Managing conservation projects to avoid catastrophes

A conservation project can fail through political or financial mistakes mor e often than from technical ones. To help a project engineer be more effect ive in managing a building conservation programme, a graphical illustration is used to describe the interaction of technology, politics and finance. I t indicates that factors external to the modern engineer's technical concer ns will have a bearing on the project's viability. And these factors may ha ve long lead-in times. If the presence and nature of these factors is ignor ed then failure may appear sudden to someone concentrating on the technical issue alone, For successful conservation, this political and financial con text needs not only to be monitored but also influenced. Although a simple model, it serves to warn that a surplus of any of these influences can be a s damaging as a shortage. An apparently successful project may literally go over the edge suddenly unless this overview is considered: either the tech nology may not be appropriate or the other factors may terminate a technica lly sound, but one-dimensional approach.