Decoding the Eurocodes

ETC10 extends deadline for 'Design Examples 2' (again)

The deadline for submitting contributiuons to second design examples exercise, being organized by European Technical Committe ETC10, has been extended until the end of November 2009.

Over 60 contributions have been received so far, but the committee hopes to get more designs from a wider spread of countires.

Full details are available at the ETC10 micro-site www.eurocode7.com/etc10.

April 2010: the death of British Standards

The Eurocodes and their National Annexes will replace existing British Standards in March 2010. Their use will be mandatory for all public buildings and recommended for private buildings from this date. This talk looks at what happens in April 2010; discusses what we lose and what we gain; describes technical differences between British and European standards; and summarizes the help available to you for this transition.

The talk is being delivered twice over the next two weeks:

Institution of Structural Engineers Peterborough Section

Date: Thursday 15th October 2009, 6pm for 6.30pm
Venue: Orton Hall Hotel and Conference Centre, Orton Longueville, Peterborough, PE2 7DN

ICE Northern Geotechnical Group

Date: Tuesday 20 October 2009, 5.45pm tfor 6.15pm
Venue: Central Square Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3PL

Deadline extended for 'Design Examples 2'

The deadline for submitting contributions to the European Technical Committee 10's (ETC10's) exercise to evaluate Eurocode 7 has been extended to 31st October 2009. Visit the Eurocode 7 website for further information.

Dates announced for Pavia Conference

The dates of the conference in Pavia, Italy, at which ETC10's 'Design Examples 2' will be reviewed and explained have been announced. They are:

noon Monday 12th April to noon Wednesday 14th April 2010

The conference will be followed immediately by the next meeting of CEN Technical Committee TC250/SC7 (the main Eurocode 7 drafting committee).

ETC10 Design Examples 2

The International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) has established European Technical Committee 10 (ETC10) to "evaluate the geotechnical design process covered by Eurocode 7 by carrying out a number of design examples".

A first set of ten Design Examples, in which designers started from given characteristic parameter values, was reported in the Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Evaluation of Eurocode 7 held in Dublin in March/April 2005. A second set of six Design Examples has now been developed, in which designers are asked to:

• select characteristic values from the available site investigation data
• design two spread foundations, two pile foundations and an embankment on soft ground according to Eurocode 7 and their National Annex
• determine the earth and pore water pressures on a basement wall according to Eurocode 7 and their National Annex
• complete the corresponding on-line questionnaires

A website has been setup at www.eurocode7.com/etc10 to make these Design Examples accessible to geotechnical engineers throughout Europe and beyond. Everyone is encourage to attempt at least one of the examples (preferably more), so that the profession’s understanding of the new geotechnical design standard can be evaluated.

Further information is available directly from the website or from Dr Trevor Orr (torr@tcd.ie), Chairman of ETC10, or Dr Andrew Bond (andrew.bond@geocentrix.co.uk), Vice-Chairman.

You are asked to submit your answers to the Design Examples before 14th September 2009.

SC7 meeting in Munich

I am just back from the latest TC250/SC7 meeting in Munich, held on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th July. This is the European committee responsible for producing and maintaining Eurocode 7 Parts 1 and 2.

Key issues discussed at the meeting included:

• Eurocode 7 Part 1 (EN 1997-1) has its first corrigendum (designated AC/2009) that includes a full replacement for Annex C (covering earth pressure coefficients)
• The first corrigendum to Eurocode 7 Part 2 (EN 1997-2) is nearly finished
• Ongoing work on theses standards is being undertaken by the Maintenance Group (MG), which has held nine teleconferences since that last SC7 meeting in Warsaw
• Members of the MG have prepared a paper entitled 'Eurocode 7 for geotechnical design - a model code for non-EU countries', which will be presented at the forthcoming International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering in Alexandria in October
• Members of the MG have presented a paper on EQU at the recent International Symposium on Geotechnical Reliability at Gifu, Japan
• The MG is undertaking a survey (led by me, Andrew Bond) of Nationally Determined Parameters used in each country in Europe. Initial results suggest wide variation in partial factors adopted
• Another study (led by Brian Simpson)into the 'correct' interpretation of the rules given in Eurocode 7 for water pressures is also underway and promises interesting results
• A second set of design examples has been prepared by ETC10, the committee looking into the implementation of Eurocode 7 in Europe, and is set to go live early in July (more details will follow in my blog on this topic)
• Coordination of the forthcoming standards for execution and testing of anchorages (prEN 1537:20xx and prEN ISO 22477-5:20xx) is planned and will result in Section 8 of Eurocode 7 Part 1 (EN 1997-1) needing revision. More work for the MG!
• A new CEN committee has been set up to look at assessment of existing structures
• The next SC7 meeting will be held in Pavia, Italy in April 2010

April 2010: the death of British Standards?

I have agreed to give a talk on the status of British Standards following the 'official' introduction of the Eurocodes in April 2010, to both the IStructE Peterborough section (in Peterborough on Thursday 15th October) and to the North East Geotechnical Society (in Newcastle on Tuesday 20th October).

European Earthworks Seminar

The European Earthworks Seminar will be held in London next week. I am giving a talk entitled 'Stability of earthworks to Eurocode 7', a copy of which is available for downlaod from this link.

National Annex for Part 2 is now a draft for public comment

The long awaited draft UK National Annex for Eurocode 7 Part 2 (BS EN 1997-2) has been published by BSI.

The draft is open for comment until 31 May 2009.

The pieces of the jigsaw are finally coming into place...

Engineers Ireland to run one-day course on Eurocode 7

Engineers Ireland has arranged a one-day course on Eurocode 7 for 11th May 2009, which will be delivered by Drs Eric Farrell and Trevor Orr (Ireland's delegates on the CEN TC250 committee) with a contribution from Sean MacEoin on EC7 in practice.

Further details about this course are available here and a brochure is available here.