I am writing this just after the opening of two major airport developments. The first, opened in February, is the new international airport at Beijing. It is likely to handle more passengers than any other airport in the world and will be able to handle the largest aircraft. While much has been written about its architectural design, it obviously also bears testimony to the skills of structural engineers. The second major development to have been completed recently is the new terminal, T5, at London Heathrow. This opened in March. As with Beijing it is the size of the development that is most impressive. One of the highlights from a structural engineering point of view is the roof structure, which spans over 170 m.
In this issue of Structures and Buildings we have a paper which describes part of the process of construction of T5 (a full overview of the project is published in the latest special issue of Civil Engineering1). I believe this paper will be of interest to all readers of the journal. I particularly welcome this paper because it is an innovative, practical application of structural engineering principles. We are always interested in such papers that often demonstrate the use of the research and developments so ably described in many papers in the journal.
Finally, many readers will have noticed a number of additions to the editorial panel. As I have mentioned before, the panel, together with Thomas Telford, has an important role in ensuring that the journal maintains its high standards both in content and presentation. I welcome the new members to the panel and hope they enjoy their work for the journal.
