The following are summaries of papers published in other parts of ICE Proceedings during 2001 that readers of Structures and Buildings may find of interest. You can get copies of individual papers emailed or posted to you for £5 or faxed to you for £2 a page from the ICE library (telephone +44 (0)20 7665 2251; fax +44 (0)20 7976 7610; e-mail library@ice.org.uk). In all cases you need to complete a copy request form which can be downloaded from the ICE website at www.ice.org.uk/library/icepbprq.html. Summaries of all papers in ICE journals are also freely available and fully searchable at the ‘journals on-line’ section of the ICE website at www.ice.org.uk/jol.
Building the British Airways London Eye
A. P. Mann, N. Thompson and M. Smits
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 2001, 144, May, 60—72
London's spectacular new £75 million observation wheel, the British Airways London Eye, was built in just 16 months in a confined site on the banks of the river Thames. Despite minor setbacks during construction, it first turned as planned at the beginning of the new millennium and has ‘flown’ 3·2 million passengers up to an altitude of 135 m in its first year of operation. This paper describes the procurement, manufacture and construction of the unique structure, which has become a new international benchmark for observation wheels. The challenges facing the multi-national project team and how these were overcome within a demanding programme are explained, together with a detailed description of the Eye's fabrication and final erection.
Construction materials and technology: a look at the future
P. R. Head
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 2001, 144, Aug., 113–118
Driven by the twin pressures of increasing efficiency and sustainability, civil engineers are starting to move construction technology forward again after a century of relative stagnation. However, simply using stronger materials is no longer enough as these cost more to manufacture and are harder to recycle. Sustainability is the key, and designers need to look more to nature for solutions—not least the fibre-reinforced polymers which occur most frequently in nature as wood and bones. This paper reviews some of the new construction technologies and materials that may be used in the future—including a recently developed composite cellular building system and a skinned steel space frame—and demonstrates that ingenuity is alive and well in construction.
Rion -Antirion bridge, Greece: measuring a moving gap
N. Hytris and A. Kominos
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 2001, 144, Nov., 166–169
A spectacular 2·8 km long bridge is being built across the deep and earthquake-prone Corinthian Gulf in greece. However, designing bridge foundations in 60 m of water overlying 80 m of soft alluvium across an active geological fault-line is now without its difficulties—not least since the land masses on either side are constantly moving independently. The bridge has been designed to allow for a total movement of 2·5 m in 125 years. This paper describes a three-year GPS survey to determine how much and in which direction the land is really moving. It found movements up to 52 mm but with no pattern whatsoever. It also proved that local earthquakes can have a dramatic and unpredictable effect.
Further reflections on megalith mechanics
H. Simpson
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 2001, 144, Nov., 181—185
The 4500-year-old circle of rocks at Stonehenge in England continues to fascinate today's civil engineers. Transporting and erecting the 40 t megaliths from which it is made would provide a logistical headache now let alone 45 centuries ago. Last year this journal published a paper which demonstrated that—contrary to general belief—the stones were probable rolled rather than dragged into position, albeit with plenty of Neolithic manpower. This paper shows how further mechanical refinements could have reduced the maximum gang size to just six men. If true, it suggests our ancestors had even greater intellectual sophistication than previously imagined.
Eurocodes: failing to standardise safety
M. Byfield and D. Nethercot
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 2001, 144, Nov., 186–188
The first of Europe's new suite of structural desing standards—the EN or ‘Eurocode’ series—are being published this year and, before the end of the decade, will have replaced all existing European national codes. This paper demonstrates that the codes as drafted could lead to widely varying safety levels within a given structure and increase the risk of catastrophic failure. By way of example it looks at the probability of strcutural steel bolts. beams and plate girders falling below their design strength and shows that the proposed Eurocode 3 design expressions could lead to some components being expensively over-designed and other parts becoming a dangerously weak link. To get around the problem it proposes the introduction of hidden safety factors in the Eurocode design equations, ensuring greater harmonisation in reliability of structural components, reduced cost and increased structural safety.
Eurocodes—the new environment for structural design
H. Gulvanessian and R. Driscoll
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 3–7
After 25 years in the making, the suite of 10 European structural design standards—generally known as the Eurocodes—is at last becoming a reality. A total of 62 individual parts have been circulating in working draft form for several years but two have finally been converted to full EN (EuroNorm) status in October 2001. All other parts should be converted in a series of packages by 2005 and, following a few years of coexistence, will replace all existing structural design standards in every EU member state by the end of the decade. This paper provides an introduction to the Eurocodes, describes the potential benefits they offer to civil engineers and sets out the process and timetable for implementation
EN1990 Eurocode—Basis of structural design
H. Gulvanessian
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 8–13
EN1990 Eurocode—Basis of structural design was finally approved in October 2001. As well as being one of the first structural European design standards to be published it is the world's first ‘material-independent’ design code, a major achievement in it's own right. EN1990 is also a highly strategic document, establishing for all nine other structural Eurocodes the principles and requirements for safety, serviceability and durability. This paper provides an introduction to reliability and risk-management and its limit-state design philosophy. it also summarises the loading combinations for which all European structures will need to be assessed in the forseeable future
EN1991 Eurocode 1: Actions on structures
H. Gulvanessian
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 14–22
EN1991 Eurocode 1: Actions on structures is in an advanced state of development and forms one of the key documents in the suite of 10 structural Eurocodes. Second only to EN1990 Eurocode—Basis of structural design, Eurocode 1 provides comprehensive information on all actions that should normally be considered in the design of building and civil engineering works. It is in four main parts, the first part being divided into sections that cover self and imposed loads and actions due to fire, snow, wind, heat, construction and accidents. The remaining three parts cover traffic loads on bridges, actions by cranes and machinery and actions in silos and tanks
EN1992 Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures
R. S. Narayanan
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 23–28
EN1992 Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures is of fundamental importance to civil engineers given the predominance of concrete in civil engineering construction. The first part of the code, covering common design rules and design requirements for fire, is likely to be approved in January 2002 and should be released in EN standard form by 2003. The second and third parts, covering design of bridges and liquid-retaining structures respectively, are due for release in 2005. This paper looks primarily at the two sections that make up the first part. It explains the principles of ultimate and serviceability limit state design and the requirements for shear, durability and fire in particular. It also lists the other European standards to which concrete designers will need to refer
EN1993 Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures
J. Taylor
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 29–32
EN1993 Eurocde 3: Design of steel structures is wider in scope than most of the other design Eurocodes due to the diversity of steel structures, the need to cover both plastic and elastic design, the use of both bolted and welded joints and the possible slenderness of construction. In the UK alone it will replace seven British standards as well as cover previously uncodified items such as semi-rigid joints, sheet piles, shells, silos and stainless-steel structures. It is also unusual in having a partial material safety factor of 1·0 since a recent survey of European steel products shows they are generally around 20% stronger than their nominal value. This paper provides an introduction to Eurcode 3, its basis of design, design procedures for hot-rolled sections and supporting standards. It concludes that the specialist steel designer will be given a greater versatility than ever before.
EN1994 Eurocode 4: Design of composite steel and concrete structures
R. P. Johnson and D. Anderson
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 33–38
This paper provides an outline of the history since 1971 of EN1994 Eurocode 4: Design of composite steel and concrete structures followed by an account of current work on it. This should lead to publication of its three parts in 2004–2005 and withdrawal of completing national codes five years later. Summaries are given of the code's wide scope and the principal changes in provisions for buildings and bridges (but excluding structural fire design) since the pre-standard ENV versions were completed between 1992 and 1997. Reference is made to implication for practice in the UK and to the some pitfalls of calibration work.
EN1995 Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures
P. J. Steer
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 39–43
EN1995 Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures poses two problems to the growing number of UK structural timber designers–the change from permissible stress to limit state and the introduction of new code material, such as symbols, terminology, material properties and calculation procedures. This paper introduces the new standard and concludes that while it offers solutions to a wider range of timber design problems than BS 5268 it is not fail-safe with regard to the use or non-use of modification factors. Furthermore, whereas BS 5268 is essentially a slide-rule code, Eurocode 5 requires programmed support so development of appropriate software is a priority
EN1996 Eurocode 6: Design of masonry structures
B. A. Haseltine
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 44–48
EN1996 Eurocode 6: Design of masonry structures, the first part of which is due to be published next year, relates to buildings and other civil engineering works and covers unreinforced, new design code and reviews the general design rules of the first part. It concludes that design handbooks will almost certainly be needed to help design engineers verify the ultimate limit states of reinforced and prestressed masonry structures.
EN1998 Eurocode 8: Design of structures for earthquake resistance
Z. A. Lubkowski and X. Duan
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 55–60
This paper is intended to give the non-specialist engineer a flavour of how Eurocode 8 works, how it should be used and the principal issues for design. The paper is principally based on the comment in several parts between 1994 and 1996, and some more recent revisions. It is not a detailed account of the code and the reader is referred to the code for detailed information. The paper describes the design principles for various classes of structures and makes comment and provides insight into a number of particular issues of particular interest to the authors
EN1999 Eurocode 9: Design of aluminium structures
F. M. Mazzolani
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, special issue, 2001, 144, Nov., 61–64
Eurocode 9 for the design of aluminium structures was a late addition to the proposed suite of European structural design codes, reflecting the relatively recent introduction of aluminium alloys in the construction industry as an alternative to steel. With only a third of the weight and a self-protecting surface, the material has clear advantages over steel but it also behaves very differently-with a high buckling tendency, no yield plateau and complex strain-hardening characteristics. The code, currently being converted to EN standard, features several innovations including behavioural cross-section classes and new calculation methods for verification of local buckling, evaluation of rotation capacity and design of connections
The effects of hydrocarbon contamination on concrete strength
S. A. Wilson, N. J. Langdon and P. J. Walden
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Geotechnical Engineering, 149, July, 189–193
The development of brownfield sites often requires foundation concrete to be placed in contact with soils contaminated with hydrocarbons. There is a common perception that the hydrocarbons affect the setting and hardening of the concrete, giving a reduced long-term strength. There is however limited quantitative data to support this view. Laboratory testing of concrete cubes cured in various hydrocarbon compounds has been undertaken. The results indicate that hydrocarbons do reduce the long-term strength gain of concrete by up to 25%. This can be allowed for in design, thus avoiding the need for expensive sleeving or surface protection systems. Available evidence suggests that the effects of petroleum hydrocarbons on hardened concrete, which has achieved its design strength, are of limited concern. Creosote, however, can affect hardened concrete that has achieved its design strength. Where hardened concrete is likely to come into contact with creosote derived contamination then again a reduction in long-term strength should be considered.
