Eurocode 7 Geotechnical design. Part 1: General rules and its latest developments: Fid-Bau Portal

Eurocode 7 Geotechnical design. Part 1: General rules and its latest developments

Schuppener, B.

Eurocode 7 on geotechnical design consists of two parts: General rules (Part 1) and Ground investigation and testing (Part 2). The conversion of the two parts into full European Standards (ENs) has been completed and they are now being implemented in European countries. The contents and main principles of Part 1 of Eurocode 7 are described and it is shown how the standard fits into the concept of limit states in the system of the ten structural Eurocodes. Some aspects of particular interest are presented, such as ultimate limit state verifications in persistent and transient design situations. Eurocode 7 gives a number of options which have to be decided upon by the national standards bodies, such as three design approaches for the verification of geotechnical ultimate limit states in persistent and transient situations and the values of the partial factors. On the one hand, this is of course a shortcoming for a code but, on the other hand, it constitutes an openness which makes adoption of the code attractive not only in Europe but also worldwide. However, in future, further harmonisation will be necessary to improve the competitiveness of the construction industry. The evaluation of questionnaires dealing with the issue of which of the three design approaches has been selected for the verification of geotechnical ultimate limit states in the various European countries and which values of the partial factors have been chosen is presented. It shows that there is great potential for the harmonisation of geotechnical design in Europe which must be investigated by research to support and prepare the next steps of further standardisation.