Closing address

This conference has been extremely valuable in providing a forum for the exchange of information on practical experience of reinforced and prestressed masonry, a subject on which information is somewhat limited in the UK. This is not the case in other countries, where masonry has been used as a structural material for many years; it is not therefore a new material, although it may appear to be so in the UK, but rather a resurgence of a material, with obvious advantages.

One of the main advantages of masonry is its long life, which has not yet been proven with, say, reinforced concrete, simply because reinforced concrete has not yet been in existence long enough. However, as many contributors to the conference have asserted, further research is necessary, particularly in the fields of corrosion and creep, if the objective of the long life of masonry is to be achieved in reinforced and prestressed brickwork. I believe that there is a need for greater co-operation between the research worker and the practising engineer, and in addition to pure research being done in the fields of corrosion and* creep, it is important to monitor actual performance in actual struc tures. The problem is, who pays? Clients are not likely to, and moreover might become worried if permission were re quested to monitor the performance of their structures. However, this is a problem that must be faced, as I believe that monitoring of structural performance is as important as pure research.