Dear Editor, As a structural engineer who was involved with the design of the present library, I read the comments by Gary Taylor with interest, Birmingham Post, (Post, February 11).
I feel I must take issue with the comment “. . . it’s just made of rotten material which is falling apart”. An article in the Birmingham Post dated June 16, 2009 noted that independent experts, Scott Wilson Consulting Engineers, dismissed claims that the library was structurally unsound and suffered from “concrete cancer”.
This report was written in 2007.
My only regret is that John Madin’s entire vision was left unfinished, the partly-completed scheme was not improved by the addition of the Copthorne Hotel.
Robert Astley
Stourbridge
