A research project titled 'The Use of Timber in Coastal and Fluvial Engineering' was initiated by HR Wallingford and is guided by a steering group including representatives of timber specialists, designers, environmental consultants, contractors, suppliers and end users. The study commenced with the first meeting of the steering group in July 2001 and is expected to run until the first half of 2004 when the 'Manual on the Use of Timber in Coastal and Fluvial Engineering' will be published.

"Timber needs different design and construction techniques from materials such as concrete and steel. There is a real fear that if the knowledge of experienced engineers is not recorded before they retire, the skills required to use timber efficiently and effectively will be lost", said Matt Crossman, HR Wallingford's project engineer.

It is intended that the manual will address this by documenting case studies and illustrations of effective design details, enabling existing best practice to be shared. Techniquess for constructing, monitoring and assessing existing timber structures as well as maintenance, repair and reclaiming/recycling timber will also be described.

A meeting to discuss the use of timber in coastal and fluvial engineering will be held at HR Wallingford on 11th March.

Details are available from www. hrwallingford.co.uk/training/ programme. html and additional information on the project is available from www.timber manual.org