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ANDERSON ON THE DESIGN OF BOMB-PROOF SHELTERS.

EXTRA MEETING.

20 June, 1939.
SYDNEY BRYAN DONKIN, Past-President, in the Chair.

The Chairman said that the Lecture that evening was entitled The Design of Bomb-Proof Shelters , and it would be given by Dr. David Anderson, a Member of Council of The Institution and Chairman of the Design Panel, Engineering Precautions (Air Raids) Committee. It should be emphasized thatthesubject-matter of the Lecture had no connexion whatever with the policy of shelters or the putting down of the various kinds of such shelters, but only with the design of them. The present Lecture formed the thirdof a series arranged by The Institution. Dr. Anderson was well known to all the members of The Institution, but others might be reminded of what he bad done and was doing. He was a consulting engineer of renown and experience, having been connected with the Mersey tunnel, the Dartford tunnel, and the new tunnels for the London Passenger Transport Board. He had, also, specialized knowledge of such work as was involved in shelter design. Tbe Design Panel, of which he was Chairman, of the Engineering Precautions (Air Raids) Committee had been formed by The Institution, with the addition of representativesnominated by the Institutions of Mechanical, Electrical, and Structural Engineers, and by the Royal Institute of British Architects. It was formed at the special request of the Home Office to study the information contained in the new A.R.P. Handbook No. 5, which had been issued during the past week, and the information which Dr. Anderson would give in his Lecture that evening would mainly be the subject-matter of a new handbook which would shortly be issuedl.

The Design of Bomb-Proof Shelters.

(Abridged Report e . )

By DAVIDANDERSON, LL.D., B.Sc., M. Inst. C.E.

Dr. Anderson said that the Committee had considered the matter in considerable detail and had prepared altogether about thirty provisional designs, including the three which had been completed for inclusion in
The full Report has been published by the Home Office as Structural Handbook 5A, copies of which can be obtained from H.M. Stationery Office.-Src. INST.C.E. * Copies of the Lecture may be obtained on application to the Secretary.

ANDERSON ON THE DESIQN OF BOMB-PROOF SHELTERS.

243

theirReport. Attack by bombs might take various forms and be of varying intensity, but in order to be definite in theirrecommendations the Committee had laid down four types of protection, namely :Type l Protect,ion. Rased on resistance to blast and splinters, debris loads and small incendiary bombs. Type 2 Protection. Bascd on resistance to the direct hits of medium weight indendiary bombs and high-explosive bombs. Type 3 Protection. Designed to give protectionagainst the effects of heavy high-explosive bombs. The standard adopted was considered to be adequate against the effects of a medium-case bomb of the order of 500 lb. weight striking a t its maximum velocity. It was also considered to be proof against light-case bombs of considerably greater weight. Type 4 Protection. Similar to Type 3 Protection, but designed to give protection against the effects of a heavy-case bomb. Type 1 had already been standardized. Types 3 and 4 were considered to be the most urgently required, and the Report dealt almost entirely with those two, Type 2 being reserved for later consideration. The designs were based upon the shelters being divided into compartmentswith not more than 100 persons in each compartment ; where more than 1,200 persons had to be protected it was recommended that the shelters should be spaced at least 25 feet apart or some special arrangements made. The shelters designed consisted essentially of two-storey structures of a box form, either rectangular or circular, formed of reinforced concrete and placed generally half above and half below ground, easy access to the basement storey being obtained by means of staircases. Shelters placed at a considerable depth below ground were not considered in detail, alt,hough it was realized that there should not be any great difficulty in designing them to provide degrees of protection similar to those afforded by the recommended designs. The action of a 500-lb. bomb on a concrete shelter had been studied in detail, and, to meet the combined effect of direct impact, disruptive force of explosion and spalling effect on the inner surface, the thickness of the concrete decided upon was 5 feet for the roof; 3 feet 3 inches for walls above ground, and 6 feet 6 inches below ground ; and 6 feet 6 inches for the base, except in large shelters where under certain conditions the thickness could be progressively reduced to 2 feet 6 inches. For type 4 protection the thickness of the roof was increased to 7 feet 6 inches to give greater protection. Alternative methods of protecting the base by carrying down the side walls to form a curtain, or by providing slabs on the ground to form an apron, were considered, but were found to be too costly in most cases. The class of concrete to be adopted, the nature of the steel reinforce-

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ANDERSON ON THE DESIGN OF BOMB-PROOF SHELTERS.

ment, the internal lining to resist spalling, and anumber of practical details were allinvestigated, and appropriate standards recommended. Particular study was made of the width of entrance required, etc. In the case of the shelter to accommodate 1,200 persons, the entrances had been arranged so that the shelters could be occupied within 12 minute. The Committee took steps to compare their recommendations with the regulations adopted in othercountries, and found them tobe in general agreement. Estimates were prepared of the cost per person for the various provisional designs, and those costs were found to range from 21'7 to 60 per person. The costs of the designs that accompany the Report were found to be :-about X25 9s. Od. per person for the rectangular shelter for 200 persons ; about 221 8s. Od. per person for the circular one, and about E17 10s. Od. per person for the large shelter for 1,200 people.

A vote of thankstothe Lecturer was proposed by Sir CLEMENT HINDLEY, President-Elect, who stated that when one looked back on the
somewhat difficult history of air-raid shelters, he thought it wouldbe agreed t,hat a great sense of relief should be felt that, the work of designing shelters was a t last in the hands of competent people, and that the Government and the administrators, who so often thought that they could do everything without technical assistance, had gradually come to the view that the work was work for engineers, and had put it in the hands of engineers. They were fortunate in having Dr. Anderson and his colleagues on the Panel available for translating the valuable information in Handbook No. 5 into a form in which it was of practical use to the engineer. Mr. F. M. G . Du-Plat-Taylor seconded the vote of thanks, which was passed hy acclamation.