Technical Guidance Note (Level 1, No. 24): Precast concrete planks

The subject of this guide is the design of one way spanning concrete slabs to BS EN 1992-1-1 – Eurocode 2: Design of Concrete Structures – Part 1-1: General Rules for Buildings. The design of such elements is very simple to carry out and thus acts as a good introduction to the concept of reinforced concrete.

This Technical Guidance Note concerns the assessment of loads that are applied to retaining structures, typically generated from soil. These forces primarily come into play during the design of retaining wall structures, but they can also be found in water retaining structures and storage vessels.All of the guides in this series have an icon based navigation system, designed to aid the reader. (This article was updated in October 2016 to reflect errata issued since its original publication.)

This Technical Guidance Note describes the concept of biaxial bending of columns, as well as the effect direct bending has on column design. The guidance given here can be applied to columns made from any material, be it steel, concrete, timber or even glass.