Books: REVIEWS

This 134-page, small-format hardback book is one that will prove intriguing reading for those with a keen interest in the way structures sometimes do not work as intended – and perhaps have an equally keen interest in appreciating what needs to be considered to make them work as planned.

The book is divided into 13 chapters; 12 of them focus on what the author sees as the principal problems and/or reasons for a failure. Examples include design errors, poor construction and poor management, plus much more.

Numerous failures are described, some in greater detail than others. As the author states in his introduction, the examples given are, ‘a personal selection of incidents that have occurred related to reinforced and prestressed concrete structures’. His personal views and insights are thus included.

It is interesting to note the author has been careful to ensure that the failures have not been identified. However, the more well-known cases will be familiar to many and are thus readily identifiable. Indeed, many will have been the subject of official reports, technical papers and described in other books.

This book is thoroughly recommended as an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in performance of the built environment, either as initial learning or perhaps as a reminder during career development. The focus is concrete, but the higher-level lessons are far wider and can be applied more generally.

A thought for a second edition is that the value of the publication could be enhanced still further by giving references for official reports, where available, so that readers can learn even more about these identifiable examples.

This book provides an excellent reference covering many aspects associated with planning, design and management of flood risk infrastructure. It builds on a significant body of research that has allowed an increasingly practical approach to managing existing flood defences and planning and building new ones.

The chapters provide engineering students, engineers and scientists involved in the design, management and planning of flood defence infrastructure with a range of useful insights on the demands and emerging science of a risk-based approach.

Topics covered include policy, legislation, design lessons learned, the range of methods available for assessing and inspecting flood defence infrastructure, risk management, and flood defence performance in coastal and urban environments and on dams and reservoirs.

The chapters are well structured and include good figures, illustrations and tables to help with understanding. Detailed case studies are included which provide real-life and useful conclusions and lessons learned. In particular, the case study on the Thames estuary (chapter 12) describes the history, strategy, tools used and decisionmaking processes – a very useful reference.

In conclusion, I believe this book provides an essential one-stop reference manual for the design management and operation of flood and coastal risk management infrastructure.

Chartered territory – an engineer abroad is the author's first book, relating a rich and diverse account of 16 years spent living and working abroad as an engineer. It ranges from the everyday chaos of Lagos to the unique environment of Hong Kong, via the conformity salary-man life in Japan and the wonders of the Indian subcontinent.

Taken abroad by a passion for travelling and by several engagements as a structural engineer, Zabulis provides in 580 pages a wide collection of both travel- and work-related anecdotes about his life in different countries and his experience facing societies and cultures which he had to accept, live with and learn to love.

Some chapters have no engineering content and are thus pure travel articles, such as climbing Mount Fuji, participation in dragon boat races and doing the Trailwalker, an arduous hiking event.

This book is an ideal companion for engineers working abroad as it provides a unique, light-hearted and warm first-hand account of not-so-ordinary life in foreign cultures, leaving the reader hungry for their own adventures.

This is the winner of the Chartered Management Institute and British Library ‘management book of the year’ competition in the ‘commuter's read’ category. Despite not winning the overall prize, it is arguably the most useful book for engineers submitted in this year's competition.

Strategy is defined as being a way of shaping the future. It could be a major development or for something as small as a change in the way that your team works. It does not matter which end of the spectrum is being worked upon. In all cases, the important aspect is how the ideas are developed and how the leader manages the process.

The book approaches strategy from many different perspectives, which can be dipped into as required. Each section contains an objective, a context, the challenge and the pitfalls to be faced. Importantly, the book contains a brief two-page summary of the dozens of models and tools available, hence justifying the commuter's read category.

Any engineer who has gone through a master of business administration programme in recent years will have struggled with the enormous volume of text in a strategy course. This book is to be welcomed as a brief but comprehensive primer on the subject.

The overall and ‘practical manager’ category winner in the competition was The management book by Richard Newton, while the winner of the ‘new manager’ category was The leadership skills handbook: 50 essential skills you need to be a leader (2nd edition) by Jo Owen. Further details of all winners can be found at http://yearbook.managers.org.uk/winners-2013.

This is the selected proceedings of a series of international conferences on multinational joint ventures for construction works, held each year since 2005. It brings together the highlights from the 2008–2011 conferences, focusing on key issues including contract and associated administrative structures; governance, dispute and dispute resolution; performance and risk; and managing stakeholder expectations.

The book presents valuable insights into the theories, analyses and empirical perspectives of construction joint ventures from the differing viewpoints of 28 expert contributors. There is special emphasis on the Asia–Pacific region and relevant region-specific considerations provided by authors from Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, India, Australia and the UK.

The editors focus their thoughts on international multinational joint ventures for construction works and specifically on the key stakeholders: governments, constructors, consultants and others involved in international joint venture projects' coalitions. These are almost always characterised by multidimensional and multicultural relationships.

To assess such issues the book introduces the ‘rationalisation of expectations’, an important alternative style of managing international multinational joint ventures for construction work that could provide a more efficient and effective way of managing the various kinds and levels of expectation of the key stakeholders.

The numerous case studies described in detail in each chapter provide examples of contractual situations where conflicts and disputes were resolved or were brought to arbitration. An important number of references provide additional data from international literature.

This book, of outstanding and detailed quality, is an essential text for contractors, clients and consultants but it is also recommended to researchers, policy makers, practitioners and students with an interest in joint ventures in construction.