Civil Engineering Association

Recommendations for the Fatigue Design of Steel Structures (No: 043)
ECCS - Technical Committee 6 - Fatigue

These Recommendations provide a model code foe the assessment, fabrication, inspection and maintenance of steel structures subjected to fatigue loading. The procedures assume that the structure has been designed in accordance with the other limit state requirements. Work on the Recommendations began with the first meeting of Technical Committee 6 "Fatigue" on April 20, 1979, in Lausanne. At that time, a working document had been prepared by the former F.CCS Committee 9 "Welded Joints", under the chairmanship of Dr. Wallin. During a five year period, nine committee meetings were held and six drafts, including the final draft were prepared. Many experts in the field devoted much time and effort to the preparation of the various drafts. For example, Mr. John Dibley spent a few weeks in Lausanne working on the early versions. Also, Prof. John Fisher and Dr. Tim Gurney gave the Committee the benefit of their many years of experience through several formal and informal discussions. The advice of such experts greatly improved the quality of the Recommendations.

Assessment of Existing Steel Structures: Recommendations for Estimation of Remaining Fatigue Life

Joint report prepared under the JRC-ECCS cooperation agreement for the evolution of Eurocode 3.

Due to the demand for freight volume on rail and road, traffic has increased significantly in the past years leading to increasing number of heavy vehicles in the traffic flows and greater exploitation of their loading capacities. Because of environmental considerations there is also a tendency to further enhance the admissible loads in the design of new heavy vehicles (e.g. by increasing axle loads or using road trains). This all may affect the safety, serviceability and durability of existing bridges.

Bridge authorities are therefore interested in agreed methods to assess the safety and durability of existing bridges and to make appropriate provisions for more refined maintenance methods, possible restriction of traffic, bridge-rehabilitation or substitution of old bridges by new ones where necessary. For steel bridges including the old riveted ones there are numerous approaches to such assessments, partly standardized by national codes or recommendations. In the light of the development of the European single market for construction works and engineering services there is thus a need to harmonize them and to develop agreed European technical recommendations for the safety and durability assessment of existing structures. These recommendations should follow the principles and application rules in the Eurocodes and provide a scheme with different levels of analysis: a basic level with general methods and further levels with higher sophistication that call for specific expertise.