I was interested in Andrew Mylius' article on contractors' ability to handle design and build contracts (NCE 8 June). I have always thought that a fully qualied civil engineer should have worked for both a contractor and a designer. It is the only way to truly understand the whole picture.
In the UK, the designs are always done far too late and usually completed during construction. Some time back I was involved in the tender for an overhead railway in Miami, and at tender stage we had over 500 drawings. There were no variations to these drawings during the construction.
This did not stop some litigation before nal settlement - but just imagine British designers working to such a time frame!
CA Impey (M), 13 Lonsdale Road, SW13 9ED
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