European Codes of Practice - The Way Forward

A number of European institutions have collaborated to develop useful resources which will help structural engineers to design steel buildings to the new European Codes of Practice (Structural Eurocodes, EC1, EC3 and EC4).

Project website - http://www.n-aktive.co.uk/
The project has developed a series of resources that allow you to compare the design of similar steel-framed multi-storey buildings in several European countries and covers:

A Journey Through Design which provides a structured route through the design decision process and links to specific guidance within the major information source Access-Steel. A design exercise has been produced to allow you to learn by carrying out a simple task.

National Context presents the local regulatory conditions and current practice under which building procurement, design and construction takes place, and allows the user to see the differences which influence design decisions.

Example Designs for a medium-rise office building of the same architectural specification are presented for a number of countries including those with seismic requirements. The examples include detailed design of representative elements.

Where available, the National Annexes for each country have been complied into an interactive tabular form allowing the user to compare specific clauses of two or more countries at the same time.

Feedback so far suggests that the ‘Journey through design’ is particularly useful in assisting engineers to familiarise themselves with these European codes. Depending on your level of experience you can start the ‘journey’ at different points.

The ‘National Context’ is intended to provide designers working in a different European country for the first time with the background information they need to embark on the design, not only from a technical perspective but also providing insight into relevant regulations and procurement and construction practice.

Please visit this website and let us know what you think?

The project ‘Euring’ is partly supported by the Leonardo Da Vinci programme.

The partners are: University of Sheffield, SCI and Epistemics (UK); Fachgebiet Stahlbau TU Darmstadt (Germany); Centre Information Acier (Belgium); Technical Chamber of Greece; Fundacion Universidad de Oviedo (Spain); University of Pecs (Hungary); and University of Technology Bratislava (Slovakia).

For further information please contact:

Sue Armstrong
Faculty of Engineering Recruitment Officer The Department of Computer Science Regent Court
211 Portobello Sheffield, S1 4DP.
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44 (0) 114 222 4013
Fax: +44 (0) 114 222 1810
Email: S.Armstrong@sheffield.ac.uk
Web:www.sheffield.ac.uk/engineering/