Recent Reports

705 Use of untreated billet connections in precast concrete structures

Whilst completing a third-party design appraisal, a correspondent found that solid steel billets intended to form the primary shear transfer mechanism between concrete beams and columns were insufficient for this purpose.

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764 Hidden defects in railway masonry arch viaducts

A reporter is concerned about the sell-off of spaces under railway arches, as it may become difficult to carry out inspections and maintenance.

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Current matters
under consideration

TBC

Latest Newsletter

Newsletter 56 - October 2019

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CROSS-US (Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety - United States)

CROSS-US is a confidential reporting system established to capture and share lessons learned from structural safety issues which might not otherwise get public recognition. Our Panel provides expert commentary to help engineers learn from the experiences of others. CROSS-US will help the profession and improve public safety.

CROSS-US builds on the success of CROSS-UK, the UK based system that has been operating since 2005 with demonstrable public safety outcomes. It depends on individuals and firms participating by sending reports of their experiences and concerns on structural safety in confidence.

Reports submitted to CROSS-US are completely confidential and neither personal details nor information that could be used to identify a project or product are seen by anyone other than the Designated Persons as detailed on our People page.

Welcome to CROSS-US

As President-elect of SEI (Structural Engineering Institute), I was privileged to launch CROSS-US during the Structures Congress in Orlando in April 2019.

As professional engineers we have a profound duty to ensure the safety of all those who use the structures we design and build. Sharing feedback on near misses or concerns is not always easy and CROSS is a successful community platform to allow professionals to do this simply, without attributing blame.

Learning across national boundaries is vital as frequently the experiences in one country are directly relevant to another. The CROSS model has operated successfully in the UK for many years, and we are working to expand it as an international safety reporting scheme wherever we can.

I would like to thank all my fellow SEI members who rose to the challenge of formally establishing CROSS-US. By doing so you have made an invaluable contribution to safety in the built environment.

With my best wishes

Glenn Bell, President-elect of SEI (Structural Engineering Institute) 2019-20

Visit our Confidential Reporting page to find out more about our system or if you have an experience that could be useful to others, please contribute by submitting a report.