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Proceedings of a session at the ASCE Convention, held in Seattle, Washington, April 10, 1986. Sponsored by the Structural Division of ASCE.

This collection contains four papers on the effects of deterioration of structural and nonstructural elements in commercial, industrial, and residential construction. These papers examine issues of particular interest: deterioration mechanisms, damage prediction and assessment techniques, methods to reduce maintenance and repair costs and to improve safety and reliability. One paper discusses the effects of design/construction/maintenance practices on structural deterioration in concrete, steel, and timber constructions and cites any structural failure cases. Another paper examines in depth various aspects of deterioration prevention in timber design. The third paper summarizes a comprehensive approach to performing safety evaluation of existing structures, including the use of expert systems, field data, laboratory testing, and computational analyses. The final paper reports an analytical investigation into the effects of damage or deterioration of redundant structural members on structural reliability and analyzes cases involving truss systems common in bridge constructions.

This collection will be of interest to investors, design engineers, architects, contractors, and legal/insurance professionals.