December_1966 — Page 41

world news

正祥

Future Role of the Civil Engineer

"THE future role of the civil engineer is not, and must not be thought of, as a narrow and specialist technological function." stated Mr. Ralph Freeman, of Freeman. Fox and Partners, when he presented his presidential address at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London last month. "Most of our members are concerned, more or less directly, with what is described as the design of the hu- man environment," he said. "Other professions, notably the architects and the town planners, have major roles in this activity, and there are several others, such as the economists, the sociologists and social scientists, and the various kinds of surveyors, including quantity surveyors.

"It is our duty continuously and actively to strive for and cultivate hetter cross-relationships with all these pro- fessions, and better understanding of their outlooks and their work at all levels.

"If the professions are to give optimum service to the public and that must always be the prime aim of any profession these horizontal lines of communication must be assiduously developed. It is in building that the need for better inter-professional understanding and co- operation is probably greatest."

Mr. Freeman made a plea for a determined effort to bring about voluntary co-ordination of technical services between as a start the Institution and the Institutions of Structural Engineers. Municipal Engineers, Highway Engineers. Water Engineers and the Public Health En- gineers. It should not be difficult he maintained, to or- ganise regular exchange of plans for invited Papers, tech- nical visits, conferences and subject matter of submitted Papers, and thus achieve more complete coverage and bet- ter dovetailing of programmes.

Decrease in Building Orders in Belgium

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THE Belgian construction industry faces a marked de- cline in its volume of activity due to curbs that are being applied to expenditure on public works. The credit squeeze is also affecting the private building sector. Build- ing societies have temporarily stopped granting mortgages and interest rates are rising.

These restrictions are countering the national effort to achieve higher productivity in the construction indus- try, which continues in some respects to cling to its artisan character. While costs and expenses are rising rapidly, no proportional increase in productivity is being achieved.

Efforts are being made to promote the industrialisa- tion of building construction but an opposing factor is the lack of co-ordination between the programmes devised by the various co-operative “social housing" construction so- cieties, of which there are upwards of 300 in Belgium.

and in Holland

"DEAR money" is also having a retarding effect on con- struction activities in Holland, especially upon the build- ing of new facilities for industrial undertakings.

Recently, some brick works have had to stop pro- duction. In the brick industry there has been a diminish- ing demand for manpower because, as result

a

of

Polyester/glass fibre coffer forms are being used to cast the reinforced concrete floors of the £10 million Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Scotland. The material is almost the only one capable of being moulded to the complicated form required. The moulds are lightweight and give a good surface finish to the concrete; they are manufactured by Brensal Plastics, Ltd.

mechanisation and rationalisation of production, the out- put per operative has increased at a faster rate than the demand for bricks.

A number of obsolete brickworks have had to be closed on account of lack of funds to modernise their facilities. Ten such works have ceased production since the beginning of last year. In contrast, in the precast concrete industry mechanisation and rationalisation have not resulted in a reduction in the number of employees.

Floating Airport Planned Near Osaka

THE world's first floating airport is planned on the sea off Kobe, near Osaka, Japan. It will cost about US$472 million and will comprise a huge T-shaped steel structure supporting a main concrete paved runway, 4,000 metres long.

Some 100 anchors will be used to keep the airport stable and a tunnel will be built to connect the airport with the land. According to the designers, the Kawasaki

Japan's proposed floating airport.

Shipbuilding Co., the airport will occupy a total area of 3,080,000 sq. metres.

It will be made up of hundreds of steel blocks, each 10.4 metres high. All the airport facilities, except the hangars and conning towers will be housed within the blocks. The total weight of the blocks will be 4.5 mil lion tons.

Hungary Concentrating on System Building

INDUSTRIALISED building techniques are playing an im- portant role in the attainment of Hungary's latest hous- ing programme a million new dwellings by 1975.

J

Far East Architect & Builder December, 1966

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