of Building Regulations
Thirty years ago, Lord Sainsbury identified a need for UK and Fire Safety: Final Report that are relevant to structural and civil
businesses to have more engineers in leadership positions to help engineers. The Alert is aimed at those who own, commission, design,
improve the economic performance of engineering, manufacturing construct, or maintain multi-occupancy higher-risk residential buildings
and construction businesses. He set up the Sainsbury Management (HRRBs) that are 10 storeys or more in height.
Fellowship (SMF) MBA Scholarship to enable engineers with Read the Alert in full at www.structural-safety.org/media/436336/
the potential to achieve leadership roles early in their careers to scoss-alert-building-a-safer-future.pdf
complement their engineering expertise with business, finance and The latest CROSS Newsletter (No. 51) from Structural-Safety is also
marketing skills. The scholarship enhances the career potential of available to download at www.structural-safety.org/media/435829/
young engineers by providing essential skills for boardroom roles cross-newsletter-no-51-final.pdf
and to start innovative companies.
Each year 10 successful applicants are awarded £50 000 each
for MBA study at one of 14 top international business schools. RIBA calls for comprehensive ban on
To date, £8.5M worth of SMF Scholarships have been awarded
to engineers. On graduation, the awardees become Sainsbury
combustible materials
Management Fellows and join an impressive professional network The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has submitted evidence
which provides access to leading-edge business events and career to the UK government’s consultation on banning the use of combustible
support. materials in the external walls of high-rise residential buildings.
Engineers are invited to submit an application online and, if After a lengthy investigation, the Institute has concluded that a ban
successful, they will attend an interview panel run by the Royal on combustible materials is the only way to ensure that our buildings are
Academy of Engineering (RAEng) and Sainsbury Management safe and fit for the future.
Fellows. Visit the RAEng website (www.raeng.org.uk/grants-and- The RIBA response was made to the Ministry of Housing,
prizes/schemes-for-people-in-industry/sainsbury-management- Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) consultation that was
fellowship) for full details on eligibility and the application process. launched in the wake of Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of
The deadline for submission is 29 October 2018. Building Regulations and Fire Safety. The architect’s body argues for
Scholarship awardee Ben Banks BSc, MASc, who chose LBS to A1 ‘non-combustible’ certification, contrary to those who continue to
do his MBA, said: ‘My engineering background has given me a basis suggest that products of ‘limited combustibility’ should be permitted.
in breaking down problems, solving components, and assembling The Institute also strongly recommends that the ban is extended
a path forwards. However, the MBA will give me the context and to include any high-rise buildings, such as offices and educational
vocabulary to take this and apply it on a broader level. The MBA will buildings, to ensure that the public is properly protected in the event of
give me the tools and knowledge to make changes at a company a fire.
and industry level, and to see issues with a wider For full details, visit www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-
view and a better background on influences. It resources/knowledge-landing-page/riba-calls-for-a-comprehensive-
will help me to transition from a very focused and ban-on-combustible-materials#
specialised position to a broader role, and enable
me to start tackling big and exciting challenges in
the future.’ Circular economy programme launches
at UKGBC
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has launched a new ‘circular
Contribute to fib Model Code 2020 economy’ programme for the built environment. The programme will
include a series of live experiments over two years, testing the application
The International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) is seeking of circular principles on real estate assets and construction projects.
academic contributions to a new edition of its internationally The programme will address two areas that are frequently cited as
recognised Model Code for Concrete Structures. barriers to the practical implementation of circular economy principles.
fib Model Code 2020 (MC2020) will be the first structural code to A task group will be set up to consider how organisations can specify
integrate both the provisions for the design of new concrete structures reuse of materials and share resources between external projects while
with the through-life management and care of existing concrete ensuring technical integrity, liability and legal issues are covered to
structures – going beyond recent ISO codes, such as ISO 16311. reduce project risk. A second task group will look at what requirements
Academic expertise relating to the structural engineering of clients and planners can set within their development briefs, planning
concrete structures old and new will be crucial to its success. requirements, procurement documents and contractual clauses to ensure
Input about theoretical and conceptual developments, advances circular principles are applied effectively to developments.
in analytical and modelling procedures, new materials, advances in UKGBC members will be invited to participate in a number of focus
computational procedures, lifecycle performance and sustainability groups to help the task groups understand the opportunities and issues
assessment, structural monitoring, service life design, durability presented by the circular economy.
modelling and assessment, as well as robustness, are all sought. After this initial phase, the team will target ways in which the group can
For further details, visit www.istructe.org/news-articles/2018/ make practical interventions on live projects and share learning to aid the
member-news/contribute-to-fib-model-code-2020 sector in adopting circular principles at scale.
To express your interest in making a contribution, email Stuart For further information, visit www.ukgbc.org/news/circular-economy-
Matthews ([email protected]). programme-launches-at-ukgbc/

8 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

TSE80_8_Institution News.indd 8 23/08/2018 11:13

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 Feature
Kenneth Severn Award thestructuralengineer.org

Kenneth Severn Award 2018

What will structural
engineering practice Radu-Valentin Trancau
BEng(Hons)
Structural Engineer, CCL (GB) LTD

look like in 10–15 years’ Synopsis

The Institution of Structural

time and how can our Engineers’ Kenneth Severn Award

is an annual essay competition
for young engineers in which the

professional community question is set by the President.

In this essay, 2018 winner Radu
Trancau looks ahead to a rosy future

help us prepare for this? and considers what steps structural

engineers must take to get there.

FOREWORD

Faith Wainwright Paul Jackson

MBE, FREng, DEng (Hon), FIStructE, FICE PhD, BSc(Eng), CEng, FIStructE, MICE
2018 President of The Institution of Structural Engineers Chair of the Papers Awards Judging Panel

As an industry, we know that there The general standard of entries this

are many global challenges which year was high and seems to me to have
mean that how we typically practise substantially and progressively improved
as engineers now is definitely not since I was first a judge. The winners have
how we will be practising in years to always been good, but the first year I was
come. This is the case whether your involved we had to identify the winner from
interest is in social or demographic some 30 entries, which was easy and we
changes, or in digital change – from had unanimity among the panel. This year,
machine learning and artificial we had more entries (over 40) and the
intelligence to blockchain technology judging was much more difficult: the winner
and how we work in a data-first was not at all obvious even when the
environment. These challenges are judges’ marks were in and there was much
now coming at us thick and fast, and discussion in the panel. We had many good
we must be as forward-thinking as entries, with several considered worthy of
possible if we are to do more than an award, and there was a split decision,
simply react. leading to the award of the commendation.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to be able to shape our future The award is unique among those we
roles as engineers, and it matters – especially in the built environment, which on the Paper Awards Judging Panel judge
fundamentally affects quality of life and sustainability on this planet. We must in that it is not a technical paper. The
be future seekers, wanting to bring our best thinking to what we need to do as winner took advantage of this to use a
individuals, as firms, as communities of practice and as an industry, to better novel presentation which many of us found
meet society’s needs. refreshing and we hope readers will too.
This year one of my presidential themes is to encourage members to ‘lead
to inspire’. I believe that leadership can be given by people at any career stage
and it is our profession’s collective responsibility to help shape the future by KENNETH SEVERN AWARD 2018
always looking ahead, thinking about the challenges and how we turn them to Winner: Radu-Valentin Trancau
opportunities. As you read the winning essay selected by the judging panel, Commendation: Michael Minehane
why not use this as a prompt to debate this question with your own colleagues?

10 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

TSE80_10-12_Kenneth Severn award.indd 10 23/08/2018 11:13

 Feature
thestructuralengineer.org Kenneth Severn Award

"EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING
RIGHT NOW, LIVE ON THE 3D
HOLOGRAM"

into calculation software straight from the

federated model, which gives him the optimum
solution in terms of material consumption. He
says that the embedded CO2 of the building
is within the limits, but that it can be improved.
He decides to allocate the detailing to one
of his colleagues in another partner office
before investigating a method to reduce the
embedded CO2. Holo-goggles time again.
We meet the team’s detailing task force.
After a short chat about future holiday plans,
the brief for the task is clarified using the 3D
model, with sketches and notations made
straight on the 3D foundation of the building.
The communication is flawless, saves time
GETTY

and builds a strong working relationship

between all the team members. I really do
like these glasses. Maybe I can borrow some
 Figure 1
In the future, projects will be discussed
at holo-meetings
perspective. It is one of the floating cities
(Figure 2) being constructed in the Indian
to get in touch with all the friends I’ve made
so far today. The next step: the engineer
Ocean. I’m so lucky to attend this meeting. I’ve invites me to the department of research and
It’s almost nine o’clock in the morning and I’m always wanted to get an insight into one of sustainability where he is planning to outline
getting ready to start my guided tour inside these wonders of engineering. his concern.
one of the well-established engineering In turn, each discipline’s representative
practices of the year 2030. I arrived on the leans over the federated model, pinches the 12:00: Meeting the research team
driverless electrical train, I’ve registered my hologram to zoom in on a specific area and The research team is made up of the most
visit by using a retina scan signature and writes down a task or draws a sketch to be senior structural engineers who perform
a little robot has brewed me a nice coffee. passed on to the task teams. Once a task has simulations about every topic that needs to
From the reception area I can see the entire been discussed and approved, the task team be looked at in detail. The engineer’s request
floorplan of this practice. There are small are alerted and they all start working on their is to reduce the embedded CO2 of the
rooms for hologram meetings, big meeting piece. I can even see how, from our side of foundation. After receiving all the details, the
rooms with structural glass walls that can be the project, a shear wall is being modelled and research team introduces the input data into
dimmed when the meeting room is busy, and reinforced. Everything is happening right now, some super-fast analysis computers that are
many leisure rooms with ergonomic seating live on the 3D hologram. running simulations to see which is the best
facilities. A lot of people have already started All the meeting attendees discuss the concrete mix, how the steel composition can
to come to work and meet up to discuss the progress of the project and how to optimise be adjusted and what the optimum shapes
day’s plans. the tasks and implementation into the and sizes are. It’s going to be a long process,
federated model. It is amazing to see how but by tomorrow morning the results will
09:00: Meeting the project information quickly people get around from all over the be produced and interpreted by the senior
managers world and collaborate in such a clean and engineers and the project will in this way be
As it’s the beginning of the day, the fast environment to deliver a project. I have optimised even from the early stage of design.
information managers and consultants are been impressed by how these cutting-edge Engineering has seen very fast
getting together to set up the plan for the technologies and holo-meetings manage to development in the last decade in relation to
upcoming phase of the project. I am invited to save time, optimise the entire workflow and materials and optimised shapes, all due to
join their morning briefing in one of the holo- lead to great satisfaction for everybody. the development of technology. We now have
meeting rooms (Figure 1). I am sitting next elegant shapes with a minimal impact on the
to the project engineers and we all wear our 11:00: Meeting the task teams environment thanks to all the research teams
hologram glasses (this reminds me of an old I have been assigned to shadow one of the and mathematical simulations that are being
movie called ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’). structural engineers responsible for designing run throughout the ‘cradle-to-grave’ life of
The attendees are starting to appear one next a high-rise residential building in one of the cutting-edge projects.
to the other with their names, disciplines and central parts of the floating city. His task, as
locations above their heads. assigned by the information managers for the 15:00: Meeting the graduates
The project appears in the middle of the upcoming phase, is to design the foundation. My lunch break, followed by an hour of social
room with a full three-dimensional (3D) He has all the details of the building inserted activities, has been very welcome. I’ve met

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 11

TSE80_10-12_Kenneth Severn award.indd 11 23/08/2018 11:13

 Feature
Kenneth Severn Award thestructuralengineer.org
VINCENT CALLEBAUT ARCHITECTURES

 Figure 2
Lilypad project
by Vincent Callebaut
Architectures Paris

a structural engineering practice is; how engineering environments that have emerged
collaborative and how people are mentored in parallel with regional architecture. I’m
and encouraged to follow engineering right referring to Asian architecture and structural
from their studies. engineering, the Middle East with its record-
I have seen how technology has evolved: it breaking shapes and sizes, European
evolved naturally, but how people learned to architecture and with its long history of
use it to shape the future and to forge new structural engineering, and so on. The answer
ideas is something that was taught. It was a is to bring people together from different
collaborative process that happened around structural engineering environments, to share
the world, connecting cultures and sharing ideas and concepts, and to bridge cultures.
knowledge. It was a call for action that led We are problem-solvers. We are shaping
people to join together and fight challenges this planet’s future. For that we must come
a group of fresh graduates while wandering such as climate change, housing problems, together.
around the office and I’ve decided to sit down poverty and pollution.
with them and ask them their opinions about What can the professionals of 2018 do to Tailoring the education system
structural engineering. They say they are very achieve such a work environment? There are It is no secret that the education system has
happy to continue their careers in structural many answers to this question, but I believe changed little or not at all in recent decades.
engineering. They are not strangers among they can all be condensed into three broad There is a need for a more modern way of
the company employees, as they were actively categories: educating engineers. More bridges should
involved in the practical learning process be built between industry and academia. We
within the industry and some of their university Collaboration professionals are responsible for this action
mentors are even their colleagues now. We must come together under this profession. and for making sure we contribute to it. The
They say that the need to find alternatives We must help each other as professionals. We temporal bracket ‘10–15 years’ is not that far
to the climate and social challenges that need to act now and to mentor the younger away. We should look towards tackling these
started almost two decades ago has inspired generations. Part of our work programme challenges today, as tomorrow may be too late.
their whole generation towards all branches should be directed towards inspiring and
of engineering and the built environment. attracting new members to our profession. HAVE YOUR SAY
They have been part of a reformed way of A failure to help each other, not sharing
learning in university. Education was combined knowledge with each other and not realising To comment on this article:
with practice and with active roles inside that the biggest challenge of 2018 for Eemail Verulam at [email protected]
companies starting from Year 1. Now they are structural engineering is the shortage of Etweet @IStructE #TheStructuralEngineer
working to share their experience and they young people who choose engineering must
are encouraging the following generations to be the concerns that spark a big change
follow the same path. There was too little time among the engineering community. In the REFERENCE
to find out more, as they had to attend the words of Lindsley Ruth, ‘We have to start with
initial meeting for the timber residential project promoting technology and engineering as an E 1) Ruth L. (2017) ‘Engineering skills
shortage: overcoming the fear and
due to start next week. exciting and rewarding career to school-aged uncertainty’, The Engineer [Online]
children’1. Available at: www.theengineer.co.uk/
16:00: Time for conclusions engineering-skills-shortage-overcoming-
the-fear-and-uncertainty/ (Accessed:
The experience I had in the year 2030 has Bridging the gap between cultures
August 2018)
been amazing. I have seen how fast-paced There are so many different structural

12 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

TSE80_10-12_Kenneth Severn award.indd 12 23/08/2018 11:14

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p13_TSE.Sep18.indd 13 20/08/2018 14:39

 Project focus
Wind engineering for the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre thestructuralengineer.org

Tianjin CTF Finance Centre:

wind, form and structure
Stefano Cammelli vortex shedding. This process, approx. 10 hours
MEng, CEng, FICE of wind tunnel time, was able to deliver key design
Technical Director, BMT Fluid Mechanics, Teddington, UK information (e.g. peak dynamic overturning moments
and wind-induced peak accelerations) in real time
Synopsis for a total of 17 aerodynamic variations of the tower
The Tianjin CTF Finance Centre is a 530m super-tall form: a result which, previously, would only have been
building nearing completion in the People’s Republic possible through an extensive and time-consuming
of China. For a building of this height, wind forces and campaign of wind tunnel tests.
associated wind-induced motion in the upper levels The way in which the wind loading was then refined,
can become dominant factors in the structural design making use of simultaneous pressure integration
of its foundations and lateral-stability system. and aeroelastic techniques, will also be described.
This article describes how an initial aerodynamic Details about other wind engineering studies, aimed at
shape-optimisation workshop allowed the design investigating the pedestrian-level wind microclimate,
team to develop a finely tuned architectural form the facade wind pressure, as well as the stack effect,
capable of minimising the detrimental effects of will also be briefly presented.

 Figure 1
Bird’s-eye
view of Tianjin CTF
Finance Centre in
October 2017
NWD

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 Project focus
thestructuralengineer.org Wind engineering for the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre

E Figure 2
Last steel member of tower crown being lifted
from ground during topping-out ceremony

Introduction
The Tianjin CTF Finance Centre (TJCTF) is a
super-tall building (Figure 1) topped out in the
Chinese city of Tianjin on 31 October 2017
(Figure 2). The TJCTF is located within the
Tianjin Economic-Technological Development
Area of the Tanggu district, approx. 2km
from the Bohai Sea. It consists of a mixed-
use 530m super-tall tower (structural roof
height: 443m) and a large retail podium. The
97-storey skyscraper comprises Grade A
offices (bottom part of the building) for
international and domestic companies,
high-end serviced apartments (middle) and a
super-luxury hotel (top).
It should be noted that the Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) scheme
presented within this article features a new
NWD

design of a building of equivalent height that

was previously envisaged for the site but
which, at the point of financing, was found to softly rounded corners. These apartments,
be economically unviable to construct.
"THE INTENT WAS TO accessible from a sky lobby via a number of
From the start of this project, the design
REDUCE THE WIND LOADS TO private elevators, feature ample spaces with a

A LEVEL WHERE THEY DID

team was mindful of the fact that the well-balanced perimeter-to-floor space ratio

NOT GOVERN THE DESIGN"

commercial and financial success of a for generous room layouts.
modern super-tall structure like the TJCTF is The luxury hotel has 364 rooms and a
highly dependent on the mature integration Presidential Suite which can all be accessed
between different disciplines such as from a sky lobby; located in the upper portion
architecture, structural engineering and and wind performance design, the structure of the tower, these spaces feature smaller
applied aerodynamics. could have accelerations and wind loads well floor plates (1800m2) with eased corners to
One of the primary goals in developing below the code requirement, while also saving maximise panoramic views.
both the architectural form and the structural significant material costs relative to a more The four-storey podium has a roof height
system was to minimise the wind loads on the traditional design approach. of 32m and four levels of basement (24m
tower as far as possible. The intent was to Once the project had been de-risked from deep) and is connected to the west side of
reduce the wind loads to a level where they the point of view of strength and serviceability the tower.
did not govern the design, which meant that design, the attention of the wind engineering
the structure could be primarily designed for work moved to the assessment of the facade Structural engineering
just gravity and seismic loads. This approach design wind pressures, the assessment Together with the architectural team, the
not only simplified the design, but also and mitigation of the pedestrian-level wind structural engineering team developed a
resulted in significant material savings. microclimate and the development of a variable tapered form that reflected the
Another goal was to reduce wind-induced strategy aimed at preventing a strong stack differing floor size requirements between
accelerations to the lowest level possible to effect from occurring. the residential floors and office floors. The
enhance the comfort levels for the hotel and office floor plate size was set at the maximum
residential areas and to eliminate the need Project description allowed by the code, which both maximised
for a tuned mass damper and its associated The L-shaped site plan of the TJCTF is the architectural functional efficiency, and
costs and maintenance requirements. 185m long in the north–south direction and also increased the stiffness of the tower.
To achieve this, an initial aerodynamic 171m in the east–west direction. The total The super-tall building sits atop a 5.5m
optimisation/form-finding interactive architectural area of the project, which has thick pile cap which is supported by 434
workshop was held in BMT’s 4.8m × 2.4m been designed to LEED® Gold standards1, is bored friction piles (100m long and 1m in
boundary-layer wind tunnel during the early around 390 000m2. diameter) with post-grouting.
stages of the design. The aim of this session The office spaces occupy 36 floors in To minimise construction costs and
was not to check a series of predetermined the lower portion of the tower; the spans maximise the speed of erection of the
architectural shapes, but to develop, directly between the central square core and the tower, avoiding the use of outriggers was
in the wind tunnel, a series of bespoke and exterior of the building range from 13m to 15m paramount. To achieve this major goal set by
wind climate-specific optimised aerodynamic and the plans, featuring rounded corners, are the design team for this super-tall building,
solutions. This is an approach that wind typically in the range of 3500m2 to 3800m2. a stepped ‘core-in-core’ combined with a
engineering has developed in recent years, The serviced apartments are located in sloped perimeter column system was chosen.
taking inspiration from the aerodynamic the middle portion of the tower; the core- The core was therefore developed as a
testing regularly performed on Formula 1 cars. wall spans are in the range of 12m to 13m, reinforced concrete tube-in-tube system with
By integrating the architectural, structural with floor plates of approx. 2000m2 with lifts for the office zones in the outer tube and

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Wind engineering for the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre thestructuralengineer.org

associated with third-order modes were:

 Figure 3
Initial construction phases
of superstructure (as of 2015)
0.800Hz (translation), 0.840Hz (translation)
and 1.220Hz (torsion).
As part of the earthquake engineering,
a 1:40 scale model of the tower was also
successfully tested on a large shake
table under frequent, moderate and rare
earthquake scenarios.

Wind engineering
Wind climate
The estimation of wind-induced structural
responses is highly dependent on the level
of accuracy associated with the first link of
the Davenport wind-loading chain2: the wind
climate, including strength and direction.
Supported by its previous working
experience in the city of Tianjin (Tianjin World
Financial Center and Goldin Finance 117),
BMT carried out a very detailed wind-climate
analysis to determine the wind properties
NWD

at the project site. This considered both the

wind model described within the Chinese
lifts for the residential zones in the inner tube.
For the inner core, the thickness of the steel
S Figure 4
Elevation and
perspective view of
code GB50009-20013, along with the widely
accepted Deaves and Harris log-law wind
SOM’s finite-element
truss-reinforced concrete walls is 800mm, model of tower model of the atmospheric boundary layer,
while for the outer core it ranges between as defined in the Engineering Sciences
1300mm and 900mm, and the thickness of the Data Unit (ESDU) Item 010084, an approach
reinforcing steel plates is in the range of 25mm that is considered best industry practice in
to 30mm (Figure 3). This approach minimised modern wind engineering. From these, two
the size of the core, which increased the representative wind profiles for the different
overall efficiency of the system and eliminated types of terrain characterising the site of the
the need for any core wall transfers. This also proposed development – generally consisting
resulted in the core-to-perimeter stiffness of urban/suburban developments in all
ratio being relatively constant over the height directions, giving way to open terrain to the
of the building, which enhanced the efficiency northern, western and southern sectors and
of the load sharing between the core and the to the sea to the east – were derived. Figure 5
perimeter. shows the comparison of the z parameter,
The perimeter structure features a system representing the variation of wind pressure
of eight mega-columns at the corners of the with height (as defined in GB50009-20013),
tower, which are linked by a perimeter moment between the ESDU4 and the model of the
frame and a system of sloping columns that Chinese wind code3.
are expressed by the ‘crease’ lines in the An important feature of the local wind
SOM

architectural facade. The sloping column/ climate within the Tianjin region is the
frame system is configured to provide high prevalence of certain wind directions over
stiffness under wind loads, while also allowing C80 concrete was used for the concrete- others (the result of variations in macro-
high energy absorption under seismic loads. filled tube columns at the lower levels of the scale/global weather patterns). To investigate
The very shallow angle from vertical at tower, while C60 concrete was used for the this, a detailed extreme-value analysis
the residential levels allows high energy steel-reinforced concrete columns in the was conducted using wind-climate data
absorption (increased ‘frame action’ in the upper portion of the building. sourced from the weather station at Binhai
upper residential zone), whereas the larger Three belt trusses and one hat truss are International Airport (station identification
angle at the office levels provides higher strategically positioned at the refuge and 545723, located to the southwest of runway
stiffness where this is required to maintain mechanical floors of the tower, with the 34L) and at Tianjin Xiqing weather station
stiffness compatibility between the perimeter hat truss acting as support for the 86m tall (station identification 545270). In addition, a
frame system and the stiff central core. porous steel crown. sensitivity analysis was conducted based on
The sloping columns are separated by a The structural frequencies of the the data acquired from Binhai International
framed bay at the center of the structure and fundamental modes of vibration numerically Airport as to the impact of the number of
between the mega-columns, which enhances calculated by SOM were: 0.125Hz years examined (namely from 1981–2010
the energy absorption of the core/perimeter (translation), 0.129Hz (translation) and and from 1990–2010) to better understand
system. The sloping columns follow curved 0.309Hz (torsion); the frequencies associated the influence of the most recent urban
lines to reduce force concentrations, simplify with second-order modes were: 0.373Hz developments on the actual wind records.
connections and reduce construction cost (translation), 0.386Hz (translation) and The outcome of extreme-value analyses
(Figure 4). 0.725Hz (torsion); and the frequencies conducted on the above wind records is

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 Project focus
thestructuralengineer.org Wind engineering for the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre

N Figure 6
Variation of estimated and
 Figure 5
Comparison
of wind profile
prescribed basic wind speeds
(referenced as 10-minute mean,
10m height over Category B
during the course of the wind-loading
workshop session, making use of spectral
parameter z terrain) analysis conveniently plotted against reduced
frequency (Figure 8).
graphically presented in Figure 6 (note that average width of the tower), which satisfies In order to summarise the outcome of
the Binhai and Xiqing data closely overlap). the experimental requirements of the the workshop, a series of bar charts was
For strength design, the design wind loads American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) produced for a number of specific load
for the 100-year return period were code- Manual of Practice No. 67 for Wind Tunnel effects agreed with the design team (see
matched to correspond to the stipulated Studies10. The blockage ratio of the wind examples in Figures 9 and 10).
10m height, 10-minute mean design pressure tunnel was quantitatively assessed for the The best-performing configuration, from
of 0.6kPa for the Tanggu district of Tianjin. worst-case wind direction to be approx. 6%, a the point of view of both serviceability and
A similar procedure was adopted for the figure which again meets the requirements of strength design, featured: the introduction
50-year return period design wind loads the ASCE Manual of Practice10. of a porous crown and louvred ‘wind slots’
(0.55kPa) used for drift checking. For For the first test, a basic form/design of the introduced at key mechanicals levels.
building acceleration and rotational velocity tower (denoted as the ‘Baseline’) was tested The porous crown enhanced the three-
predictions, site-specific design wind speeds over a full range of wind directions to identify dimensionality of the flow over the top
for the one- and 10-year return periods the critical aerodynamic responses that portion of the tower and, together with the
were derived from an analysis of long-term would govern the design. A key range of wind ‘wind slots’, helped the after-body wake to
wind records, an approach considered best angles was then selected, and wind tunnel be re-energised. These design modifications
practice in wind engineering. The derived 10m tests were repeated with varying design resulted in: approx. 10% reduction in along-
height, 10-minute mean design pressures changes developed during the interactive wind response (base moments), approx.
for the one- and 10-year return periods were workshop session. Over the course of the 35% reduction in cross-wind response (base
approx. 0.2 and 0.3kPa respectively. approx. 10-hour interactive workshop day, a moment) and approx. 25% reduction in wind-
total of 17 different and bespoke aerodynamic induced peak accelerations (for the 10-year
Aerodynamic optimisation of building solutions were developed, tested in the wind return period wind events).
envelope tunnel and analysed in real time such that The design at this point evolved taking
The wind tunnel technique employed during – as work was conducted on each design the lessons learned in the wind tunnel into
the course of the wind tunnel aerodynamic iteration – other architectural forms could be consideration.
shape-optimisation workshop was the high- developed and tested in a continuous and
frequency force balance (HFFB) technique5–9. efficient manner. Preparation for Expert Panel Review
The HFFB technique is particularly beneficial Some of the design changes developed meeting
in this instance, as it allows changes to the included: the introduction of either a porous While preparing for the Expert Panel Review
outer shape of the wind tunnel model to take or solid ‘crown’ structure over the upper (EPR) meeting, a series of wind tunnel tests,
place in a relatively short period of time. portion of the tower, with and without now conducted on the new fully developed
The 1:500 scale HFFB wind tunnel model mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) architectural form, were carried out. The
was designed for stiffness and lightness: equipment/water tanks fitted at roof level; main aim of these tests was to gain deeper
an ultra-high-modulus carbon-fibre internal the opening of some of the mechanical levels knowledge of the behavior of the super-
‘sting’ together with lightweight foam material (single or double height); the introduction of a tall building under wind-loading excitation.
were used to achieve this. The compound perforated facade at some of the mechanical There were two main aspects which the wind
frequency of the ‘balance + carbon-fibre levels (single or double height); changes to engineers felt were important to investigate:
spine + foam component’ system was approx. the corner radii; and various combinations of the role of the higher modes of vibration of
80Hz. all of the above (Figure 7). the structure in the prediction of foundation
Tests were conducted at a Reynolds The aerodynamic performance of the loads, sectional moments and wind-induced
number of approx. 1.5∙105 (referenced to various adjustments made to the architectural accelerations; and the role of fluid–structure
speed at the top of the building and the form of the building was directly monitored interaction, especially with regards to

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 17

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 Project focus
Wind engineering for the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre thestructuralengineer.org

 Figure 7
Some of architectural
variations developed during
one-day interactive wind
tunnel session

aerodynamic damping at reduced frequencies

approaching the Strouhal condition.
As the EPR meeting was anticipated
to take place in spring 2012, the wind
engineering for the project was undertaken
to meet the requirements of GB50009-20013,
as opposed to the 2012 version of the code,
which at the time of the studies was only at
draft stage and therefore not mandatory.
Wind tunnel studies were therefore carried
out in BMT’s boundary-layer wind tunnel at
a scale of 1:500 using a number of different
wind tunnel techniques, such as: HFFB,
simultaneous pressure integration (SPI) and
aeroelastic. The same 3D geometry was
used in the design and manufacture of these
three wind tunnel models and the same set
of structural properties was utilised for the
post-processing of HFFB and SPI wind tunnel
data and for the design and manufacture of
BMT

the complex internal spine of the wind tunnel

aeroelastic model.
The HFFB wind tunnel model was the real structure; Figure 11c) and the external HFFB technique (Figure 13). It should be
designed and constructed following the same shell sections (manufactured using the SLS noted that the tests conducted at SCUT
procedure described in the previous section technique; Figure 11d). The base of the model made use of the same physical wind tunnel
(Figure 11a). was connected to an HFFB and the model model utilised by BMT.
The wind tunnel pressure model was itself equipped with a number of low-range An examination of the results obtained
constructed using selective laser sintering high-resolution accelerometers, as well (HFFB, SPI and aeroelastic) indicated that, in
(SLS), an additive manufacturing technique as strain gauges (Figure 11e). Benchmark terms of structural wind loads, the proposed
used for rapid prototyping that is capable measurements were taken to ensure that the tower exhibited a relatively benign dynamic
of achieving a high degree of accuracy mode shapes of the aeroelastic wind tunnel response, particularly in relation to cross-
(±0.1mm); it was equipped with 1050 pressure model accurately replicated those of the full- wind excitation driven by vortex shedding,
sensors (Figure 11b). scale structure (Figure 12). an obvious benefit of the initial interactive
The wind tunnel aeroelastic model was Furthermore, due to the size and workshop session. The level of 100-year
constructed in two stages, namely the importance of the building, a parallel wind peak wind pressures (damping level of 2.0%
internal supporting structure (a tapered lattice tunnel test was conducted by Professor of critical) along the height of the tower was
brass spine, needed to replicate the balance Xie Zhuangning of South China University found to be at worst in the range of 2.5kPa.
between flexural and shear deformation of of Technology (SCUT) solely based on the The results of the wind tunnel tests showed,
in the along-wind direction, reductions against
the GB50009-20013 predictions of the order
of 18%.
With regards to the higher-order modes,
the second-order modes were shown to
increase the dynamic response on the overall
wind loads by approx. 2%, while the addition
to the dynamic response of the third-order
modes was numerically close to zero.
With respect to serviceability design, the
wind-induced peak accelerations at Level
93 (approx. 440m above street level) of
the tower (damping level of 1.5% of critical)
were sitting at approx. 5 milli-g and approx.
9.5 milli-g (one- and 10-year return period
events respectively), meeting both the ISO
 Figure 8
Across-wind base
overturning moment spectra
requirements11 (approx. 10 milli-g) and those
stipulated by the Ministry of Construction
of China12 (15 milli-g), with the higher-order
modes contributing approx. 27%. It is
important to emphasise that the level of

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 Project focus
thestructuralengineer.org Wind engineering for the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre

 Figure 9
Example of results summary – peak dynamic overturning moments  Figure 10
Example of results summary – wind-induced peak accelerations

wind-induced peak acceleration at Level 93

– much lower than the prescribed occupant
comfort criteria – was obtained without the
introduction of any auxiliary damping system.
It should be noted that differences in terms
of peak dynamic wind base loads and wind-
induced peak accelerations between BMT
and SCUT were respectively of the order of
5% and 10%.
On the strength of these findings, the wind
engineering work for the tower was officially
approved in Tianjin on 12 April 2012 by the
Expert Panel chaired by Professor Xinyang
Jin from the China Academy of Building
Research (CABR).

Value engineering
Upon completion of the EPR process, the
project manager, New World Development
Company Ltd (NWD), expressed an interest in
value engineering some of the aerodynamic
features of the tower, specifically: the air gaps
at the base of the crown and the wind slots
at the mechanical levels (between Level 19

 Figure 12
First-order (left)
and second-order
and Level 21; between Level 44 and Level 46;
and between Level 71 and Level 73). This idea
(right) modes: full-
scale predictions was supported by what was learned during
versus measurements
taken on wind tunnel the initial wind-loading workshop session,
aeroelastic model i.e. the major contributor to the reduction
of the vortex shedding excitation was the
introduction of a porous crown.
A number of HFFB wind tunnel
investigations were therefore undertaken
with the aim of quantifying the impact of the
above-mentioned potential modifications.
Four options were explored: air gaps at the
base of the crown fully open + wind slots
W
models
Figure 11
Wind tunnel between Level 71 and Level 73 covered with
a) HFFB model 50% perforated cladding (Option A); air gaps
ALL IMAGES: BMT

b) Pressure model
c) Aeroelastic model at the base of the crown fully open + wind
(internal spine)
d) Aeroelastic model slots between Level 71 and Level 73 fully
(under construction) sealed (Option B); air gaps at the base of the
e) Aeroelastic model
(fully assembled) crown clad with panels of gradient porosity

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Wind engineering for the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre thestructuralengineer.org

+ wind slots between Level 71 and Level

73 covered with 50% perforated cladding
E Figure 13
Wind tunnel
model in boundary-
(Option C); and air gaps at the base of the layer facility of SCUT

crown fully clad over the lower 13.5m portion

and featuring a porous screen with gradient optimisation studies
porosity of 20% to 70% (open) over the and the subsequent
upper portion + wind slots between Level 71 detailed wind-loading
and Level 73 covered with 50% perforated work, a number of
cladding (Option D). In all four options, the other wind engineering
wind slots between Level 19 and Level 21 studies have been
and between Level 44 and Level 46 were carried out, examining:
completely sealed. The outcome of the wind the facade wind
tunnel testing is summarised in Table 1. pressures; the wind
In terms of peak dynamic wind base loads, microclimate at
the increase in wind loading acting on the pedestrian level; and
super-tall tower was found to be at worst the stack effect.
approx. 4%. In terms of wind-induced peak
accelerations, the increase in the response of Facade wind pressures

SCUT
the super-tall tower was at worst approx. 3% The wind tunnel
and approx. 7% for the one- and 10-year return pressure model utilised
period wind events respectively. in preparation for the EPR meeting enabled the wind slots at the mechanical floors have
The configuration which the senior BMT to derive peak design wind pressures not been directly tested in the wind tunnel,
management team at NWD decided to for the envelope of the tower and associated design pressures for these areas have been
adopt for the super-tall tower was Option podium, also taking into account the effect of derived based on experience and engineering
D with slots between Level 71 and Level 73 accidental openings. Although the changes to judgment.
fully sealed. For this specific and untested
configuration, BMT estimated, relative to what
was approved for design by the Expert Panel, TABLE 1: COMPARISON OF PEAK DYNAMIC WIND-INDUCED BASE
OVERTURNING MOMENTS AND WIND-INDUCED PEAK ACCELERATIONS
an increase in the peak dynamic wind base
loads of approx. 4.5% and an increase in the
Baseline Option A Option B Option C Option D
wind-induced peak accelerations of approx.
3.5% and approx. 7.5% for the one- and 10- Mx 100% 98% 98% 101% 104%
year return period wind events respectively. My 100% 98% 100% 100% 102%
It should be noted that the overturning
moment due to a frequent seismic event ä1-year 100% 89% 89% 100% 103%
is 21% larger than the overturning moment ä10-year 100% 91% 94% 104% 107%
determined from the wind tunnel study
(Figure 14). It is likely that the TJCTF super-
tall tower is the only building in the world over
500m that is governed by seismic forces
E Figure 15
Wind-mitigation
scheme (ground level)

rather than wind forces.

S Figure 14
Sectional moments
(including dynamic
Other wind engineering studies effects) due to wind
at different heights of
Following on from the aerodynamic structure

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thestructuralengineer.org Wind engineering for the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre

Cladding pressures were evaluated making REFERENCES

use of standard analysis procedures. The
predicted 50-year peak net suctions were on E 1) US Green Building Council (2018) LEED [Online] Available at: https://new.usgbc.org/leed
average in the range of 2.5kPa, with localised (Accessed: August 2018)
peaks near discontinuities in the surface E 2) International Association of Wind Engineering (2011) Announcement of the Alan G.
geometry up to 5.0kPa. Peak net positive Davenport Wind Loading Chain [Online] Available at: www.iawe.org/about/Wind_Loading_Chain.
pressures were on average in the range pdf (Accessed: August 2018)
of 1.5kPa, with localised areas going up to E 3) China National Standards (2006) GB 50009-2001: Load Code for the Design of Building
2.5kPa. Structures
E 4) Engineering Sciences Data Unit (2010) ESDU Item 01008: Computer program for wind
Pedestrian-level wind microclimate speeds and turbulence properties: flat or hilly sites in terrain with roughness changes
The comfort of pedestrians at ground level E 5) Tschanz T. and Davenport A.G. (1983) ‘The base balance technique for the determination of
and on the terrace at Level 5 of the podium, dynamic wind loads’, J. Wind Eng. & Indust. Aerodynamics, 13 (1–3), pp. 429–439
which feature a number of outdoor seating E 6) Kareem A. (1985) ‘Lateral-torsional motion of tall buildings to wind loads’, J. Struct. Eng., 111
areas, was evaluated by combining wind (11), pp. 2479–2496
speed measurements taken in the wind tunnel
E 7) Vickery B.J. et al. (1985) ‘The effect of mode shape on the wind induced response of
at 75 locations with local wind statistics for tall buildings’, Proc. 5th United States National Conference on Wind Engineering, Texas Tech
the site. It should be noted that pedestrian University, Lubbock, TX, pp. 1B-41–1B-48
comfort was only assessed with regards to E 8) Flay R.G.J. et al. (1999) ‘Wind induced dynamic response of tall buildings with coupled 3D
the effect of the mechanical force of the wind. modes of vibration’, Proc. 10th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Copenhagen,
Figure 15 illustrates the wind-mitigation Denmark, pp. 645–652
scheme finally developed to ensure that the E 9) Holmes J., Rofail A. and Aurelius L. (2003) ‘High frequency base balance methodologies for
wind conditions are suitable for the intended tall buildings with torsional and coupled resonant modes’, Proc. 11th International Conference on
use of these areas in terms of both safety and Wind Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, pp. 2381–2388
wind comfort throughout a typical year. E 10) American Society of Civil Engineers (1999) Manual of Practice No. 67: Wind Tunnel Studies
of Buildings and Structures, Reston, VA: ASCE
Stack effect E 11) International Organization for Standardization (2007) ISO 10137-2007: Bases for design of
The outcome of the cladding pressure test, structures - Serviceability of buildings and walkways against vibrations, Geneva: ISO
aside from supporting the facade design, E 12) Ministry of Construction of China (2002) JGJ 3-2002, J 186-2002: Technical Specification
was used as a boundary condition for a for Concrete Structures of Tall Building
detailed bulk-flow model aimed at examining
E 13) National Institute of Standards and Technology (2018) CONTAM [Online] Available at: www.
the stack effect within the building. The nist.gov/services-resources/software/contam (Accessed: August 2018)
multi-zone airflow and contaminant transport
analysis software CONTAM13, developed by
the US National Institute of Standards and within the internal spaces of the tower – which building part of the TJCTF project will almost
Technology (NIST), was used. in turn could lead to thermal discomfort; certainly be one of the world’s most optimised
This study enabled the buoyancy-driven impede normal operation of entrance doors, structures from a wind engineering perspective.
movement of air within the primary usable internal doors, vestibule doors, elevator doors;
spaces of the tower to be thoroughly and obstruct the normal operation of the Project team
quantified for a range of external weather mechanical ventilation system. Developer: Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd
conditions and operational scenarios. These During the course of these studies, BMT Project management: New World
studies also highlighted areas of the building was able to offer mitigation solutions to the Development Company Ltd
where pressure differentials across key air- design team, from holistic solutions such as Design – architect and structural engineer:
flow paths (lift doors, wing doors, etc.) would ‘tightening’ the facade to reduce air leakage, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
be too high to ensure smooth operational to more localised measures such as the Architect of record: Ronald Lu & Partners
conditions at all times. introduction of air-lock doors, mechanically and East China Architectural Design &
The results of these numerical simulations assisted doors, vestibules at key locations Research Institute
were presented in terms of: and upgrading the specification of the motor Structural engineer of record: East China
 air infiltration/exfiltration rate through the controlling the opening/closing mechanism of Architectural Design & Research Institute
building envelope the elevator doors. Peer reviewer of structural design: Leslie E.
 flow rate through major air flow paths Robertson Associates (LERA)
 pressure difference across the building Conclusions Lead wind engineer: BMT Fluid Mechanics Ltd
envelope This article has presented the wind Peer reviewer of wind engineering: South
 total pressure difference between the engineering ‘journey’ the TJCTF has gone China University of Technology
main elevator shafts and the exterior through between 2011 and 2012. Main contractor: China Construction 8th
environment. SOM has estimated that the aerodynamic Engineering Division
shape-optimisation work conducted during
It has been estimated that the differential the very early stages of the project saved,
pressure across the skin of this super- material wise, the best part of US$15M. This HAVE YOUR SAY
tall building in winter could be as high as work, and its success, was only possible
To comment on this article:
600Pa. This has the potential to: increase thanks to the collaborative efforts of the entire Eemail Verulam at [email protected]
the infiltration level of (polluted) air into the design team. Etweet @IStructE #TheStructuralEngineer
building; induce uncontrolled air movement In closing, it is believed that the super-tall

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 21

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 Professional guidance
Business Practice Note | No. 18 thestructuralengineer.org

Business Practice Notes

No. 18: Effective The Business Practice Note series has been
developed by the Institution’s Business Practice
and Regulatory Control Committee to provide

communication guidance on aspects of running a practice and

project management.

In the latest article in the series, Jonny Yusuf looks at communication as a professional
engineer, offering advice on how we might communicate more effectively.

Introduction Box 1 presents some practical BOX 1. PRACTICAL STEPS TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY
Communication is a two-way steps that you can take to
process and no organisation communicate effectively. Making  Think before you speak; use simple common language, whether
or individual will survive long a conscious effort to understand spoken or written, and above all be polite.
if they do not listen and how communication occurs  Determine what is the thought, message or desired action you
encourage dialogue with other will hopefully make you think are trying to put across.
parties. Such dialogue can how you communicate, thereby  Decide on the best and most effective means of communicating
be in the form of clarification, resulting in more effective the message and additionally how it can be reinforced.
feedback and effective communication.  Determine how you will assess whether your message has
questioning. It is important to Next, we will consider two been received and understood effectively and has elicited an
remember that posture, facial particularly tricky scenarios: appropriate response.
expression and other types of communicating bad news  Listen and show empathy to responses. These responses give
non-verbal behaviour are all and communicating with clues as to understanding and other issues that may need
forms of communication, as is management. addressing.
demonstrating respect. We all  Observe some interpersonal communications and note the
process information differently, Communicating bad news processes used: who are the communicators? What is the
so a combination of methods is Delivering bad news is perhaps message? What distortions or inconsistences distracted from
desirable in order to achieve the one of the most challenging the message? How is feedback given and received? What is the
most effective communication. elements of communication. context of the communication?
Professional engineers, The person delivering the bad  Summarise information to provide readers with the ‘headlines’ at
while observing non-verbal news may not know how the the start before going into detail.
behaviour, should give recipient will react. It is of the
precedence to clear written and utmost importance that when
verbal communication. This is planning to deliver bad news,  knowing who was consulted them to hear bad news. It is
because some junior engineers you remember that you are  knowing what other generally best if the advance
may display non-verbal signs communicating with a human possibilities were considered warning doesn’t go into detail
indicating a lack of confidence or being and treat people with  understanding the rationale or provide false reassurances,
nervousness. respect and dignity. behind the final outcome. but lets the recipient know the
Preparation to deliver bad general message which is to be
Communicating effectively news must include ensuring you Bad news should never come conveyed.
Effective communication requires: are clear of all the facts before as a surprise, as this may initially As a general rule, bad news
 an understanding of the talking to your audience. This lead to a disproportionate should be communicated as
audience may include: response from the recipient. It soon as possible. People may
 a decision on the means of  knowing how a decision was is best to give people advance feel betrayed if they think they
communication made warning to help prepare have unnecessarily been ‘kept
 a choice of appropriate in the dark’. The form of delivery
language should be considered carefully
 anticipation of potential areas
"UNDERSTANDING THE MOST EFFECTIVE such that an appropriate
of misunderstanding
WAY TO COMMUNICATE WILL HELP BUILD medium is chosen dependent

GOOD, RESPECTFUL AND TRUSTING

 positive action to seek on the severity of the bad news.

RELATIONSHIPS"
feedback to assess whether Generally, for more serious bad
the communication has been news, a face-to-face meeting is
understood as intended. more appropriate.

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 Professional guidance
thestructuralengineer.org No. 18 | Business Practice Note

Successful
relationships
are built on
understanding
and good
communication
Bad news should, where skills
specific to an individual, be
conveyed confidently and in
a manner which avoids any
room for misinterpretation. If
you are less experienced at
delivering bad news, rehearsing
the delivery may be useful. The
delivery should be succinct
and to the point, but delivered
thoughtfully. The delivery of bad
news should be objective, fair
and as complete as possible.
While it may be tempting to
withhold information for fear of
embarrassment, this may lead
to incorrect diagnosis of the
problem by the recipient, or an
underestimation of the news.
ISTOCK

To help during future

conversations, etc., it is useful to
document all communications
and actions prior to the delivery provoke an emotional element.
Key points
of the bad news. If a discussion becomes
 Prepare to deliver bad news by gathering and understanding
emotional, it is likely to cloud
Communicating with the necessary facts.
the issues and become less
management  Bad news should not be presented as a surprise; the audience
effective. As such, it is more
should be forewarned.
Within the workplace, everyone productive to keep a clear head
 Bad news should be delivered confidently to avoid leaving
will communicate with their and avoid confrontation.
room for misinterpretation.
manager at some point. In general, day-to-
 The delivery of bad news should be objective, fair and as
Communication is a vital part of day communication with
complete as possible.
any relationship with colleagues. management may alleviate the
 Be truthful and quick to notify issues to managers.
Successful relationships are most severe issues arising in
 Bring solutions to managers, not just problems.
built on understanding and the first place.
 Maintain regular communication with managers.
good communication skills. If there is bad news to
People are all different and communicate; managers will
will respond differently to the almost always appreciate This note has been prepared and should be aware of any
way you communicate with hearing the bad news sooner by Jonny Yusuf MEng(Hons), jurisdictions specific to that
them. Understanding the most rather than later, so that CEng, MIStructE on behalf of region.
effective way to communicate problems can be solved, the Institution of Structural Business Practice Notes
will help build good, respectful or mitigated, when they Engineers’ Business Practice and are provided as guidance to
and trusting relationships. are known about. Having a Regulatory Control Committee. members, but do not form part
Often when communicating potential and considered Members are reminded that of the Regulations and/or Laws
with a manager, there will solution to suggest at the same they should always comply with of the Institution. All members
be time pressures to the time as communicating the the legislation of the region are obliged to abide by the
situation. As such, when problem may offer a different in which they are working Institution’s Code of Conduct.
communicating with a manager, perspective and be gratefully
or management, discussion taken on board by a manager. It FURTHER READING
should be succinct, relevant certainly conveys a willingness
and specific to the tasks in to seek a resolution rather than EData Protection Act 1998 [Online] Available at: www.legislation.gov.
hand. Equally, when managers simply ‘pass on’ the problem. uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents (Accessed: August 2018)
communicate with their team,
EThe Privacy & Electronic Communication (EC Directive) Regulations
they should communicate HAVE YOUR SAY 2003, SI 2003/2426 [Online] Available at: www.legislation.gov.uk/
on the same basis but with uksi/2003/2426/contents/made (Accessed: August 2018)
patience, understanding and To comment on this article:
Eemail Verulam at EUnited Nations (2006) Convention on the Rights of Persons with
clarity.
[email protected] Disabilities [Online] Available at: www.un.org/development/desa/
Sometimes when you need to Etweet @IStructE disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html
communicate with a manager, #TheStructuralEngineer (Accessed: August 2018)
the topic for discussion may

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 23

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 Professional guidance
Understanding risk thestructuralengineer.org

Going bananas – an introduction

to the public understanding and
communication of risk
enhancing prosperity, safety, welfare and numbers being reported are perceived as fair
quality of life, it also brings with it inherent and balanced. As a consequence, it is often
risks. Components, systems and assets are the case that the public perception of risk is at
being connected in complex ways that we variance with the calculated risk.
In this article, Professor have no prior experience of, running the risk The reasons are complex, but one
of cascading failure. This is where a failure in consistent pattern is that familiarity plays a
Richard Clegg and Simon a part of a system made up of interconnected part in how individuals arrive at risk decisions,
Pitchers aim to highlight parts can trigger the failure of successive with individuals tending to overestimate the
the subject of ‘risk literacy’, parts, like a domino effect. risk of death from low-probability causes
The classical way of thinking of risk (such as murder or botulism), but tending
show its increasing in this situation, of trying to imagine all to underestimate the risk of death from
relevance to the structural possible scenarios and combinations of high-probability causes (such as diabetes
engineering profession and events that could go wrong and then putting or electrocution). This matters because, as
countermeasures in place to mitigate them, no behavioural economics shows us, society’s
stimulate thinking about how longer suffices. Such a traditional mindset is overall attitudes and choices around risk
society might benefit from only as good as one’s imagination and things amount from the culmination of lots of
can go wrong that hadn’t been imagined; such individual decisions.
professional engineers being events are called black swans. For fear of There are numerous examples worldwide
better able to explain risk. mixing metaphors, technology-led risk arising where public misperceptions have led to
in this new cyber-digital world is the elephant society overreacting and spending its finite
in the room – so maybe we should start resources on what it thinks is necessary
We live in a complex and interconnected planning for black elephants rather than black to save lives or reduce risk; however,
world. Technology is enabling things that swans! although it allays anxiety, the expenditure is
only a few decades ago would have seemed disproportionate in cost–benefit terms.
unimaginable. The pace of advancement is Public perception of risk For example, comparing safety expenditure
so rapid it’s said we’re entering the fourth Risk is an emotive subject and public risk on a ‘cost per life saved’ basis, a UK initiative
industrial revolution. The first was the steam literacy is an issue. While quantitative evidence in the early 2000s spent up to 150 times as
age starting in the 18th and 19th centuries that may exist, individuals arrive at their opinions much per life saved in rare but spectacular
saw the birth of mechanisation. The internal through a mixture of psychological, cognitive railway incidents as was typically spent per life
combustion engine and the arrival of electricity and emotional factors. Part of the difficulty saved in everyday road accidents1.
followed, yielding the era of mass production. is that probability theory and statistics are
Next, in the 1980s, came the beginning of the manmade mathematical constructs not always Risk and structural engineers
digital age, with the arrival of the personal clearly understood by everybody. On top Professionals, including structural engineers,
computer and the internet, which is now giving there may be issues of trust over whether the are risk managers. Professionals are
way to the fourth industrial revolution, marked
by advances in technologies such as artificial
TABLE 1: BANANA EQUIVALENT DOSE FOR CERTAIN EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES AND SITUATIONS
intelligence, robotic and autonomous systems,
virtual reality, big data, blockchain and the
Exposure Bananas Cigarettes
internet of things.
The term ‘Industry 4.0’ has been coined Average annual radon dose to people in Cornwall 80 000 300
to describe the impact these technologies
Approx. dose at Fukushima Town Hall in two weeks
are having on manufacturing and business, 1000 4
following 2011 accident at nuclear power plant
but their impact will be much more profound
than that. As they blur the lines between our Flight from London to New York 700 4
physical, digital and biological worlds, perhaps
a better term might be ‘Society 4.0’? Dental X-ray 50 0.2
Although this new cyber-digital world
Sleeping next to someone 0.5 Small puff
promises many benefits to society in

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 Professional guidance
thestructuralengineer.org Understanding risk

  Figure 1
Risk of death from
certain activities and
situations (expressed in
micromorts)

commissioned because tasks that they space around the world, including the Lloyd’s terms of mortal risk.
undertake are considered to generate risks if Register Foundation Institute for the Public The subject of micromorts can be explored
executed by the inexperienced. For example, Understanding of Risk, centred at the National further on the web2. It provides an accessible
it would be very risky for a lay person to University of Singapore but serving wider Asia, and interesting subject for discussion with
perform surgery or design a high-rise building and in the UK the Winton Centre for Risk and people across the whole spectrum of society.
structure, so professionals are engaged to Evidence Communication at the University Attempts have been made to understand
mitigate such risks. of Cambridge. The aim of these centres is the risks posed by structures and Melchers
Risks that professional structural engineers to help translate and communicate numbers and Beck suggest that there is around a
often manage include serviceability (e.g. and risk into understandable language. One 0.1 micromort chance of being killed by a
cracking, distortion, excessive vibration, powerful way of doing this is to demystify structural failure in a year3. In other words, it
impermeability to gas from the ground) and risk by showing that individuals face danger is about the same chance as being struck by
stability (e.g. collapse). While not all of these and make risk-based decisions all the time in lightning – and you are over 300 times more
risks can result in a loss of life, some can. everyday life, whether concerning what to eat, likely to be killed driving a car if you drive it
The professional structural engineer what mode of transport to take, what medical 10 000 miles in a year.
has a range of tools to help manage risks, treatment to opt for, or what sporting and Another way of communicating risk is
including codified loading allowances, partial recreational activity to enjoy. This provides a to draw analogies with bananas! They are
safety factors, careful specifications, clear benchmarking scale against which other less naturally radioactive due to the presence of
drawings, etc. However, even after mitigation, familiar or emotive risks can be compared and the isotope potassium-40 which decays with
a small risk always remains. For example, an put into context. a half-life of 1.25bn years. A banana typically
engineer’s structural design may not mitigate Risk calculations are usually built on emits around 15 radioactive disintegrations per
the risk of a building collapsing after being statistics or probability calculations that are second, from which the radioactive dose can
hit by a large object falling from the sky, like unfathomable to many non-mathematicians. be calculated and therefore the risk. This has
an aircraft engine. How these residual risks Again, a powerful way to communicate such led to the concept of the ‘banana equivalent
compare to other risks faced by the public numbers is by analogy. For example, industry, dose’ (BED). As an aside, the human body is
is unclear. Is there a greater risk of a fatality operators and regulators talk of risk in terms also naturally radioactive and emits over 5000
from a particular boundary wall blowing over of one-in-a-million, or 10-6, but what does that disintegrations per second from naturally
than from riding a bicycle to work? Could an equate to? One way of communicating what occurring isotopes, mostly potassium but also
improvement in our risk literacy help us to it feels like is to illustrate that it is the same as carbon, polonium and lead. Although not to
understand whether some of our designs are flipping 20 coins and them all ending up heads. be taken literally that bananas can kill you,
too safe or lead us to review, for example, This one-in-a-million chance example has the concept of BED does help communicate
codified loading recommendations? been extended further to develop the concept risk and provides a basis for debate in familiar
of the micromort – from micro (one millionth) terms. Table 1 shows some everyday activities
Communication of risk and mortality. The micromort is a unit of risk and situations expressed in terms of bananas.
If risk literacy is important, then how can the defined as a one-in-a-million chance of death.
communication of evidence be improved in a Figure 1 shows everyday activities expressed Conclusions
fair and balanced way so that individuals and in micromorts. The graph in the middle also In summary, we are increasingly living in a
society are better able to weigh up the risks shows an individual’s statistical risk of dying complex and interconnected world where
and benefits of decisions? There are various (expressed in micromorts) at certain ages; it cyber-digital technologies, including those
applied academic centres leading in this shows that seven is the safest age to be in being adopted by the structural engineering

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 25

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 Professional guidance
Understanding risk thestructuralengineer.org

BeamClamp® BoxBolt®
Making safe steel connections
without the need for on-site
drilling or welding
"A BANANA TYPICALLY EMITS AROUND
15 RADIOACTIVE DISINTEGRATIONS PER
SECOND"
profession, present new risks and benefits. Could understanding
how residual risks posed by structural designs (e.g. using lower
codified live loads or reduced partial safety factors) compare to
more familiar risks provide a new perspective on ‘over-design’ and
‘under-design’? For example, floor loadings in a typical modern
commercial building allow for over 28 times more people than the
design occupancy4.
It is human nature that individuals tend to overestimate
unfamiliar risks, with the outcome that society expends its finite
resources disproportionately on alleviating the perception of
risk rather than saving actual risk. The public understanding and
communication of risk is therefore at the centre of ensuring the
safe development and application of modern-day technologies.
The only certainty in this ever-changing world is that people can
be relied on to be predictably irrational.

Acknowledgements
This article is based on an original text by Professor Richard
Clegg, with additional material contributed by Simon Pitchers.
The BeamClamp® and BoxBolt® range of fixings provide a secure fixing
Professor Richard Clegg FREng, FRSC is Foundation Chief method for structural steelwork. The fixings provide solutions for joining
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Simon Pitchers BSc (Hons), CEng, MIStructE is Director, Craddys, much more flexibility than traditional methods. The systems provide a
guaranteed connection every time without the need for on-site verification.
consulting structural engineers.
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REFERENCES
Features & Benefits
E1) The Economist (2000) The price of safety [Online] Available • Third party approvals
at: www.economist.com/leaders/2000/11/23/the-price-of-
• Guaranteed factor of safety
safety (Accessed: August 2018)
• No special tools or skills required
E2) Wikipedia (2018) Micromort [Online] Available at: https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromort (Accessed: August 2018) • Hot dip galvanised finish
E3) Melchers R.E. and Beck A.T. (2017) Structural Reliability • Peace of mind for the specifier
Analysis and Prediction (3rd ed.), Chichester: Wiley • Savings in installation time and cost
E4) Minimising Energy in Construction (2018) Mythbusters • No on-site drilling or welding
[Online] Available at: www.meicon.net/mythbusters/
• Long term corrosion resistance Supplied by
(Accessed: August 2018)
Using BeamClamp® and BoxBolt® delivers safe,
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HAVE YOUR SAY

To comment on this article: www.keesystems.com

Eemail Verulam at [email protected]
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 Technical
thestructuralengineer.org Level 2, No. 17 | Technical Guidance Note

Technical Guidance Notes

Level 2, No. 17: Simple connections
in steel frames
Chris O’Regan Technical Guidance Notes are published by The Institution of
BEng(Hons), CEng, FIStructE, FICE Structural Engineers to provide guidance to engineers in the early
stages of their careers. This note has been prepared by AECOM on
Principal Engineer, Building Engineering, AECOM, London, UK behalf of the Institution.

Introduction
ICON LEGEND
The most common type of connection within steel-framed structures is the ‘simple
connection’. It is often described in the form of a pin that is designed to support shear
W Design principles
and tie forces, but not bending moment forces. This is a simplification of the actual
condition as, in the vast majority of cases, even simple connections do transmit some
bending moments through to the elements they are fixed to. W Applied practice
This Technical Guidance Note aims to clarify what a simple connection is by
explaining its use when designing connections within steel frames. Additionally, W Further reading
guidance is offered on the different types of simple connections that are used and
what design checks need to be carried out.
W Resources
The design of simple connections is not covered in detail, due principally to the
large number of checks needed for any connection type. Instead, references are
provided to codes of practice and authoritative texts with guidance on how these
checks can be carried out.

intersecting with one another are connected. developing significant moments which might
There is a consensus that a simple adversely affect the members or the structure
Design principles
connection is defined as a nominally pinned as a whole.
joint. It is a connection that does not transmit
What is a simple connection within a steel significant bending moments, i.e. it is relatively ‘A nominally pinned joint should be capable
frame? The term ‘simple’ applies to a free to rotate, but is also held in place. of accepting the resulting rotations under the
connection that is incapable of transmitting a It is worth stressing again that the design loads.’
bending moment from one element of a frame terms ‘joint’ and ‘connection’ are not
to another, i.e. it is similar to how a pin would interchangeable, as they refer to two very Simple connections are therefore designed
behave. However, most simple connections different concepts. One is an intersection to transmit some, or all, of the following loads:
can best be described as being ‘nominal in a model and the other is an assembly of shear forces (typically vertical), axial forces,
pins’, i.e. they have some capacity to transmit components within a structure that connects restraint forces and robustness tying forces.
bending moments due to their geometry and one element to another. The above is a code of practice
assembly. This results in a very small portion Current codes of practice define simple expectation for the performance of a simple
of bending moments being transmitted connections in terms of their inability to connection. However, in addition to the above,
through the connection and in tension forces transmit bending moments. Any connection a simple connection must also form part of
being applied to components within the that performs outside of these boundaries a restraint and robustness system within a
connection. These tension forces would not is considered to be either semi-rigid or rigid, structure. To achieve this, a simple connection
be present if the connection were treated as i.e. designed to withstand bending moments. must satisfy requirements for structural
a pinned joint as it is modelled. Eurocode 3, Part 1-8 (BS EN 1993-1-8:2005) integrity and provide restraint to members,
Throughout this guide, the term ‘joint’ describes nominally pinned joints in cl. 5.2.2.2 which has been assumed in their design. The
refers to an intersection between structural as follows: arrangement of the connection impacts on
elements of an idealised model and its ability to provide restraint against lateral
‘connection’ refers to the means by which ‘A nominally pinned joint should be capable torsional buckling to an element to which it
the elements within the model that are of transmitting the internal forces, without is fixed. For further guidance, see Technical

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 Technical
Technical Guidance Note | Level 2, No. 17 thestructuralengineer.org

Guidance Note Level 1, No. 16 Lateral torsional within a beam can be calculated using as these are typically fixed to elements
buckling. Equation 1. fabricated from higher-grade steel, such
Ez 2 as S355. By using S275 grade steel, the
Joint classification Sj = (1) connection maintains its nominally pinned
1
Joints within structures are categorised μ ∑i nature (higher grades will typically result
ki
according to their stiffness and/or strength. in the connection behaving in a semi-rigid
This determines what type of connection is where: manner). It is therefore important to know
required to transmit the appropriate loads ki is the stiffness coefficient for basic joint what part of the connection is being reviewed
through it. By determining the category of component i with regards to its capacity, as inaccurately
joint via classification, the appropriate checks z is the lever arm of the joint as defined in cl. modelling the design strength can lead to
can then be carried out within its design. 6.2.7 of BS EN 1993-1-8 under-designed assemblies. Additionally, fin
When developing models of steel- is the stiffness ration of S j,ini S j and end plates that are thicker than 12mm
framed structures, it is common to assume with this value being dependent on the form will cause the connection to behave in a
that the joints within them are either fully the joint will take, which is an assumption on similar way to a semi-rigid connection due
pinned (simple) or continuous (rigid). It is the part of the designer. to the additional stiffness they provide to the
important that the fabricated connections assembly.
are consistent with this assumption, despite It should be noted that Eq. 1 only applies
the fact that they are not entirely accurate provided certain criteria are met; specifically Design checks to simple connections
with respect to the limited bending moment that: A rigorous design check of a simple
resistance of simple connections.  the axial force being applied to the member connection is a complex process that
It is therefore vital to perform an that the joint frames into is not greater requires each component of the assembly to
assessment on the joint classifications, as than 5% of the design resistance of the be examined for all actions that are applied to
assumptions are made within the model about member’s cross-section it. These checks fall into three parts:
the type of joints, which can be approximated  the applied bending moment is less than 1) Detailing – ensure the connection is
to the point of being unrepresentative the design moment resistance of the joint. detailed in such a way as to avoid the
of actual conditions. This can lead to development of semi-rigid or rigid behaviour
inaccuracies, resulting in forces that have This is covered in much greater detail in BS and local failures within the assembly.
not been accounted for in the design, due to EN 1993-1-8, which explains how the assembly, 2) Action path – determine how the actions
the geometry, assembly of the structure and geometry and type of connection impact on applied to the connection transfer from one
application of actions. how the joint within the structure rotates when element to the other.
Cl. 5.1.1 of BS EN 1993-1-8 describes the subjected to actions. The reader is directed to 3) Resistance – check every component
relationship between the joint or joints and cls. 6.2.7, 6.3.3 and 6.3.4 for more information. with respect to design effect against design
the appropriate method of analysis for a Furthermore, the UK National Annex to BS EN resistance.
steel structure. Section (2) of this clause 1993-1-8 states in cl. NA.2.6 that it is acceptable
explains that a simple joint does not transmit to classify joints in accordance with the When working to BS EN 1993-1-8, up to
any bending moments, i.e. it is a pin. Readers concepts described in SCI Publication P358: 16 checks are required to be carried out, 10
should refer to cl. NA.2.6 in the UK National Joints in Steel Construction: Simple Joints to of which concern the shear stress across
Annex to BS EN 1993-1-8 for further detailed Eurocode 3. the connection due to a vertical action; the
guidance on joint classification. When a joint is categorised based on its remainder cover axial actions within the
Whether strength and/or stiffness are strength, two criteria are considered: the connection that may be present if no other
used to determine the classification of joints design moment resistance of the connection method of tie is present, e.g. a floor slab.
depends on the way in which the structure and the ability of the joint to rotate. Where a Approved Document A of the Building
has been modelled. This can be summarised joint has a design moment that is less than Regulations 2010 for use in England defines
as follows: 25% of a fully rigid joint, it is considered to be a series of Consequence Classes of
 If the model is an elastic global model, the a simple connection (i.e. nominally pinned). structures that relate to robustness. In some
connections within it are sorted according If the same connection can rotate when cases, these require that some or all steel
to their stiffness. actions are applied to it, then the connection connections are designed to withstand a
 If a rigid-plastic global analysis is carried is deemed to be ‘simple’. Note that both minimum tying action, as defined in Equations
out, then strength is used to categorise these criteria must be met in order to satisfy 2 and 3, for the sake of robustness. This is
joints. the requirements for simple connections. also recommended in Eurocode 1, Part 1-7
 Where both elastic and plastic analysis Any joint that falls outside of these criteria is (BS EN 1991-1-7:2006). This, and any other
is used, e.g. semi-continuous joints either semi-rigid or fully rigid. tying action, must be checked against the
where each behaves as a spring, then design strength of the components of the
both stiffness and strength are used to Simple connection forms connection.
categorise joints. Table 1 describes a set of typical simple
connection types. The table only shows a Tie action for internal elements:
When determining the classification of sample of connections and the reader should Ti = 0.8 ( g k + Ψqk ) sL or 75kN, whichever
a joint in terms of its stiffness, its rotation note that they come in many forms. is the greater (2)
when subjected to actions is considered. Where parts of the connection require
Cl. 6.3 of BS EN 1993-1-8 explains how this flat plates, such as fins and end plates, it Tie action for perimeter elements:
is calculated and can be summarised as: is common to use Grade S275 steel for Tp = 0.4 ( g k + Ψqk ) sL or 75kN, whichever
the rotational stiffness of a joint (Sj) that such items. This needs to be taken into is the greater (3)
comprises a beam-to-column joint or splice consideration when designing the connection,

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 Technical
thestructuralengineer.org Level 2, No. 17 | Technical Guidance Note

where: TABLE 1: TYPES OF SIMPLE CONNECTION WITHIN STEEL FRAME

s is the spacing of the tie elements
L is the span of the tying element Joint Connection form Figure
is the accidental partial factor applied to
characteristic actions
gk is the characteristic permanent action
qk is the characteristic variable action Beam to column Fin plate

Actions due to tying for robustness checks

should be considered independently of the
applied vertical action on the connection.
In all other instances where axial actions
are present, they are to be modelled to act
concurrently with vertical actions. Beam to column Partial-depth end plate

Geometry of simple connections

Following the rules described in this section
will ensure that any simple connection
behaves in a manner that is in accordance
with the nominally pinned definition described
previously. It covers bolt hole sizes, location Beam to column Full-depth end plate
and the method of installing fixtures onto
primary structural steel elements.
For bolt hole sizes and location, the
following rules apply:
 All holes for bolts that have a diameter (d)
less than or equal to 24mm will be 2mm
larger. Beam to beam Fin plate
 All holes for bolts that have a diameter (d)
greater than 24mm will be 3mm larger.
 All holes that receive holding-down bolts
within baseplates to columns will be 6mm
larger.

The detailing of connections is governed Beam to beam* Partial-depth end plate

by a set of geometric criteria that need to
be met to ensure local failures do not occur
once the connection has actions applied to it.
Guidance on the spacing of bolts is provided
in Table 3.3 of BS EN 1993-1-8, with the key
restrictions reproduced in Table 2.
When fixing open-section beams into
columns and other beams, there are some
requirements with respect to the notching of Tie to element Fin plate
the top flange of the beam. Figure 1 indicates
the recommended distances from the edge of
the flange to the connecting element.
For connections that have a fin fixture,
additional rules concerning size and setting-
out apply. For beam-to-column connections
within open sections, the location of the
fin against the position of the web to the

 Figure 1
Beam notch dimensions
for elements with flanges
less than 50mm thick
Column to foundation Base plate

* End plate beam-to-beam connections should not be used when beams are connected to both sides of a primary beam

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 Technical
Technical Guidance Note | Level 2, No. 17 thestructuralengineer.org

 Figure 2
Fin plate
connection
TABLE 2: BOLT HOLE SPACING DISTANCES

dimensions Maximum
Distance Minimum
Exposed Unexposed

End distance 1.2 d0 4t + 40mm

Edge distance 1.2 d0 4t + 40mm

Key
tw,c = thickness of Horizontal The smaller of 14t or The smaller of 14t or
web to column 2.2 d0
tp = thickness of fin spacing 200mm 200mm
plate
Zp = distance from The smaller of 14t or The smaller of 14t or
face of column to Vertical spacing 2.4 d0
centre of bolt in fin
200mm 200mm
plate
NB d 0 is the bolt hole diameter and t is the thickness of the outer connected component of the connection assembly. All
tw,b1 = thickness of
dimensions are from centre to centre of bolt holes.
web to beam

SE Figure 3
Prying mode of
failure in simple
column is important (Figure 2). The concept connection with
is to ensure the centre of the web of the end plate
connecting member aligns with the web of
the column. This requires the fin plate to be
installed off-centre.
Another aspect of fin plate simple
connection assemblies is their susceptibility
to lateral torsional instability. If a long fin is Applied practice
used, then a lateral torsional buckling check
needs to be carried out on it as part of the
connection design. Equation 4 explains how BS EN 1991-1-7:2006+A1:2014 Eurocode 1:
this is arrived at. Actions on structures. General actions. Connection – interface between two elements
tp Accidental actions of a structure in actuality.
If ≥ 0.15 then the fin is ‘short’; Tie force – tying action applied to connections
zp BS EN 1993-1-8:2005 Eurocode 3: Design of to ensure robustness of structure.
tp steel structures. Design of joints
if < 0.15 then the fin is ‘long’ (4) Further reading
zp NA to BS EN 1993-1-8:2005 UK National Annex Steel Construction Institute and British
to Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures. Constructional Steelwork Association (2014)
where: Design of joints Publication P358: Joints in Steel Construction:
tp is the thickness of the fin plate Simple Joints to Eurocode 3, Ascot: SCI
zp is the distance between the face of the
support element and the first line of bolts Resources Davison B. and Owens G.W. (eds.) (2012)
(Fig. 2). Steel Designers’ Manual (7th ed.), Chichester:
Wiley-Blackwell
Failure modes of simple connections Steel Construction Institute:
Simple connections typically have two modes http://steel-sci.com/ Jaspart J.P., Demonceau J.F., Renkin S.
of failure that need to be taken into account and Guillaume M.L. (2009) European
during their design. The first is shear failure, Steel Construction Wiki: Recommendations for the Design of Simple
which can occur within the beam web and/or http://SteelConstruction.info Joints in Steel Structures, Brussels: European
the bolts within the connection. The second Convention for Constructional Steelwork
is prying failure, with the end plate rotating British Constructional Steelwork Association:
about the connection causing the plate to https://www.steelconstruction.org/bcsa/
deform (Figure 3).
The checks referred to earlier when European Convention for Constructional
designing simple connections address both Steelwork
of these failure modes and cover all of the www.steelconstruct.com/ AECOM is built to deliver a better world.
interactions that occur within an assembly. We design, build, finance and operate
In summary, this Technical Guidance Note infrastructure assets for governments,
acts as an introduction to the concept of Glossary and further reading businesses and organisations in more
simple connections and the reader is directed than 150 countries. As a fully integrated
to SCI Publication P358: Joints in Steel firm, we connect knowledge and
Construction: Simple Joints to Eurocode 3 Glossary experience across our global network of
for more information on how to design such Joint – interface between two elements within experts to help clients solve their most
connections. an idealised model of a structure. complex challenges.

30 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

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 in partnership with

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Sketch: Alasdair Massie

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Project-based articles
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• Case studies should briefly put the project in context, then describe the problem or challenge
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 Opinion
Managing risk thestructuralengineer.org

Viewpoint
Managing risk in a BIM,
changing business world international
Stephen Hargreaves of insurance broker Griffiths & contracts and
Armour discusses three evolving areas of practice that
each bring their own risks. megaprojects
This mini-series of articles follows a guide us towards a model in which risk Since then, certain protocols have been
succession of roundtable meetings is shared collectively when the desired adopted and accepted working practices
convened by Griffiths & Armour and outcomes are not achieved. have bedded down among construction
attended by representatives from across the The delegates in our research project teams. Level 2 is being widely used, and
construction sector. Delegates identified a underlined the scale of this change and, in there have been no immediate indicators
range of commercial and operational risks particular, expressed concern about the of a liability crisis (Griffiths & Armour is yet
in their common environments and candidly way that BIM and the use of a single, shared to witness any professional indemnity (PI)
discussed the challenges of tackling them design platform could expose them to claims against an engineer arising directly as
with input from construction lawyers and unforeseen risks. While there are accepted a consequence of the use of BIM).
senior risk management experts from benefits from the use of a so-called ‘single However, delegates agreed that
Griffiths & Armour. source of truth’, potentially reducing the embracing the next phase of BIM Level
The principal output was a publication – likelihood of claims from design and drafting 3, with all parties operating via a fully
Managing Risk in a Changing Business World errors, there are also new risks to manage integrated design process, would raise
– which will be of interest to all practising associated with the reliance by consultants completely different concerns. Griffiths
engineers and their management teams. on third-party design data and potentially & Armour has warned that traditional PI
The series so far has looked at how being saddled with blame for other people’s insurance policies are not an ideal fit for
engineers and their clients think about mistakes. the enhanced collaborative philosophy that
contractual risk and how they look upon ‘That is our biggest concern,’ said underpins BIM Level 3, whereas a collective
business opportunities available in a market CampbellReith’s Michael Lawson. ‘With BIM and/or project-based model, such as
which continues to develop. In this article, there is increased risk of errors being made ‘integrated project insurance’ or ‘project PI’,
we look at three specific aspects of the without people realising.’ However, there was may prove better suited to it. And if Level
operational landscape and their implications general agreement among our participants 3 can’t be made to work without posing
from a risk perspective. that BIM Level 2 was comfortably achievable, potentially uninsured risks, could we see
particularly where consultants each manage industry stall at the Level 2 stage?
New issues – impact of BIM their own BIM model and associated data.
The application of digital technology ‘After the false starts we are certainly International projects and local
and data management, particularly the seeing a number of projects that are full disputes
introduction of Building Information BIM Level 2,’ said Max Fordham’s Henry The continued growth of super-large
Modelling (BIM) Level 2 in public-sector Pipe. This ‘false start’ comment resonated engineering consultancies with an
procurement in the UK, is having a major with others. Currie & Brown’s Simon Offredy international footprint reflects the global
impact on how the industry operates. At the added: ‘There are not many BIM Level 2 nature of our business environment. But
heart of these new BIM-enabled processes jobs, but they are starting to come through. smaller UK firms have in recent years
comes a desire across the supply chain and The clients who aren’t using it yet will be also become more active in working
throughout the project lifecycle to do away imminently.’ on international projects, whether out
with silos and to embrace collaboration. Griffiths & Armour observed that, during of necessity in response to economic
The aim is for the traditional model of the early days of BIM, suppliers had the conditions at home or for any number of
individual professionals shouldering tranches upper hand in determining the direction of other reasons.
of risk according to their respective fields travel. That led to a lack of consistency of Interesting and rewarding opportunities
of expertise to be replaced by a collective practice and raised alarm bells for insurers undoubtedly exist beyond the UK, but so
approach to achieving the client’s desired who were concerned that negligence do financial, geopolitical and technical
outcome. More importantly, it should also allegations might be difficult to defend. risks. Failure to invest time in understanding

32 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

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 Opinion
thestructuralengineer.org Managing risk

those risks has resulted in consultants In contrast, Mace explained its positive
learning painful lessons, sometimes at
"IT MAY NO LONGER BE experience on the Birmingham New Street

POSSIBLE TO RELY SOLELY

significant cost in order to service ambitious station project:

ON TRADITIONAL PROJECT
projects whose full implications could have ‘To deliver a large complex programme
been more diligently investigated prior to such as Birmingham New Street station
contracts being signed. MANAGEMENT TOOLS" successfully, you must establish an
Instead, there are instances where an environment that allows everyone in the
engineer was carried away with enthusiasm. team to “own” and buy into the programme
When things went wrong they found of failure. However, each contractual link in and how it’s delivered.
themselves in the unfamiliar territory of local the chain constitutes an interface of roles, ‘By making the whole team aware of
justice systems, often with unexpectedly responsibilities, commercial interests and the main deliverables and how that breaks
expensive consequences. Paul Berg referred methods of working; and all of those links down into day-to-day activities, people must
to Griffiths & Armour’s long experience of have consistently been identified by Griffiths then be empowered to do their jobs and be
international disputes, with some having & Armour as being where things most accountable for their work. If problems occur
featured: commonly go wrong. that may hamper progress, there must be
 hefty fees payable upfront to arbitrators in Thus, as engineers participate in larger a clear way to escalate them to the senior
fee recovery proceedings and higher-value projects, they would management team for resolution.
 archaic, paper-heavy procedures at local be well advised to think carefully about
tribunals which interfaces affect them and how the Next time...
 claimant-friendly systems with barely associated risks can be best monitored and The next article will conclude this mini-
any cost risks for the claimant and a managed. It may no longer be possible to series by looking at the perennial causes
generally prejudiced attitude against rely solely on traditional project management and symptoms of construction disputes –
transcontinental defendants tools. Something more sophisticated may be the issues which, despite the ever-shifting
 an apparent lack of independence among required for megaprojects, each of which is sands of the commercial and economic
decision-makers, extending to alleged likely to be unique in some way. Each one is environment, simply refuse to go away.
corruption in some territories delivered by a team which operates in effect In the meantime, any thoughts, comments
 lack of closure to disputes owing to the as a temporary production system, most or queries may be directed to Stephen
apparently limitless availability of appeals obviously in the case of a joint venture or Hargreaves via email (shargreaves@
and cross appeals in some jurisdictions special-purpose vehicle (SPV). griffithsandarmour.com).
 unanticipated complications with That too brings issues of risk into the
enforcing judgements and/or recovering equation, especially where ‘temporary’ in
costs even where a case has gone well. this context refers to something which Stephen Hargreaves
nevertheless is scheduled to last for many MA, FCII, FRCO
The above factors, when combined with years, with no opportunity to review and
local custom and practice, can create a redesign the model during the lifetime Stephen Hargreaves is Professional Risks
particularly sensitive environment when of the project. There is often a desire for Director at Griffiths & Armour – a leading
parties look to negotiate a settlement out everyone on the project team to be locked independent and privately owned UK insurance
of court. In these situations, engineers and from day one into a model which will endure broker and risk management adviser. For further
their insurers are entirely reliant on local in permanent form until completion, even information, visit www.griffithsandarmour.com.
advisers, without the benefit of the level of if it has become clear to the team that Griffiths & Armour is authorised and regulated by
familiarly and/or due diligence available in a different model might have been more the Financial Conduct Authority.
UK situations. effective.
That can be particularly damaging if the READ THE REPORT IN FULL
Megaprojects and high-value team has not previously worked together.
disputes It creates the obvious potential for a lack To access Managing Risk in a Changing
The world’s largest projects are continuing of cohesion in working methods and Business World in its extended form,
to grow in scale and involve increasingly also for seriously underestimating costs. contact Stephen Hargreaves
([email protected]).
complex technical solutions. As a result, they Some teams privately resolve long before
require larger construction teams to deliver the conclusion of the current project
them, and the many layers of specialist that they will never work together again
advisers and suppliers create longer following handover (some marriages were HAVE YOUR SAY
contractual chains among the parties. simply never meant to be!) in which case
To comment on this article:
Each of those specialists brings added that absence of a longer-term interest
Eemail Verulam at [email protected]
value to the project and, in terms of also inevitably affects their day-to-day Etweet @IStructE #TheStructuralEngineer
technical know-how, should reduce the risk relationship.

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 33

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 Opinion
BIM: what’s the point? thestructuralengineer.org

Viewpoint
Kate Leighton asks whether BIM is really here to stay, and BIM: what’s
whether enough attention is being devoted to the long-
term storage and accessibility of BIM files. the point?
From time to time, I like to consider industry Initially, I saw this as a global slight against which is so keen to have every publicly
buzz words and whether they are a all the hard work we as designers do with funded project work to BIM Level 2, put
fashionable trait of our times like bell bottoms our collaborators to deliver construction a nationwide plan in place to store and
in the 1970s and skirt bustles in 1870s. Will projects, that government felt we maintain the files?
Building Information Modelling (BIM) stick deliberately didn’t coordinate our designs, When we think about it, do we get more
with us for just a decade, or will it be a lasting resulting in significant wastage within the questions than answers?
change within the industry? construction industry. So, what is the point?
First, let’s define BIM: it is the use of I then slowly came to realise that it wasn’t
information technology for documenting about us as designers, it was about end
and recording the physical characteristics users and how, after we are all finished with Kate Leighton
of places in one collaborative approach. our jobs, they have to operate, maintain MEng, CEng, MIStructE
The approach was first proposed in 2002 and upkeep what we deliver. But for over a
by Autodesk when it released a white paper decade we have been providing end users Kate Leighton is an Associate
entitled Building Information Modeling1, with with folders of information and records as Director in AECOM’s UK&I
other software developers such as Bentley we hand the site back, so what really is so Structural Engineering team,
Systems and Graphisoft adding to the buzz. different about BIM? with over 14 years’ experience
Technically, the approach was defined rather Well, I suppose all the different in the industry. She is an active
than proposed, and in some part the industry information is held in one document rather member of The Institution of
had already been doing it since the mid- than lots of separate drawings you might Structural Engineers, sitting on
1980s as we transitioned from the drawing need to overlay and coordinate to find the a number of panels and
board to a digitised system. answers you need. For that alone, I could previously chairing the Wales
The sceptic in me questions whether we see that in 10 or 20 years, as we run out Regional Group.
should all be investing so heavily in a way of of development space and materials are in
working that has been defined by those that short supply, the records created by BIM REFERENCES
control the cost of being able to instigate will bring significant savings in the built
the process and maintain the longevity of environment.
E 1) Autodesk (2002) Building Information
the system into the future. However, we are However, all of this only works if the Modeling [Online] Available at: www.
in a position where UK government bodies records are updated and maintained once laiserin.com/features/bim/autodesk_bim.
believe in the savings that working in a the design team hands them over. pdf (Accessed: August 2018)
collaborative BIM platform will create2. So, are end users being adequately E 2) HM Government (2012) Industrial
By minor disparity, the US government trained to utilise the information recorded? Strategy: government and industry in
defines BIM as: ‘a digital representation Are their digital systems robust enough partnership – Building Information Modelling
of physical and functional characteristics to take the large files that some of these [Online] Available at: https://assets.
publishing.service.gov.uk/government/
of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge combined documents can become?
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/
resource for information about a facility Is the system future-proofed, so that in file/34710/12-1327-building-information-
forming a reliable basis for decisions during years to come we will still be able to access modelling.pdf (Accessed: August 2018)
its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest these files, or will we be keeping dated E 3) National Institute of Building Sciences
conception to demolition’3. computers just so we can access them? I (2015) National BIM Standard-United States,
remember when I first started in the industry, Version 3, Washington, DC: NIBS
I spent a month digitising hand drawings
"IS THE SYSTEM FUTURE- for a standard system-built solution from
PROOFED, SO THAT IN YEARS records viewable on a microfiche. Will I have

TO COME WE WILL STILL BE to get an undergraduate in a few years’ HAVE YOUR SAY

ABLE TO ACCESS THESE

time to help us transition the documents we
To comment on this article:

FILES"
produce today?
Eemail Verulam at [email protected]
Is BIM a great idea in theory, but we aren’t Etweet @IStructE #TheStructuralEngineer
quite there yet? Has the UK government,

34 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

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 Opinion
thestructuralengineer.org Book review

Review This interesting, well-illustrated book provides a general introduction to disaster risk
reduction. It will be useful to engineers as a means of knowing what is important to
consider in a holistic risk-based design against different natural hazards, but it is not a design
guide, concludes Gerard Canisius.

‘consequences’ and ‘the negative impact

Disaster risk of disasters’. Even a stated definition, ‘Risk
is a probability of an event and its negative
reduction for the consequences’, does not mention that the two
terms are to be multiplied together.

built environment The information presented in some graphs

and tables could also have been normalised
to provide a better picture of the relevant
Authors: Lee Bosher and Ksenia Chmutina situations. For example, many data show an
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell increase in casualty numbers from hazards
Price: £45.00 (paperback); £40.99 (e-book) over several years. They could have also been
ISBN: 978-1-118-92149-4 presented normalised, in relation to the global
or local population. With the global population
said to have increased from 1bn to 7bn in the
The authors’ aim is to raise awareness and broad range of the more prominent hazards last 100 years, the relevance of a disaster can
inspire various parties to think of disaster and some human-induced threats. The also depend on the population size at the time.
risk reduction (DRR) from the outset of a hazards considered are divided into two Similarly, the considered economic losses
project. They consider our multi-hazard groups: hydro-meteorological (floods, could also have been presented normalised in
environment and address the relevant hurricanes and tornadoes) and geological relation to GDP.
threat issues holistically, going beyond (earthquakes, landslides and tsunamis). The There are many very long sentences that
construction-related aspects. The authors book contains well-spaced ‘Thinking Points’ are difficult to grasp. These could have been
provide a multidisciplinary perspective, so designed to allow the reader to reflect separated into shorter, easily manageable
that DRR can be considered with a multi- on the chapters and to provide specific ones.
stakeholder approach to disasters. They examples. It concludes with an explanation The book has simple errors that could have
highlight that natural hazards give rise to high of some key principles and a discussion been easily corrected. For example, Section
consequences not only because of what they on why DRR is important for sustainable 4.11 says that risk reduction measures should
are, but also because human activity usually development. adopt five interrelated stages, whereas six are
exacerbates situations. With respect to each considered given in the relevant tables. Sections 6.6 and
The authors promote resilience of the hazard, the book deals with its causes, risk 6.7 are both titled ‘Risk Management’, whereas
built environment as a key ingredient of management, historical approaches, ‘hazard the latter should be ‘Hazard Identification’.
sustainable development. Hence, they identification’, assessment of vulnerabilities, Unfortunately, the presence of these could
stress that it is insufficient to have buildings detection and mitigation (of the hazard), create doubts in readers’ minds about the
‘sustainable’ if they are not made resilient via determination of the risk, identification and accuracy of the other information presented.
DRR. The authors discuss both structural prioritisation of risk reduction options, and Notwithstanding the above correctable
and non-structural means of decreasing the emergency response. shortcomings, the authors have achieved their
vulnerability of buildings and the need to While the intentions and the contents of aim of making readers familiar with, and see
have the right balance between these. They the book are good, it could have been much the importance of, DRR.
request that buildings be future-proofed improved by better editing for grammar and
against climate change, and even raise the technical content. T.D. Gerard Canisius
prospect of it being a business opportunity Risk could have been defined scientifically BSc(Eng), MASc, PhD, CEng, FIStructE
for those involved. from the outset, as the product (or the Dr T. D. Gerard Canisius, a fire safety and risk
The book is well structured, first result of multiplication) of the likelihood of consultant, provides risk-based holistic solutions that
introducing the reader to disaster risk the event (the hazard) and the expected are sufficiently safe and economical against
concepts and terms that are applicable undesirable consequences. While the accidental or rare situations. He is a member of CEN
across disciplines and in a global context. above definition has been used in later Project Teams on EN 1990 and Robustness and a
It explains the principles of effective risk chapters, the initial chapters have treated former Head of Fire Engineering at both URS and
management and illustrates them with a risk variously as equivalent to a ‘hazard’, WSP in the UK.

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 35

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 Opinion
Letters thestructuralengineer.org

Verulam
Send letters to…
All contributions to Verulam should
be submitted via email to:
[email protected]

Contributions may be edited on the

grounds of style and/or length by the
Institution's publishing department.

Topics of importance
openly discussed

serious than if a signpost blows over in a storm.

3) Alastair fails to get to grips with the
Clarifying Eurocodes and other serious problem in the current EC0
load combination rules: apart from making
responsibilities safety margins calculations far too complicated, there is no
definition anywhere of what loads may be
considered as separate types of ‘action’ when
David Irving writes to commend the Alasdair Beal returns to the endlessly
dividing them into ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’
latest Business Practice Note on the interesting topic of safety margins
variable actions. In an ICE Proceedings paper
provision of information to steelwork defined by codes.
in May 2010, I presented an example of a
contractors/fabricators.
beam which supported areas of floor and roof
Alastair Hughes (Viewpoint, June 2018) is subjected to four different types of loading and
A very useful note by Matt Byatt to clarify undoubtedly ‘sailing in the right direction’ in his asked whether the ‘correct’ overall load factor
structural engineers’ duties regarding proposals for simplifying the Eurocode load for Eurocode design was 1.5 or 1.22. Nobody
steelwork (BPN No. 17, August 2018). The fact combination rules. I would only quibble on three responded. When I repeated the challenge a
that it is necessary is telling in itself, borne points. few years later in Verulam, the replies were
out by the amount of explanation and cross- 1) A factor of 1.4 for all dead and live loads interesting: some respondents thought it was
references to different documents and the means yet more whittling away of the safety up to the individual engineer’s judgement and
various things the structural engineer should margin in normal structures: according to EC0, the rest were evenly divided between those
do. Too much scope for things to be omitted its safety factors have been set on the basis who thought the correct answer was 1.5 and
and go wrong, which is not really acceptable of comparison to long experience, yet the BS those who thought it was 1.22. None could
when safety is at stake. 449 safety factor was 1.7, in BS 5950 it was quote a clause in the Eurocodes which states
I would advocate clearer, unambiguous 1.45–1.55, in the current EC3 it is 1.4–1.45 and how the EC0 load combination rule should be
design, procurement and checking Alastair’s proposal would reduce this to 1.4. I applied. If structural engineers cannot agree
responsibilities on the structural engineer to am uneasy about this ‘tiptoeing towards the whether the correct safety factor for a simple
close the potential gaps. A UK-wide SER-type edge of a cliff’: his proposed safety margin is beam designed to the Eurocodes is 1.5 or 1.22,
[Structural Engineers Registration scheme] an average of 20% lower than BS 5950 and this is a serious problem.
process would address this important issue 43% lower than BS 449. With high-yield steel One solution would be to provide a table
(and not just for steelwork). readily available and serviceability increasingly which listed which loads could be considered
governing design, there is no point in taking as separate ‘variable actions’ for the purposes
The BPN refers to the National Structural risks with further cuts in safety margins against of EC0 load combination rules. However, a
Steelwork Specification (NSSS), which does failure. I suggest that 1.5 would be a more more rational solution would be to go back to
define responsibilities and allocations, but sensible ‘standard’ load factor. the origins of EC0 cl. 6.10, which is based on
too often these are ignored – as numerous 2) Adopting a single load factor for all loads proposals by Canadian engineer Carl Turkstra
contractual disputes testify. Engineers must would get rid of the present silliness where in the late 1960s for an approximate method
not only produce safe designs, they must water pressure (a ‘variable action’) requires for achieving constant probability of failure if
produce designs that are buildable within a higher safety factor than earth pressure (a all loads and load factors are probabilistically
commercial constraints. Learning about ‘permanent action’). However, there would still defined.
these constraints is just as important as be overdesign for wind load and the EC0 load However, in practice, as acknowledged by
learning structural theory. combination rule would require a signpost EC0, today’s loads and load factors are based
subjected only to wind load to be designed on experience, not probability theory. Also,
to a higher safety factor than a building full of the objective of ‘constant probability of failure’
"I WOULD ADVOCATE people. I know that, in theory, the design wind makes no sense from an engineering point of
CLEARER, UNAMBIGUOUS load has a 63% chance of occurrence in 50 view: consequences of failure are much greater

DESIGN, PROCUREMENT years, but in practice this is only a three-second for some structures (and some parts of a

AND CHECKING
gust and its chances of hitting a structure structure) than others. In these circumstances,

RESPONSIBILITIES"
at its most vulnerable angle are probably applying Turkstra’s equation to design
considerably less. The consequences if a calculations is rather like playing ‘one song to
building full of people collapses are far more the tune of another’.

36 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

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 Opinion
thestructuralengineer.org Letters

Rather than trying to devise amendments to additional load without checking the structure. designed bearing width is stressed, since the
rescue it, it would be better to abandon it and In this respect, common sense indicates that remaining infilled reinforced dimension on the
adopt a more rational and practical approach steel sections or precast concrete sections support can then form an integral part of the
such as either the table of load factors for could have reduced dead load factors, whereas tied horizontal diaphragm action. This can then
different load combinations in traditional limit in situ concrete partial dead load factors should be incorporated with vertical ties to achieve the
state codes like in BS 5950 ... or will someone be considered on merit relating to construction desired structural robustness. Noting the edge
be really daring and propose the system of procedure and geometry of the structure. infill of these planks bears onto a reinforced
simple permissible stresses and ‘allowable Obviously, new materials will result in concrete padstone which becomes L-shaped,
over-stresses’ which works so well in BS different dead-to-live load ratios and structural the whole system acts as an encircling
449? What’s so wrong with the idea of making sections/geometry, requiring new methods of concrete tie. Proper detailing of the concrete
calculations simple? analysis. In this respect, one has to differentiate stitching works to eliminate progressive
between analysis on one hand and risk levels/ collapse failures, as per EN 1991-1-7 Annex A.
It’s possible to produce many arguments for partial factors, as affected by installation/repair For this transfer type of slab construction,
and against the way the codes are written and maintenance, on the other hand. This is shear loading is critical. And when high design
and it’s possible to cite all sorts of anomalies where adequate and relevant experience is shear values are required, core infilling provides
(including for BS 449). Perhaps we can all vital. high shear resistance.
agree that there are different interpretations? When these hollowcore planks are supported
What we might also all be able to agree The question of codes is one topic on flexible supports, such as concrete or
on is that the codes are there to deal with guaranteed to raise comment. So, in this steel beams, the condition as noted in Figure
uncertainty and to provide a standardised case, Verulam will stay silent! 5b of Mr Gorst’s Part 1 occurs1. Here, we
way of design that requires the application believe2 a reduction in the shear resistance
of engineering sense. Moreover, to quote in the region of 40–75% occurs. Any cross-
Dame Judith Hackitt again, what we don’t sections with large voids and thin webs are
want is ‘a race to the bottom’ where rules are
‘interpreted’ for commercial advantage.
Precast concrete particularly susceptible to strong reduction in
shear capacity. Factors enhancing the shear
floors resistance include adding reinforced concrete
topping onto the floor and longer filling of
Robert Wodehouse compliments
the slab end voids. Further, the deflection of
Alastair Hughes on his attempts at Denis Camilleri and Albert Cauchi
supporting beams is to be limited to within
making sense of the Eurocodes. write in from Malta with some
span: deflection ratios of 1/800 to 1/1000, or
thoughts on precast concrete
higher.
flooring following Nick Gorst’s
Alastair Hughes is making a good attempt at Could these recommendations justify the
articles in the April, May and June
breathing some sense into the Eurocodes. working of a flexible support so as now to be
issues.
Most structures in the UK are six stories or considered similar to that of a rigid support?
below and do not warrant complicated and
involved design codes. Therefore, regarding We refer to the recommendations for cuts in REFERENCES
risk, I would recommend members read the planks to be made close to a support and for
CROSS newsletter, excellently produced by top cuts to be undertaken alternatively so as E 1) Gorst N. (2018) ‘Design of precast
Alastair Soane, and his editorial in the May to keep clear of cores adjacent to the edge. concrete floors in steel-framed buildings.
2018 issue of The Structural Engineer. Figure But what happens when a hollowcore plank Part 1: Slab design’, The Structural Engineer,
96 (4), pp. 24–28
1 of Alastair’s note sets out the relationship contains only four cores? Are the cuts then only
between the safety concerns relating to made on two adjacent internal cores? When E 2) Pajari M. and Koukkari H. (1998) ‘Shear
resistance of PHC slabs supported on
Construction (38%)/Demolition (1%) + In- some of the cores are not infilled, does this
beams. I: Tests’, J. Struct. Eng., 124 (9), pp.
Service Requirements (25%) and Design (36%). affect the composite action because the T- or 1050–1061
This shows the overriding risk considerations L-section of the composite slab is then partially
of the first three items outweigh the Design risk hollow?
(64% > 36%). We would like to share Malta’s experience
The producers of the Eurocodes have had in the use of these prestressed hollow planks.
many years to evaluate the suitable parameters
for loads/stresses, etc. such that risk levels
Here, such planks are generally utilised as
transfer slabs, supporting about four floors
Fire spread in
can be contained and not exceeded. These
were benchmarked to old elastic design codes
of overlying cellular masonry residential
construction. Slab spans generally vary from
tower blocks
to maintain similar overall factors of safety. 3.5m up to 8m with end supports on masonry
Melvin Hurst adds his thoughts on
Therefore, the benchmark was benchmarked! walls 230mm thick.
the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Structures do not fail due to the minor In these circumstances, it is considered
inaccuracy of a partial factor being either 1.35 that there is rigid support onto the masonry
or 1.4. Structures fail due to gross design errors walling, with bearings varying from a minimum I was particularly interested to read Allan
down to poor checking, incorrect or changed of 75mm for planks less than 350mm thick, up Mann’s timely article on fire engineering
information (not verified), lack of supervision, to at least 100mm for thicker planks. These (Special Issue, January 2018). Not only has
or indeed gross misdemeanours where, for planks are normally supported on continuous the Grenfell Tower tragedy concentrated
example, someone adds on an extra storey or concrete padstones. The importance of a every engineer’s mind on the problems of

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 37

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 Opinion
Letters thestructuralengineer.org

fire, but I have had direct experience of what emerges from every tragedy: there is And this is the beauty of indeterminate
two construction fires while working in the generally no single cause, no single error to structures. The first paragraph of the
Middle East. Both were probably caused by explain what happened, but rather a mix and answer states that: ‘In reality, the base
lax welding safety procedures, leading to that mix always includes human error. shear in the shorter block is much higher’,
formwork being set alight. I was appalled at but I beg to differ, since the answer is
the damage to hardened concrete resulting so dependent on the definition of what
from the intense fires. Some concrete was ‘reality’ is when it comes to the structural
repairable, while other parts had to be And finally… (July) analysis of indeterminate structures.
demolished and rebuilt. Force distribution is always predominantly
However, the most pertinent section in governed by relative stiffness followed
Our readers continue to enjoy the
Allan’s paper, in the light of the Grenfell by equilibrium, and the relative stiffness
‘And finally…’ brainteaser series, as
fire, was that on compartmentation. In the cannot always be precisely defined in
Nikos Zarkadoulas writes. But Nikos
immediate aftermath of the fire, and in the buildings, especially after crack formation
adds his own thoughts about the
opening stages of the Inquiry currently under and propagation following large horizontal
shear teaser published in July and
way, much has been said about the role of loading events.
comes up with a different answer –
the flammable cladding in contributing to the
linked to assumptions.
disaster. But, in an equally illuminating article Well, Nikos has his point of view. For now,
on how fire spreads, by Dave Parker in New Verulam will refrain from comment, but
Civil Engineer1, it was spelt out very clearly With no intent to undermine the rationale no doubt other readers will have their
that the fire which engulfed all four sides of described in the interesting answer given, own views, which are, as ever, welcome.
Grenfell Tower could not have spread solely I would merely like to add my point of view.
through the cladding. Although he maintains The first thing I was expecting to see in the
that vertical spreading of fire is inevitable, even question was the assertion of the rigidity δ = 44mm
if the cladding is completely incombustible, of the horizontal beam-podium, which was 8
= 100
horizontal spread of fire internally or externally indeed introduced in the description as 18δ
is virtually unknown in residential buildings being ‘a rigid podium at first-floor level’, 8 ⎝ 8 ⎠
=⎜ + 100 ⎟
in developed countries (open-plan offices which joined together both cores, which in 27δ ⎛ 9δ ⎞
behave very differently). Fire spreads naturally turn were of the same cross-section. 8Q Q
from one compartment (in this case a flat) to However, no explicit reference was made =
27δ I 0 ( 98δ + 100 ) I 0
those above, although in this case, fanned by to the nature of the podium end conditions,
produces a downwards deflection of δ
the wind, it also spread along one face of the nor were any pins introduced into the Applied to the composite beam, this force
building above the fourth floor. scheme. Those omissions do not contradict Q 8Q Q
In order for the fire to have spread to all the assumption that the podium beam itself + =
(δ + 100) I 0 δ I 0 ( 98δ + 100 ) I 0

four faces of Grenfell Tower, there must have could be infinitely rigid, both axially and in So the total jack force is
been progression inside the building, jumping bending (A,I = ∞), so if that podium beam 8Q
across corridors by means of inadequate fire were end fixed, it would restrain the two, δ I0

doors or poorly sealed services openings. side, core end joint rotations completely. piece is
The force needed to jack up the additional
Thus, while attention will rightly be focused More often than not, this is a realistic Q
on the flammability of external cladding, modelling of how thick slabs do interconnect (δ +100) I 0

smoke evacuation, means of escape, fire shear walls/cores during horizontal loading The force needed to jack up the original beam is
safety certification and emergency response distribution, at least in earthquake-prone 8
27 I 0
procedures, equal attention must also be areas.
composite beam is
paid to ensuring that such internal fire spread Taking these assumptions into The second moment of area of the final
cannot happen – this is what contributed consideration, the podium beam does not 8
significantly to the truly horrific death toll in deform; hence, the end sway displacements I0
this fire. are both equal and, since the doubly curved piece is
columns ground to first floor are of the same
The second moment of area of the additional

REFERENCES stiffness, what the podium essentially does beam

is to ‘collect’ all horizontal loads from both I0 = the second moment of area of the original

E 1) Parker D. (2017) ‘Grenfell: Burning cores and distribute them equally. 48 E

Take out a constant Q =
questions unanswered’, New Civil Engineer Based on this end fixity, the shear force is L3
48 EI
[Online] Available at: www.newcivilengineer. then Vb = (7w + 9w)/2 = 8w for each core in the PL3
δ=
com/grenfell-burning-questions-
ground to first-floor level (i.e. it differs from
unanswered/10022498.article (Accessed: elasticity E and second moment of area I
August 2018) the answer given), with the textual caveat length L with point load P at midspan, modulus of
of ‘… joined together by a rigid podium’ Deflection δ in a simply supported beam of

(one can make the tenable deduction that

Working:

‘joined’ here stands for both axially and in

C) 44mm

The Inquiry remains ongoing and hopefully bending). In that case, what the podium Answer to September’s question
a very full appraisal of the causes enjoys is a constant tensile axial force Np =
and mechanism of fire spread will be 1w along with a linear distribution of bending AND FINALLY...
forthcoming. What has already emerged is moments and a constant shear force.

38 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

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Y3 – Mechanical and Civil Engineering Road, Glasgow G4 0BA
Building, Room G34, Edgbaston Cost: £140 Graduate Members; £160
Chester and North Wales Birmingham B15 2TT Members; £180 non-members Wales
18:00 for 18:30 09:00 for 09:30
Thursday 6 September Contact: Mitchell Gray Register: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ Tuesday 11 September
Claims and Professional Indemnity ([email protected]) design-of-structures-for-blast-loading- Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Speaker: tbc cpd-seminar-tickets-47988277229 and visit by the President
Holiday Inn Chester – South, Wrexham Secretary: Richard Davis Faith Wainwright MBE and
Road, Chester, Cheshire CH4 9DL ([email protected]) Secretary: Danny Wright Jeremy Kent
18:00 for 18:30 ([email protected]) Norwegian Church Arts Centre,
Cardiff Bay CF10 4PA
Secretary: James Drew North Thames 18:30
([email protected]) Singapore
Sunday 30 September Secretary: Pierre Grigorian
Heritage Walk – St Pancras Station Friday 21 September ([email protected])
East Midlands by 150 Working Together for a Creative
(joint event with HKIE UK Chapter) and Collaborative Future (IStructE
Tuesday 11 September Lester Hillman Presidential Address) Western Counties
Performance enhancement of Eastern end of the raised forecourt in (IStructE/IES Joint Committee
masonry structures using near- front of St Pancras Hotel, Euston Road, event) Thursday 20 September
surface mounted reinforcement London NW1 2AR Faith Wainwright MBE Flood resilience
Professor Steve Garrity 11:00–13:00 National University of Singapore Fiona Gleed
Yew Lodge Hotel, Packington Hill, Register: KingsX150.eventbrite.co.uk Engineering Auditorium Bath University, Claverton Down, Bath
Kegworth, Derbyshire DE74 2DF Cost: Free of charge to IStructE and BA2 7AY
18:00 Secretary: Simon Leung IES members 18:00 for 18:30
([email protected]) 19:00–21:00 (light dinner served at
Secretary: Shaun Strugnell 18:00) Secretary: Jason Walker
([email protected]) Registration: On a first-come-first- ([email protected])
Northern Ireland served basis, limited to 150 participants
(completed registration form must be INTERNATIONAL
Lancashire and Cheshire Tuesday 25 September submitted) CONFERENCES
Expert Witness Cases – Recurring Contact:
Friday 14 September Themes and Lessons Learned [email protected]
Annual Dinner and North West Don McQuillan Adelaide, Australia
Awards Room PFC/02/026, Peter Froggatt Secretary: Wijaya Wong
Faith Wainwright MBE Centre, Queen’s University Belfast, ([email protected]) Tuesday 25–Friday 28 September
Midland Hotel, Manchester, 16 Peter St, Belfast BT7 1NN ASEC 2018: Australasian Structural
Manchester M60 2DS 18:15 Engineering Conference
Price: Members and guests £75; South East Counties Adelaide Convention Centre, North
student, graduate and retired members Secretary: Andrea Johnston Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia
£45 ([email protected]) Tuesday 25 September Web: aseconference.org.au
(10% discount for members entering 2017 IStructE Award Winner and
an award) Annual General Meeting
18:30 for 19:00 Scottish Speaker: tbc Cairo, Egypt
Croydon Park Hotel, 7 Altyre Road,
Tuesday 18 September Tuesday 11 September Croydon CR9 5AA Saturday 24–Wednesday 28
Why Not? Grenfell Tower Fire – the 18:00 for 18:30 November
Neil Thomas Consequences for Regulation GeoMEast 2018 International Congress
University of Manchester, Renold Alastair Soane Secretary: Eric Li ([email protected]) and Exhibition: Sustainable Civil
Building, PO Box 85, Sackville Street, TIC, Strathclyde University, 99 George Infrastructures: Structural Integrity
Manchester M1 3BB St, Glasgow G1 1RD Mena House Hotel, Cairo, Egypt
17:45 for 18:30 17:30 for 18:15 Surrey Web: www.geomeast2018.org

40 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

TSE80_39-40_DiaryDates.indd 40 23/08/2018 11:25

 At the back
thestructuralengineer.org Spotlight on Structures

Spotlight on
In this section we shine a spotlight on papers recently published in Structures – the Research Journal of The
Institution of Structural Engineers.
Structures is a collaboration between the Institution and Elsevier, publishing internationally-leading research across
the full breadth of structural engineering which will benefit from wide readership by academics and practitioners.
Access to Structures is free to Institution members (excluding Student members) as one of their membership
benefits, with access provided via the ‘My account’ section of the Institution website. The journal is available online at:
www.structuresjournal.org

Articles in press
The following articles have recently been made available online:

Article title Authors Available at:

Tailored Buckling Constrained by Adjacent Lawrence Virgin https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.08.005

Members

Vibration-based Structural Damage Saeid Talaei, Ali Beitollahi, Saeid Moshirabadi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.08.006
Detection Using Twin Gaussian Process and Milad Fallahian
(TGP)

Novel digitally-manufactured wooden C. Málaga-Chuquitaype and J. Ilkanaev https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.08.003

beams for vibration reduction

Estimate of Peak Relative Velocity from Ravindra Desai and Shrirang Tande https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.07.014
Conventional Spectral Velocity for
Response Spectrum Based Force Evaluation
in Damping Devices

Probabilistic Safety Analysis of Prestressed Oladimeji Benedict Olalusi and John T. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.08.004
Concrete Beams Failing Due to Web- Kolawole
crushing

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Mohd Khairul Kamarudin, Mustafasanie M. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.08.002

the Buckling Performance of Tubular Glass Yusoff, Peter Disney and Gerard A.R. Parke
Columns under Compression

An Insight into Structural Design against Tianjian Ji and Lee S. Cunningham https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.08.001
Deflection

Validation of Temperature Simulations in a Erik Gottsäter, Oskar Larsson Ivanov, Miklós https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.07.007
Portal Frame Bridge Molnár and Mario Plos

A GIS System Integrated with Earthquake M.C. Ningthoujam and Radhikesh P. Nanda https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.07.013
Vulnerability Assessment of RC Building

Performance of Fiber-reinforced Self- Mahdi Arezoumandi, Corey Wirkman and https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.07.015

consolidating Concrete for Repair of Bridge Jeffery S. Volz
Substructures

Static deflection and thermal stress analysis Shushanth Ashok and Pitchaimani Jeyaraj https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.07.010
of non-uniformly heated tapered composite
laminate plates with ply drop-off

Predicted Versus Experimental Out-of- Kevin Walsh, Dmytro Dizhur, Ivan Giongo, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.07.012
plane Force-displacement Behaviour of Hossein Derakhshan and Jason Ingham
Unreinforced Masonry Walls

The performance of lap splices in RC beams M.A. Najafgholipour, S.M. Dehghan, M. Khani https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.07.011
under inelastic reversed cyclic loading and A. Heidari

A Low-cost Housing Solution: Earth Block Mitchell Gohnert, Ivanka Bulovic and Ryan https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.07.008
Catenary Vaults Bradley

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 41

TSE80_41_Spotlight.indd 41 23/08/2018 11:25

 Products & Services
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7880 6217 Email: [email protected]

Bridging the gap with Ancon’s

improved IHR head restraints
Ancon has re-engineered its IHR internal head restraint to accommodate gaps at the
wall head of up to 75mm. Comprising an L-shaped channel section, fitted in the bed joint
and perpendicular joint of the top masonry course, and a second sliding component,
fixed to the underside of the structural frame they provide support at the top of masonry
panels.
The sliding top section is available in two lengths; for 25-50mm gaps or a longer length
for 51-75mm gaps. Data covering installation at 450mm and 900mm centres with a
25mm, 50mm and 75mm gap is available at www.ancon.co.uk/IHR.
Further information: Kirsty Carr (email: [email protected];
web: www.ancon.co.uk)

New sales manager at NBT

UK supplier of the Pavatex woodfibre insulation range, NBT, has appointed a new sales manager,
Phil Griffiths, in response to increased demand for natural, breathable insulation materials. Phil is
part of a planned expansion at NBT and he brings 28 years of sales experience to the team, where
he will work alongside the technical expertise of the company’s building physicists to drive sales
and build customer relationships.
NBT has been at the forefront of raising awareness of the benefits of natural, renewable
insulation materials among housebuilders, specifiers and contractors. The company has been
demonstrating the thermal performance and building comfort of breathable systems for both new
build and retrofit installations.
Phil commented, 'This is a very exciting time in the construction sector with lots of innovation in the
building products market and a genuine design focus on thermal performance, sustainability and
building comfort NBT’s Pavatex range ticks all those boxes, offering a renewable and recyclable
insulation product with excellent thermal performance and buildability benefits.'
Further information: NBT (web: www.natural-building.co.uk)

Tekla 3D modelling software

increases accuracy
Structural and civil engineering consultancy Solve Structural Design Ltd supplies a
complete range of services and it utilises Trimble’s Tekla 3D modelling software for
structural analysis, design and detailing of building structures. It then implements these
services within BIM Level 2 projects. Tekla Structures can be used throughout an
entire construction project. The models created contain precise, reliable and detailed
information needed for successful BIM and construction. The software can be used
throughout the project and after the design stage, Solve submits 3D IFC models for
incorporation into the BIM model, allowing coordination with the other project stakeholders.
Further information: Trimble/Tekla (web: www.tekla.com/uk)

WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR

PRODUCTS & SERVICES?
Contact Callum Nagle on 020 7880 6217 or email [email protected]

TheStructuralEngineer
The flagship publication of The Institution of Structural Engineers

42 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

P&S Sep18.indd 42 21/08/2018 17:12

 Services Directory
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7880 6217 Email: [email protected]

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Extensive experience to help the transition to a new owner. Current turnover is circa of 150k
PRODUCTS & Proven reliability pa. The office is situated in North West Surrey, but a varied client base
SERVICES? Large capacity
could be easily transferred to a new owner as very few are local. The
practice was set up 42 years ago and has a wide range of existing Clients.
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Contact Callum Nagle on Paul Benham Ltd to acquire new business with little additional overhead or advertising.
Civil & Structural Engineering Draughting Service
020 7880 6217 or email Equally the business may be of interest to individual qualified engineers
[email protected] [email protected] looking to start on their own with a ready made client base and business
www.paulbenhams.co.uk infrastructure 90% of the turnover is recurrent work from existing clients,
01273 730956
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The flagship publication of The Institution of Structural Engineers Interested parties please contact: 0794 053 4113 or 07702 351329

TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018 43

Directory Sep18.indd 43 21/08/2018 16:58

 Recruitment
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7880 6235 Email: [email protected]

Attract the right candidate for less -

Advertise for just £379
Only The Institution of Structural Engineers can provide such a dedicated and receptive audience, whose
experience and creative abilities are sufficiently diverse to fill any vacancy, regardless of seniority.

Our five new options offer various levels of targeting and visiblity. These include:

£379 £879
DIGITAL DIGITAL & PRINT

Job board ad live for 1 month, Job board ad live for up to 3 months,
with logo with logo
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”
TSE Recr Aug18.indd 44 20/08/2018 16:16
 Recruitment
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7880 6235 Email: [email protected]

Graduate Structural Engineer

Location: Hertfordshire
Salary: Competitive Salary
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full Time
HLS Structural Engineers is a busy, friendly Consultant An enthusiastic approach to Chartership is essential.
Engineers based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.
The successful candidate will have the potential within the
We have an enviable reputation for quality, reliability and
ofÀce to undertake design across all sectors, focussing
performance for both commercial and domestic work and
on Residential initially, in the four main materials, timber,
have an extensive number of satisÀed clients across London
reinforced concrete, steel and masonry.
and the South East.
Visits to Clients and sites will be required so Áuent
We work in the Home Counties and cover all of London.
conversational English is essential and a driving licence is
We offer a wide range of services to our Clients from small preferred.
extensions to large developments and refurbishments to
A good working knowledge of both Microsoft OfÀce and
new build on both residential and commercial properties. We
AutoCAD Tedds is required.
undertake full structural design and detailing, surveys and
temporary works design. To apply please visit:
https://jobs.thestructuralengineer.org/job/18668/
We are looking for an enthusiastic Graduate Engineer to join
graduate-structural-engineer/
our busy, friendly team.
Closing date: September 30th 2018
The candidate must have a minimum of 2 years’ relevant
experience in the UK using British Standards.

www.hls-structural.co.uk

TSE Recr Aug18.indd 45 20/08/2018 16:16

 Recruitment
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7880 6235 Email: [email protected]

Structural Engineering Director

Birmingham

Do you want to put your own stamp on a

successful and growing business?
Conrad Consulting is working exclusively with a leading global multi-disciplinary
practice, who are looking to make a strategic appointment to their dynamic
Structures team based at their Birmingham city centre office.

Available outside of office Progression to Partner, offering equity

hours for a confidential chat Freedom to expand the division
at a time that suits you. Opportunity to develop the business

£80,000 - £90,000 per Annum

Extensive core benefits and additional elective benefits
including (but not limited to) private medical insurance, income protection, life assurance, a discretionary
bonus scheme and professional subscriptions paid for, and a clear track for progression including opportunity
for promotion to Partner and taking equity in the business.

Take your Structural Engineering career to the next level by

contacting Graham Ventham for further details
01728 726 126 | 07973 510 853 | [email protected]

Find more jobs at

conradconsulting.co.uk
London 0203 890 7336 Edinburgh 0131 240 1260
Suffolk 01728 726 120 Manchester 0161 209 3246
Leeds 0113 457 0079 Birmingham 0121 698 2085

TSE Recr Aug18.indd 46 20/08/2018 16:16

 Recruitment
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7880 6235 Email: [email protected]

PART-TIME, HOME BASED

CHARTERED STRUCTURAL ENGINEER We are seeking a talented Structural Design Engineer
with experience in all basic structural materials and
residential, industrial and commercial buildings.
We are a small structural and civil consultancy practice
Main Responsibilities
established over 30 years ago. We need one or two • To act as Project Engineer on projects of various sizes.
chartered structural engineers based in certain areas of • Agree design philosophy / fundamentals.
London and the South-East to handle jobs local to them • Excellent task management and delivery, demonstrating technical competence,
on a self-employed, sub-consultant basis but covered by financial awareness and striking a balance between internal and external resources.
• Liaise with clients, identifying needs and presenting solutions.
our professional indemnity and public liability insurance. • Prepare project proposals.
You would be working from your own home and can Required qualifications
choose the hours you work and how many jobs you take • Ideally Chartered or approaching Chartership with demonstrable experience.
on. The work involves mainly inspections and reports on • Degree or equivalent in Structural Engineering
building defects and structural design of alterations and • Structural Engineering design in the timber, steel, reinforced concrete and
masonry construction to Eurocode standard
extensions, both domestic and commercial. It would suit
• Be an excellent communicator capable of explaining complex engineering
a person who’s taken early retirement but wishes to keep principles in plain language, both verbally and in writing;
their hand in. Must be chartered and able to write good • Have a commercial understanding of an engineering consultancy;
English. We pay around £200 for a typical inspection • Have a record of working on varied and complex buildings
and report, and £35 per hour for design work. No formal • Ability to take responsibility for projects.
• Ability to manage the design and construction stages of a project.
contract is involved. • Be competent at influencing people
• Be proactive in addressing problems & providing solutions.
All new enquiries and invoicing are handled at head office, • Fully computer literate.
so you would not need to get involved in red tape. We
would expect you to have a computer, an A3 printer and What we offer
basic survey equipment. Autocad is preferable but not • Competitive salary and benefits, including pension.
• 25 days’ annual leave + Bank Holidays
essential.
• Professional subscriptions
• Training/further education support
• Childcare vouchers
If you are interested, please see our web site:
• Excellent career and development opportunities.
www.abbott-holliday.co.uk and write to Peter Holliday
at Wissenden Oast, Bethersden, Kent, TN26 3EL If interested please forward your CV and a covering letter to [email protected]
or email [email protected]. indicating your current salary package or expectations.
The Hambleton Partnership is an equal opportunities employer and values diversity.

Principal Structural Engineer - Perth

Allen Gordon LLP are consulting civil and structural engineers providing design services to a wide range of public and private sector clients
across Scotland. Our key markets include water, renewables, infrastructure and structural design. We are currently looking for a Principal
Structural Engineer for our busy Perth office where we are engaged in a wide variety of domestic, commercial and industrial projects.
Perth is a small, attractive city on the edge of the Highlands and provides an excellent quality of life. We offer an excellent package including
a competitive salary based on experience. No agencies please - only individual applications will be considered.

Candidate Specification
• Chartered Engineer (MIStructE or MICE), preferably with a minimum of 5 years post-Chartered experience. Candidates approaching
Chartered status may also be considered.
• SER Approved Certifier of Design (Building Structures) or a willingness to work towards this.
• Excellent technical skills, including experience in all major structural materials and a thorough understanding of current Scottish building
design standards and practices.
• Good communication skills and the ability to support our existing client relationships, prepare bids and enhance our ability to attract
new clients.
• Proven experience in the successful delivery of projects, the ability to manage changes, work to budget and programme.
• Experience in managing a team of Engineers and technicians.
• A flexible attitude to the type of work undertaken.
• Ability to make decisions and take initiative.

Responsibilities
• Deliver a wide variety of Structural Engineering projects and assist with the management of a team of Engineers and technicians.
• Effectively manage own time over multiple projects and also control resources.
• Build client relationships and help to identify business opportunities.
• Prepare fee proposals and manage budgets.
• Develop and guide more junior members of the team.

How To Apply
Please email: [email protected]

TSE Recr Aug18.indd 47 20/08/2018 16:16

 Recruitment
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7880 6235 Email: [email protected]

FULL TIME POSITIONS NOW AVAILABLE!

COMPETITIVE SALARIES NEGOTIATED FOR THE RIGHT CANDIDATES
PHD ASSOCIATES is a multi-discipline practice providing Architecture, Surveying, Town Planning, Construction and
Property Development services to a broad range of clients over a wide range of sectors. You will be part of the
development of the skills we offer and must able to take the firm into the future, working alongside Architects,
Surveyors and Technicians, building and shaping the structural side of the practice.

CONSULTANTS IN
ARCHITECTURE,
ARCHITECT PLANNING,
Registered, Chartered, PROPERTY
STRUCTURAL Partner (LLP) DEVELOPMENT &
ENGINEER CONSTRUCTION
Associated, Chartered,,
Partner (LLP)
ARCHITECTURAL
TECHNICIAN PHD ASSOCIATES,
Qualified, possible RIBA BRAEMAR HOUSE,
Part 1 or Part 2, WATER LANE, STANSTED,
CIOB or similar ESSEX. CM24 8BJ.
01279 817342 ext 100
[email protected]
www.PHDAssociates.co.uk

Engineers & Technicians

An exciting opportunity to join an innovative and dynamic company in Manchester. HBL Associates is a well-
established engineering practice involved in a wide variety of challenging projects of all sizes in a number of
sectors including theme parks, residential, commercial, leisure, industrial and infrastructure throughout the UK.
We are looking to expand our practice and are seeking enthusiastic engineers and technicians of all levels
from graduate to senior, who have a strong work ethic, willing to learn new skills, and have good verbal and
written communication skills.
• Engineers – Ideally chartered or near chartered with a thorough grounding in structural design.
• Graduate Engineers – Assisting Senior staff on a wide variety of projects, undertaking structural design calculations, reports,
speciÀcations, drawings and attending site meetings. Experience in the design of cross laminated timber (CLT) would be an
advantage.
• Technicians – We require technicians who have a good working knowledge of AutoCAD and REVIT enabling the production
of complex models and drawings. The ideal candidate will have the ability to both work on their own initiative and to co-
ordinate with internal and external design team members.
There will be an opportunity to develop new skills and manage projects whilst working in a very friendly and supportive work
environment. We will support you in your training and career development to chartership.
We offer a competitive salary, 25 days holiday and Áexible working arrangement.
To apply please forward your CV and expected salary to [email protected]

TSE Recr Aug18.indd 48 20/08/2018 16:17

 Recruitment
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7880 6235 Email: [email protected]

Chartered (or near)

Structural Engineer
Central London Ref: 51534
Up to £45,000 + Benefits
Niche Bath/London consultancy has a
requirement for a Chartered (or near) Structural
knowledge based Engineer to join the Central London studio as it

IMAGES SHOW RECENT PROJECTS UNDERTAKEN BY SOME OF OUR CORE CLIENTS

continues to establish its London team. Candidates
recruitment in will need to be a near or just Chartered member
of IStructE and/or ICE, be educated to
structural engineering MEng/MSc-level (2:1 min) and will have
worked for another niche or premier
consultancy consultancy on high-profile
cutting-edge commissions.

2No Senior Structural

Design Engineers
Central London Ref: 51494-95
Up to £52,500 + Benefits
Premier 80-strong consultancy has a
requirement for 2No Senior Structural Design MORPH STRUCTURES BUILT ENGINEERS
Engineers to join the expanding London studio to work
on large new-build developments in the UK and
internationally. Candidates will need to be near Management Associate
or recently Chartered with IStructE (prefer) (Structural) Director Designate
and/or ICE and must have excellent
Central London Ref: 51426 Central London Ref: 51490
design skills, be design-focused
Up to £100,000 + Benefits Up to £57,500 + Benefits
and will have worked for another
premier London consultancy. Premier top 10 consultancy has a Boutique niche consultancy has a requirement
requirement for a Management Director to join STRUCTURE WORKSHOP for an Associate Designate to join the expanding
the expanding London studio. Candidates will need London design studio as it formulates its middle-tier
to be a Chartered member of IStructE and/or of management. Candidates will need to be a
ICE and must have extensive experience in Chartered member of IStructE and will need to
the design and project management of have excellent project-running skills and be
structural & civil engineering projects capable of running and developing a small
and be highly-skilled in the design, team with a cutting-edge consultancy
delivery and management of on complex, challenging projects
a team on large projects. up to £10million.

Structural
(Conservation) Engineer
Central London Ref: 51536
Up to £60,000 + Benefits
High-profile consultancy has a requirement
HEYNE TILLETT STEEL CORBETT & TASKER for a Structural (Conservation) Engineer to join the
expanding Central London studio. Candidates will be
considered from Design Engineer up to Associate
Structural Design 2No Structural grade, however all individuals must have
Engineer (Timber) Engineers good conservation design engineering
Central London Ref: 51531-32 experience gained in UK consultancy
Central London Ref: 51515
combined with Graduate/Chartered
Up to £35,000 + Benefits Up to £60,000 + Benefits
membership of IStructE &
High-profile well-established niche consultancy High-profile niche timber engineering membership of SPAB.
has a requirement for a Structural Design Engineer CONISBEE consultancy has a requirement for 2No Structural
to join the expanding team. Candidates will need to be Timber Engineers to join the Central London studio as it
a Graduate member of IStructE and/or ICE, be continues to expand. Candidates will be considered
educated to MEng level (2:1 min) and will need from Design Engineer up to Associate/Team
to have worked for another niche London Leader level and must have gained good
consultancy. Projects currently being timber engineering design experience,
undertaken are in both new-build be design-focused and ideally
& refurbishment sectors across educated to MEng/MSc-level (2:1
residential & the arts sectors. min) in timber engineering.

MARKET
UPDATE
The market is unbalanced,
with some consultancies very
busy and some consultancies less
so with weakness now in private and SINCLAIR JOHNSTON LYONS O’NEILL
developer-led London residential but being
overset by other sectors getting stronger.
Good demand still exists for premier
candidates from Structural Design 24 Greville Street T 020 3457 0797
Engineer up to Associate-level
and salaries continue Farringdon E [email protected]
to creep-up. London
EC1N 8SS WALSH
uualkerdendle.co.uk

TSE Recr Aug18.indd 49 20/08/2018 16:17

 At the back
And finally... thestructuralengineer.org

The place to test your knowledge and

And finally... problem-solving ability.

If you would like to submit a quiz or
problem, contact [email protected]

This month’s contribution from Peter Bullman FIStructE relates to deflection in a simply
supported timber beam. The answer can be found on page 38.

A rectangular timber simply

supported beam of breadth b Level datum δ
and depth d has acquired a
permanent downward deflection
100mm
of 100mm. To correct this, the
following is proposed:
 Take an initially straight piece
of the same timber of breadth b
d d/2
and depth d/2.
 Spread glue on the new timber
and place it under the existing
beam.
 Before the glue has set, jack up
b
the centre of the beam to give
an upward deflection of δ.
 Screw the two pieces of timber
together and allow the glue to Initial state Jacked up Released
set.
 Release the jack.
Question
What value of δ should be used if the final deflection is to be zero?
A) 67mm B) 50mm C) 44mm D) 33mm

Shear deflection, creep and friction should be ignored.

Submit your problem for consideration to [email protected]. The author of each published problem will receive a single e-book of
their choice from the Institution’s current catalogue.

Enter a sketch in the next competition – deadline 30 September 2018!

The Drawing Board Sketches must be: To take part, submit your
is The Structural • hand drawn (no CAD, except for ‘guided freehand’) entries to: [email protected]
Engineer’s quarterly • from a real project (i.e. not drawn for the competition)
Each published entry will receive
sketching competition, • at a suitable scale for publication (i.e. not too
a free single e-book from the
judged by Ron Slade intricate/detailed).
Institution’s current list of titles.
FIStructE of WSP | Please also submit a short description (150 words) to put
Parsons Brinckerhoff. the sketch into context. Background sketch by Kevin Lyons (Lyons O’Neill)

50 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

TSE80_50_ATB_AndFinally.indd 50 23/08/2018 11:27

 E E L Y 2018
ST A
UK TION D
UC
STR
CON
www.steel-sci.com

Transforming Construction: Using

steel to deliver greater productivity
Thursday 8th November 2018, Royal College of Physicians, London.

This year SCI’s annual steel event will showcase Speakers include:
how steel is already ideally placed to meet the UK Chris George, Trimble
Governments objective to transform construction David Coyle, Voler Ground Engineering
WHFKQLTXHVWRGUDPDWLFDOO\LPSURYHHIÀFLHQF\LQWKH David Ellison, Sigmat
future construction and operation of buildings and Mark Farmer, Cast
Michael Hough, MJH Structural Engineers
infrastructure.
Steve Matthews, WSP
During this 1 day event recent projects taken from
different sectors of the steel construction industry The following will also have a stand at the event:
will demonstrate; cost, time and energy savings ArcelorMittal
SBG - Steel Bridge Group
through innovations in manufacturing and digital
SPG - Steel Piling Group
technologies. TCB

SCI Members £50 +VAT | Non-Members £100 +VAT

The SCI is committed to helping members meet their design, For further details contact
manufacture, construction and commercial objectives. +44 (0)1344 636500
@SCIsteel steel-construction-institute Visit our website [email protected]

p51_TSE.Sep18.indd 2 20/08/2018 14:43

 Analysis Concrete Steel

Composite Timber Masonry

Retaining Walls Drafting Lite Suite

p52_TSE.Sep18.indd 2 20/08/2018 14:44