From the Desk of Chairman, Editorial Board
This issue of the journal is focused on the theme of “Strengthening, Repair and Rehabilitation of Structures”. Evaluation, repair, rehabilitation and strengthening of existing infrastructure has become increasingly an important topic within the construction industry. The need for repair and strengthening of a structure may arise from usual deterioration due to ageing or problems of durability, due to likely change in functional use of the structure, changes in the relevant design codes subsequent to the construction, change in loadings conditions subsequent to construction, structural defects or due to any unforeseen disasters (like earthquake, floods, cyclone …etc.). Strengthening, rehabilitation repair and retrofitting of structures is usually a challenging task for Engineers, due to uncertainties associated with the behavior of distressed structures. The Engineers involved in such works needs to have sufficient work experience and skill since there are no applicable codes and standards, which gives a formatted unidirectional approach to any solution. The Engineer has to explore amongst plenty of possibilities, after studying all the constraints in a given situation, to come out with the optimum solution. vi Volume 45
Number 2 June 2015
Accuracy of evaluation of any structure can be improved by using the recent advancements and developments in structural diagnostics, structural tests, material tests, structural analysis and probabilistic methods of design. Considering the above scenario, a need was felt by the editorial board of ING-IABSE for dissemination of current knowledge and for exchange of recent experiences gained by the practicing engineers as well as research institutions in the field of Repair and Rehabilitation. Our Guest Editor for this issue is Mr. P Y Manjure, who is a well known personality in the field of Repair and Rehabilitation in India and overseas. I am sure, the papers in this journal will reveal the intense amount of activity going on in India and in various parts of the world on topics of damage detection, diagnosis and evaluation, repair, rehabilitation and strengthening of engineering structures. It is hoped that readers will find the information of value.
ALOK BHOWMICK The Bridge and Structural Engineer