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This paper presents research concerning new fireproof construction guidelines for protection of dwellings against wildfires. The main subject of this study are newly-built houses, using current building materials and methods to maintain the integrity of the overall structure for an extended time during an ongoing fire exposure. This study also presents possibilities for use of these new construction techniques to rehabilitate existing houses located in highly endangered wildland fire areas. The scope of this study are traditional dwellings situated mainly in the south of Europe, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and Greece, located in high risk wildfire zones in the wildland-urban interface. In recent years, wildfires have had a major impact on the forest areas in Portugal, mostly due to the high combustibility of the wildland and to climate change, causing severe lasting damage to, or even the destruction of, dwellings. The dwellings have often been rebuilt with similar characteristics to the original ones, disregarding interventions with new techniques that would make them fire protected, thus making them likely to burn again. As a result of these analyses, this study provides new fireproof construction guidelines for new and old dwellings, using traditional materials found in the construction industry of Europe. Finally, as a future reference, the situation of isolated villages surrounded by forests is also investigated and solutions are proposed to protect the inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the methodology used in the load testing of the concrete viaducts in the North-South railway crossing in Lisbon, Portugal. It describes how the static loading and dynamic loading tests were done using two locomotives pulling two or three water wagons as live loads. It concludes that bridge authorities and structural designers can use static and dynamic load testing as it provides a fundamental tool for the assessment of their structural performance.

The aim of this study was to investigate the current guidelines used for the undergraduate course subject Removable Partial Denture in Portuguese Dental Schools following the Bologna Process. All Dental Schools were sent a questionnaire, divided into the following areas: (I) organization and syllabus; (II) teaching methods; (III) materials and techniques; Answers about organization and syllabus of course subjects showed the most variability; teaching methods were identical regarding principal textbook and live demonstrations of laboratory/clinical procedures; the same techniques and materials are used in all the schools' dental clinics. The majority of Dental Schools present similar guidelines for removable partial dentures.