The Design Life of Structures Book by Editor: G. Somerville

The whole area of durability, integrity and quality control of structures is starting to be taken very seriously by the construction industry. Central to this is the design life concept, which looks at the materials used, methods of construction, safety factors, maintenance and repair, and change of use, all from a holistic viewpoint. This new book is based on a recent symposium, where leading experts met to discuss this issue and formulate a strategy. In addition, experts from other industries (e.g. aerospace, nuclear), where the design life concept is well established, provided invaluable insights into the problems and benefits of implementing this approach. In total, thirty short contributions are presented in this book, which represents the present state of the art in this field. These are logically structured into five sections, and at the end of each section there is an additional contribution summarising the dialogue or discussion at the symposium – a way of presenting instant feedback to the ideas presented in the contributions.