Technical Guidance Note (Level 2, No. 11): Steel fibre reinforced concrete ground bearing slabs

The design of timber posts follows the same principles as the design of vertical structural elements formed from other materials. Extreme fibre stresses or buckling due to applied axial forces are the key components affecting a post’s ability to perform. The major difference is the anisotropic nature of timber, which, for vertical elements, has a significant impact on the assessment of their performance as a structural member.

The design of timber elements in the UK, according to current codes of practice, is based on limit state theory. This Technical Guidance Note adopts this approach to describe the design of timber posts. The note assumes that the reader is familiar with the use of coefficient factors prevalent within BS EN 1995-1-1 (Eurocode 5), as described in Technical Guidance Notes Level 1, No. 18 Design of timber floor joists and Level 2, No. 14 Design of unrestrained timber beams.

Since the invention of medium-storey framed structures in the late 1800s, there has been a need to clad them with a reasonably robust material that acts as an efficient barrier to the external environment. Masonry delivers the performance required of a cladding system on multiple fronts. It has therefore developed from a load-bearing element within structures to become a component of an envelope to larger framed buildings.

This Technical Guidance Note introduces structural engineers to the interfaces between a primary structure that is principally formed from steelwork and a masonry cladding system.

Although retaining walls have been the subject of two earlier Technical Guidance Notes; No. 8 (Level 1): Derivation of loading to retaining structures and No. 33 (Level 1): Retaining wall construction, their design has not been covered. This guidance note focuses specifically on the design of reinforced concrete gravity retaining walls.

There are three different forms of this type of wall, all of which are designed to resist overturning and sliding failure. The primary difference between them is their height. The taller the retaining wall, the more likely that counterforts and beams spanning between them will be necessary. This note describes how all of these forms of retaining wall can be designed.

(This article was updated in October 2016 to reflect errata issued since its original publication.)