Reduced laying depths for supply mains

Laying of supply piping below ground involves heavy costs. This paper from the GDR Bauakademie, Institute of Construction and Civil Engineering, Leipzig, describes how the costs have been reduced by up to 30 percent as a result of reducing the minimum depths required, by reassessing piping statics (interaction of the load ‐ soil ‐pipe system), and the precautions for irregular frost heave, which can be of decisive importance.     

Research‐but no practice

In this revised version of a paper originally presented at the CIB Washington Congress, the author argues that research results in the African Continent take many years to filter through to building practice, if they filter through at all. The main reasons are conditioned attitudes ‐ ‘anything local is no good’ ‐ and the virtual absence of information and documentation centres. He suggests ways to tackle these problems and thus bridge a yawning gap.     

Ghana

A strategic task for building research in the Ghanaian context should be to give new life to well‐tried methods and to develop the local resources of labour and materials, writes the director of the Building and Road Research Institute at Kumasi. The reasons are not only economic ‐ saving scarce foreign exchange ‐ but social, by creating viable local industries. This article concentrates on the housing‐related studies and reports a few projects which have tried to apply the concepts in a practical way.     

Letting in the daylight

In our May‐June issue last year, the author ‐ who is director of the Lighting Research Unit in the Architectural Faculty of the University of New South Wales, Australia ‐ described the unit's work on the use of a prismatic panel to beam daylight into buildings. Here she puts this research into context with a review of developments world‐wide which aim to make the best use of windows in building design, both to save energy costs and improve the visual environment.     

Rhetoric and reality: William Holford in South Africa

Although born and educated to pre‐university level in South Africa, William Holford is invariably associated with Great Britain where he lived throughout his adult like and where he was accorded so many honours. Most of the writings by and about him consequently relate to this British background and not a great deal is known outside South Africa of his professional association with the land of his birth. He was in fact involved in a number of projects in South Africa in the post‐war years, including those in Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town and Durban, which are discussed in this paper. The projects are viewed against the backdrop of the principles and premises of planning as enunciated by Holford himself, on which basis the connections between his statements and their application in practice ‐ between rhetoric and reality ‐ are assessed.     

Privacy in the private sphere

This article examines the issue of privacy within the home as a way of exploring the contradiction between feminist views that women and men experience the home differently ‐ and indeed that women may find the home oppressive ‐ and Saunders’ recent (1990) evidence that men and women express similar and equally strong positive sentiments about their home. We conclude that privacy within the home is negotiated within the wider framework of familial ideology and the ideals of ‘home’ and the companionate marriage’, so that within the home there is typically differential access to privacy for adults and children, and men and women.     

Modular co‐ordination

Is the concept of modular co‐ordination ‘theoretical’ or ‘Utopian’ as some sceptics allege? Not at all, writes the co‐ordinator of CIB working commission W24/IMG, who here outlines its progress over the years, what it is now about and ‐ especially ‐ what it is not. CIB Report No. 68, the modern ‘Principles’, is seen as the culmination of much earlier work as well as a breakthrough for further international development, notably through its treatment of such difficult aspects as tolerances, building fit and joint sizing. Mr McEvatt is with An Foras Forbartha, of Ireland.     

Transforming the notion of the urban aborigine

Abstract

The ‘urban Aborigine’ has been a problematic figure in Australian social policy, because of the tension between his/her cultural status (apparently assimilated) and his/her politicised cultural identity (defiantly resistant to assimilation). This paper focuses on a moment in Australian history when a reformist intelligentsia was compelled to make better sense of the ‘urban Aborigine’, and on two intellectuals in particular: H. C. Coombs and Fay Gale. It then turns to the cultural practice of a particular sector of this intelligentsia ‐ the urban Aboriginal painter ‐ and shows how urban Aboriginal artists have sometimes addressed the problematic category ‘urban Aborigine’ by richly referencing icons of the ‘traditional’ in their paintings.     

Ornament and function

The architects and builders in the past lacked our knowledge concerning fluid dynamics, but they exhibited a deep rooted ability to observe and reflect ‐ thus, different cultures have developed by trial and error. The authors have produced a stimulating analysis which couples the science of fluid dynamics and a sensitive understanding of past cultures. The paper is recommended reading.     

Metropolitan planning and downtown redevelopment: The Cincinnati and Dallas experiences, 1940–60

This study explores the parallel experiences of two rather different American cities with regard to planning and post‐war redevelopment. In both cities, the business‐supported planning movements of the 1940s focused on metropolitan‐wide issues and included a social as well as an economic emphasis. Initial efforts at redevelopment after the war, which included improvement of housing, also mirrored this metropolitan focus. By the mid‐1950s, however, the focus of the planning movement had shifted to the central business district: viewed as an economic problem and calling for massive redevelopment of both cities’ downtowns.

This changing emphasis ‐ from planning for the metropolis to planning for the CBD ‐ is placed within the context of a changing discourse about the relationship between the city and the suburb which was taking place between 1940 and 1960.     

Estimating the peak structural response of high‐rise structures using spectral value‐based intensity measures

With increasing trend towards performance‐based design in earthquake engineering, running nonlinear time history analysis is becoming the routing process to quantify the relationship between ground motions intensity measure (IM) and the structural responses. Because a high‐rise structure contains many higher modes, a newly proposed spectral value‐based IM is presented in this paper to quantify the structural response of high‐rise structures. The newly proposed IM uses the modal participation masses to combine higher modes. An actual high‐rise structure is taken as an example to demonstrate the efficiency of using the newly proposed IM to quantify the peak structural response of high‐rise structures. Five alternative IMs were compared in this study: (a) PGA ‐ peak ground acceleration; (b) S₁ ‐ spectra acceleration with only 1 mode; (c) S^* ‐ modified S₁ with the consideration of period elongation after structure yielded; (d) S₁₂‐ spectra acceleration with 2 modes; and (e) S₁₂₃ ‐ spectra acceleration with 3 modes. Linear regression is fitted between the peak structural response and the IM considered. The IM with the highest correlation coefficient to the engineering demand parameter is considered the most efficient IM. The results show that S₁ has better correlation to the structural response compared with PGA. S₁₂₃ has better correlation than S^* and S₁₂. It is found that the IM with higher modes can provide better correlation than IM with lower number of structural information. For engineering applications, IM with up to 3 modes (S₁₂₃) is sufficient to produce an accurate prediction to quantify the structural response of high‐rise structures.     

Book Review

Construction ‐ The Third Way: Managing Cooperation and Competition in Construction John Bennett, Butterworth Heinemann, 2000, ISBN 0 7506 3093 0, 224 pp., £19.99     

Masonry

Professor Bohdan Lewicki of the Building Research Institute, Warsaw, describes his work on masonry assessment based on the presentation to the CIB Working Commission on Wall Structures ‐ W23, at the 25th meeting held in Austin, Texas.     

Growth studies of Azolla pinnata RBr. in a permanent pond

The growth pattern of Azolla pinnata in association with Spirodela polyrhiza was studied in a permanent pond. These two plants would provide a regular source of biomass. The suitability of integration of Azolla pinnata into other aquatic plants ‐ based wastewater treatment systems has been proposed. The favourable qualities offered by Azolla pinnata as a component in wastewater treatment systems has been emphasized.     

Die Elbebrücke Niederwartha – die erste Schrägseilbrücke in Sachsen

The Elbebridge Niederwartha ‐ the first cable‐stayed bridge in Saxonia. The following article describes the preliminary studies and the design of the new roadwaybridge across the river Elbe near Dresden. The new bridge will have a total length of 367 m and a main span of 192 m. It will be come the longest main span and the first cable‐stayed bridge in Saxonia.     

Limnological studies in the potter Peninsula, 25 de mayo Island (South Shetland Islands ‐ Antarctica): chemistry of lentic environments

Limnological studies were carried out in the Potter Peninsula, “25 de Mayo Island” (South Shetland Islands ‐ Antarctica) on the chemistry of lentic environments. The relevant chemical characteristics of twenty‐two bodies of water in Potter Creek are described. The marine contribution index (I.A.M.) and Gibbs’ diagrams show that only 50% of dissolved load in these bodies of water can be ascribed to marine contribution. The analysis of factors allows one to explain the first factor as associated to these waters’ chemical characteristics, while the second one is linked to endoproduction. The order obtained by means of discriminant analysis may be explained as resulting from two processes: succession and microsuccession.     

Private sector housing in urban China since 1949: The case of Xian

Research on urban housing policies in socialist China and Eastern European countries has concentrated on understanding the production and distribution of state housing. More recently researchers have shifted their attention to the commodification of urban housing and establishment of private housing markets. A very important aspect of socialist housing ‐ the process of nationalisation of privately owned urban housing in the early period of socialist development ‐ has been relatively neglected. Ignoring this aspect of the historical background of socialist urban housing policy may create difficulties in understanding the nature of the public sector and recent privatisation experience.

This paper intends to fill this gap in relation to China by examining both the nationalisation of urban privately owned housing in the early years of socialism and the more recent privatisation and commercialisation of the urban housing sector. This highlights shifting approaches to the urban housing market in different periods of socialist development and helps in understanding recent developments in housing reform. It examines the development of policy and the resultant impacts on the private housing market in Xian, one of the major cities in central China. The pattern of private ownership, the state policy of nationalisation and the more recent commercialisation of urban public sector housing are the main issues examined.     

Kleben im Bauwesen – gestern,heute, morgen – Allgemeine Übersicht und Ausblick auf die Forschung im Konstruktiven Glasbau an der Fachhochschule München (FHM)

Bonding in Civil Engineering – yesterday, today, tomorrow. A general overview and a look forward on research in the field of Structural Glazing at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. Bonding in the field of Civil Engineering has a long tradition. According to today's knowledge the history of adhesions began latest in the pre‐Christian Rome with the invention of mortar. Since this time, the technology of bonding has become a great progress ‐ and also met relapses. The modern Civil Engineer is using bondings in many areas of building, mostly without being aware that he is using this technology. By one hand this report gives a general overview about the usual adhesives in Civil Engineering, at the other hand focus is given at the usage of bonding in the field of structural glazing. On the question about the material properties for adhesives used in Structural Glazing the essential aspects will be shown by doing research on this new joint technology.     

Selenium toxicity in soils,plants and animals in some parts of Punjab,India

Pockets of seleniferous soils have been identified in north eastern parts of Punjab, India, by examining the Se content of soils, irrigation water, plants and animal tissues. Toxic sites ranging from 4 ‐ 16 ha were sporadically distributed in the study area and occupied more than 100 ha. In the seleniferous areas, the selenium content of surface (2.12 ± 1.13 mg kg^‐1) and sub surface (1.16±0.51mg kg^‐1) layers of soils was 4–5 times higher than that of nonseleniferous areas. It seems that the deposition of seleniferous materials transported by seasonal rivulets from higher reaches of the Siwalik hills and use of underground water for frequently irrigating crops like lowland rice lead to the development of seleniferous pockets in the study area.     

利比亚拜尼·沃利德给水工程规划

论述了利比亚拜尼·沃利德地区供水系统的基本特征、存在的主要问题以及解决措施.针对该沙漠地区供电、供水不连续,用水时间较为集中的实际情况,选择水塔供水代替常规的泵房直供,并且采用沙漠来水及地下水多水源供水以提高供水保障率.供水区域划分充分考虑了原有水池、水塔、水井等构筑物的利用,以减少工程投资.