Eurocodes Made Easy
Take the plunge now and get ahead with Access Steel!
Access Steel, which was developed by the SCI in collaboration with five other national technical institutes, was launched in Brussels on 13 June 2006, to a captivated, international audience of fabricators, design practitioners, students and graduate engineers from 23 countries in Europe. This website is unique in offering a completely free, fast and easy route to application of Eurocode 3 for steel and Eurocode 4 for composite construction. Three clicks on Access Steel is the equivalent to soaking up ten practical seminars and demonstrates how simple it is to design to the Eurocodes using steel. As one member of the audience put it: "It's like learning to swim - the only way to get ahead is to take the plunge into the icy water; Access Steel provides the insulation!"
Site navigation is on a par with Google: it offers both free text and advanced, refined search and guides the user through all the steps in the design of single-storey, multi-storey and residential construction. Special coverage is also given to the new opportunities for Fire Safety Engineering in the Eurocodes.
Access Steel is targeted primarily at the needs of architects, engineers and their clients. Its content spans from conceptual design to detailed design in accordance with the Eurocodes. No previous experience of steel design is required. The technical guidance is quality assured and harmonised; it has been produced by six leading technical institutes in Europe - the SCI (UK), CTICM (France), Labein (Spain), RWTH (Germany), Arcelor Profil (Luxembourg) and SBI (Sweden). Each piece of harmonised content is in English, French, German and Spanish.
The site includes direct links through to the relevant Eurocode clauses in English, courtesy of BSI. Other standards organisations are expected to follow soon with different language versions, commencing with AENOR in Spain. In the next few weeks, more than 250 technical resources will become available, including 50 interlinked modules on the detailed design of elements, free element design software, step-by-step guidance, full supporting information, case studies and interactive worked examples. The site also offers downloadable media; Eurocode FAQs; information about the different timelines for Eurocode implementation across Europe; and very simple, user friendly tools to enable individual countries to add value with their own complementary National Annex information.
Access Steel sends out a very clear message to designers everywhere - 'Take the plunge now and get ahead with the Eurocodes'.
Access Steel was funded by the European Union eContent Programme, together with seven major steelmakers - Arcelor, Corus, Peiner Trager, Ruukki, Voest Alpine, Dillinger Hutte and SSAB.
The project was led by the SCI (Steel Construction Institute) in the UK, in collaboration with CTICM (F), CSC(UK) Ltd, eTeams Ltd (IRL), Labein (E), RWTH (D), SBI (S), Arcelor (L) and Corus (UK/NL).
Contact:
Christine Roszykiewicz
Access Steel Project Manager
Tel: 01344 636573
E-mail: contact@access-steel.com
E-mail: christine@steel-sci.com