Abstract
In an essay on “Standardization and its Abuse,” Prof. Hardy Cross (1952, p. 141) wrote:
In the field of structural design the effort to get intelligence through standardization has been carried pretty far. In reinforced concrete, for example, it has been necessary to set up elaborate standards. Out of this work came a narrowly circumscribed standardization of procedure, which is called “the theory of reinforced concrete” and to which unfortunate students are exposed. Few will question that the standardized theory of reinforced concrete is perhaps as complicated a bit of nonsense as has been conceived by the human mind. It does, however, work pretty well as a check on undiscriminating unintelligence.
In engineering there is no attempt to standardize unless there is some reason for it. Some, however, wish to standardize where there is no real advantage and so fasten for a long time upon the profession as complex assembly line that has characteristics of a cartoon.
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References/Bibliography
Beeby, A. W. and Taylor, H. P. J., 1978 THE USE OF SIMPLIFIED METHODS IN CP110 — IS RIGOUR NECESSARY?, The Structural Engineer, Vol. 156A, No. 8, August, pp. 209–215.
Canadian Standards Association, 1984 DESIGN OF CONCRETE STRUCTURES FOR BUILDINGS, CSA Standard CAN 3-A23.3-M84, 281 pp.
Collins, M. P., Vecchio, F. J. and Mehlhom, G., 1985 AN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION TO PREDICT THE RESPONSE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE PANELS, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 12, No. 3, September, pp. 624–644.
Cross, H., 1952 ENGINEERS AND IVORY TOWERS, McGraw-Hill, New York, p. 141.
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© 1988 Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc.
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MacGregor, J.G. (1988). Building Codes. In: Beedle, L.S. (eds) Second Century of the Skyscraper. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6581-5_77
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6581-5_77
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