Following on from the International Conference on Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation, held in Cape Town in April 2001, this book contains the Proceedings, in two volumes. There are over 170 papers written by Authors from around 40 countries worldwide. The contributions include 6 Keynote Papers and 12 Special Invited Papers. In line with the aims of the SEMC 2001 International Conference, and as may be seen from the List of Contents, the papers cover a wide range of topics under a variety of themes. There is a healthy balance between papers of a theoretical nature, concerned with various aspects of structural mechanics and computational issues, and those of a more practical nature, addressing issues of design, safety and construction. As the contributions in these Proceedings show, new and more efficient methods of structural analysis and numerical computation are being explored all the time, while exciting structural materials such as glass have recently come onto the scene. Research interest in the repair and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure continues to grow, particularly in Europe and North America, while the challenges to protect human life and property against the effects of fire, earthquakes and other hazards are being addressed through the development of more appropriate design methods for buildings, bridges and other engineering structures.

Under the pressure of harsh environmental conditions and natural hazards, large parts of the world population are struggling to maintain their livelihoods. Population growth, increasing land utilization and shrinking natural resources have led to an increasing demand of improved efficiency of existing technologies and the development of new ones. A