Portugal has witnessed, in recent years, the design, construction
and rehabilitation of several outstanding structures. Nine
of them are presented in this issue of “Structural Engineering
International”.You are all encouraged to visit them in September
2005, when structural engineers from all over the
world gather in Lisbon for the IABSE Symposium on Structures
and Extreme Events.
The wisdom of organizing this Symposium on Structures and
Extreme Events was most unfortunately confirmed in the Indian
Ocean on the 26th of December 2004. Structural engineers
understand that structures worldwide may be subjected
to extreme events during their design life, which can lead to
unforeseen consequences in loss of property and human
lives. They know that such situations may be caused by natural
disasters and environmental changes, and that they also
arise from human errors or man-made events, whether deliberate
or involuntary. Notwithstanding, it is still difficult to respond
appropriately to these problems, which today remain a
kind of “last frontier” in structural engineering.
Portugal has also experienced tragic events. Undoubtedly, the
most devastating disaster was the earthquake and tsunami of