Alain Golay

IABSE Membership Development

The division of work is changing. Client and contractors are less and less involved in the design process. IABSE as a meeting place of client, designer and contractor has been replaced by any inter-disciplinary project or international consortium. All these projects provide platforms for social contacts today. Furthermore. these platforms are directly related to the business, and therefore more widely accepted than an international association. This is a major reason for the diminishing numbers of collective members.

16th IABSE Congress "Structural Engineering for Meeting Urban Transportation Challenges": Lucerne, Switzerland, September 18-21, 2000

The Swiss Group of IABSE. chaired by Mr Heinrich Hofacker. invited IABSE to host its Annual Meetings and 16th Congress in Lucerne from 15 to 21 September 2000. The Organising Committee of the Congress was chaired commandingly by Mr Anton F. Steffen. Switzerland has hosted a number of meetings over the 71-year history of the Association, but this was the first time that a Congress had taken place in the country in which the Association was founded and still has its Seat and Secretariat. 800 participants and 200 accompanying persons from more than 50 countries enjoyed the technical and social programmes of the Congress.