LRFD: implementing structural reliability in professional practice

Structural reliability methods provide the framework for addressing building safety and serviceability issues in a rational manner. Load and resistance factor design (LRFD) represents the first attempt in the United States to implement a rational probabilistic approach to managing uncertainties in the building process in a structural code. The development of LRFD during the period 1969–85, under the leadership of Professor Theodore V. Galambos, is a paradigm of collaboration between structural engineers, reliability analysts, and the building industry. Not surprisingly, LRFD has opened the door to new research opportunities and challenges.