Issue 11

The final draft of EC2: ‘Part 1’ has been published as Draft for Development (a prestandard) to enable Member States to familiarise themselves with it before it is published in about 3 years as a design Code. Since the original draft was issued in 1984 for consultation, it has undergone a number of changes. This article describes the salient features of EC2 and the significant differences between it and BS8110. The comments in the article are based on the September 1988 draft. R.S. Narayanan

Steel materials presently specified for all-welded steel gantry crane girders can differ notably from those used in the past, and welding technology itself has been used extensively only since the 1930s. During the 1950s and ’60s many such structures were constructed using the semikilled carbon steels produced in accordance with BS15, this being comparable to grade 43A steel made to the minimum requirements of BS 4360. Modern usage of these steels is severely constrained by current Codes of Practice for ‘parts in tension’. This can pose a difficult question when the continuing safety of some ageing structures is reviewed. E.J. Forsey and N.J. Prescott

This article concerns the mechanics of producing Eurocode 2 for concrete structures; it is not about the content - that is covered in a separate article by Mr R. S. Narayanan of S. B. Tietz & Partners, who is the UK Liaison Engineer for EC2. G. Somerville