October 2009, Issue 3
considered a starting point for the development and
Editorial.....................................................................1
The JRC Scientific and Technical Reports on the
Eurocodes ................................................................2
Design of lightweight footbridges for human induced
vibrations ..................................................................2
2nd International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety
and Risk....................................................................3
Workshop on Eurocode 6.........................................3
Greenland implements Eurocodes ...........................4
First International Conference on Protection of
Historical Buildings ...................................................5
Compliance of Montenegro framework with EU
legislation on construction ........................................5
The new structural Eurocodes in Portugal ...............7
Thailand towards the Eurocodes Era .......................8
Workshop on Nationally Determined Parameters in
Skopje.......................................................................9
Eurocodes websites .................................................10
Editorial
Welcome to the third issue of the TC250
Newsletter
With all 58 Eurocode parts having been available
since mid-2007, the Eurocode drafting committee of
the European Committee for Standardization
(CEN/TC250) has been carrying out maintenance
activity, including producing corrigenda and
amendments. It has also formed a strategy for
promotion and further harmonisation and development
of the Eurocodes.
CEN/TC250 first debated plans for a Eurocode
strategy at the Eurocodes National Correspondents
(ENC) meeting held in Brussels during June 2008,
and a preliminary report was presented and discussed
at the committee’s meeting in Malta in November
2008. The first ‘official’ draft was sent to the European
Commission and presented at the National
Correspondents meeting in Brussels in January 2009.
Entitled “The Eurocodes and the construction industry
– medium-term strategy 2008-2013”, the report can be
promotion of Eurocodes. Now known as the “White
Book”, it is a living document and its content may
evolve, but the strategy will not fundamentally change.
New generation of Eurocodes
The report sets the basis for
developing and publishing a
new generation of structural
Eurocodes from 2015,
incorporating, in particular,
some ISO standards – such
as atmospheric icing of
structures and actions from
waves and currents on
coastal structures. In addition
to revising and evolving the
existing set of Eurocodes,
2 work is planned to start in
10.000 m glass facade
2010 on developing additional
codes and parts covering design of glass, fibre-
reinforced polymers and membrane structures as well
as assessment and retrofitting of existing structures
and structural robustness.
Extensive feedback has been received from nine
countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden
and the UK. In general, the comments are positive
and encouraging. A synthesis of the comments has
been prepared for the CEN/TC250 meeting in Pisa on
25-26 May 2009 and for the ENC meeting in Brussels
on the 1st of July 2009. As a consequence of the ENC
meeting, a “Mandate Task Group” has been appointed
by the Commission (DG ENTR) to establish a new
general agreement between the European
Commission and CEN. The first meeting of this task
group was held at JRC (Ispra) on the 16th of
September 2009, just before the meeting of the
CEN/TC250 Coordination Group on 17-18 September.
If the new general agreement is signed before the end
of 2009, the work for the development of the
Eurocodes can start in 2010.
Jean-Armand Calgaro,
Chairman of CEN/TC250
The newsletter of CEN/TC250 is available at
http://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Editors
Jean-Armand Calgaro, Chairman of CEN/TC250
Georgios Tsionis, University of Patras
1
 The JRC Scientific and Technical
Reports on the Eurocodes
A new source of information on the existing
Eurocodes and on their further development
In the context of its work in support to the European
Commission for the implementation, harmonisation
and further development of the Eurocodes, the JRC is
coordinating and providing support for the publication
of scientific and technical reports on the Eurocodes.
Reports can be considered for publication as “JRC
Scientific and Technical Report” provided that they fall
into one of the following categories:
1. Pre-normative Reports, which will generally
result from the work of one of the new working
groups and will be published as JRC Scientific
and Technical Reports at the request of the ad-
hoc working group.
They will present the basic design concepts and
links to the existing and planned
documents/standards, and will usually consist of a
first draft of the proposed Eurocode part which
may be converted afterwards into CEN Technical
Specification. They will be on free access for
downloading on the Eurocodes website to provide
the possibility for discussion in a wide
scientific/technical expert cycle.
They will be usable for establishing project
specifications, but under the strict responsibility of
the user.
2. Background Documents, which provide officially
approved background information on current
Eurocodes parts. Such documents are a unique
source of information on the underlying theory to
the Eurocodes technical rules and on the
recommended values for the Nationally
Determined Parameters (NDPs).
The background documents are the main source
of support to the Member States when choosing
their NDPs, to the users of the Eurocodes when
questions arise and for the further harmonisation
and development of the Eurocodes.
Their publication as JRC reports will be done
exclusively at the request of the relevant
CEN/TC250 sub-committee, who will be
collectively responsible for the content and
authorship of the document.
They will be available for information only and will
be on free access on the Eurocodes website. In
some cases, they may be used for establishing
project specifications.
3. Scientific and Technical Reports, which may
either contain additional (non-contradictory)
information on current Eurocodes or contribute to
their further development. In the latter case, they
will possibly be used for the development of pre-
normative reports.
2
Authorship may be from various stakeholders involved
in the Eurocodes process.
Such reports are submitted to a reviewing process
jointly organised by the CEN/TC250 and the JRC, and
their publication is finally authorised by the relevant
sub-committee or working group of CEN/TC250.
Unless restricted by the authors, their access will be
free on the Eurocodes website.
Each report will be officially labelled as “JRC Scientific
and Technical Report”, receive a reference number as
EUR report, receive an ISSN (International Standard
Serial Number) and made available on the Eurocodes
website (http://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu) as
appropriate.
Michel Géradin,
ELSA Head of Unit, JRC
Design of lightweight footbridges
for human induced vibrations
Joint report prepared under the
JRC-ECCS cooperation
agreement for the evolution of
Eurocode 3
EUR 23984 EN, 2009
ISBN 978-92-79-13387-9
ISSN 1018-5593
by C. Heinemeyer, C. Butz, A. Keil, M. Schlaich, A.
Goldack, S. Trometer, M. Lukić, B. Chabrolin, A.
Lemaire, P.-O. Martin, Á. Cunha, E. Caetano
The latest JRC Scientific and Technical Report deals
with the design of lightweight footbridges for human
induced vibrations. The report aims at limiting human
induced vibrations of footbridges, a field where so far
no unified design rules, applicable across different
materials and construction processes, exist in the
Eurocodes.
It is based on the results of two European research
projects funded by the Research Fund for Coal and
Steel (RFCS), namely “Advanced load models for
synchronous pedestrian excitation and optimised
design guidelines for steel footbridges (SYNPEX)” and
“Human induced vibrations of steel structures
(HIVOSS)”.
The report deals with the design procedure in different
steps, the evaluation of dynamic properties of
footbridges and the control of vibration response. It
presents three worked examples and also additional
load models for a single pedestrian, for joggers and
for intentional excitation by small groups.
2nd International Symposium on
Geotechnical Safety and Risk
From 11 to 12 of June the 2nd International
Symposium on Geotechnical Safety and Risk was
held in Gifu, Japan, organised by the Japanese
Geotechnical Society, the International Society for Soil
Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering and the
Geotechnical Safety Network.
There were 122 registered delegates, of which 40
were non-Japanese, predominantly from East Asia
and about 10 from Europe. Most delegates were
academics or from research institutes and only a few
designers attended.
There were sessions and keynote lectures on
reliability benchmarking and reliability of geotechnical
prediction, on risk management in geotechnical
engineering and geotechnical code drafting.
European codes were presented in just one lecture by
Schuppener et. al. “Loss of static equilibrium of a
structure - definition and verification of EQU limit
state”. The majority of delegates were interested in
and advocates of reliability theory. So after the lecture
on EQU limit state of the Eurocodes, the questions of
the audience were only related to the reliability
indexes in Eurocodes. As Eurocode 7 makes little use
of reliability theory, no reliability indexes for
geotechnical design could be quoted. This is probably
an issue for all Eurocodes.
For future discussions with code writers all over the
world, the Eurocode community may need to consider
the following options:
1. The delegates at the International Symposium in
Gifu are unrepresentative and academic. In that
case, their views might be disregarded.
2. Reliability theory is unhelpful and misleading in
the context of Eurocodes. In that case, the
Eurocode community might need to present a
coherent argument.
3. Reliability theory is helpful. In that case, the
Eurocode community must find a way of
sponsoring research very soon, if Eurocodes are
not to fall behind developments made elsewhere.
The next International Symposium on Geotechnical
Safety and Risk will be in 2011, hosted by the
Technische Universität München in Munich.
Bernd Schuppener,
Chairman of CEN/TC250/SC7
Editor’s note
This paper is written under the responsibility of the
SC7 Chairman.
Even if the Eurocodes have been primarily calibrated
on the basis of historical and empirical methods, a
probabilistic approach has been used for the
development of the structural Eurocodes (calibration
of the partial factor method), in particular for sensitivity
studies. EN 1990 opens the door to the use of
probabilistic methods (clause 3.5(5)) and its Annex C
provides numerical information on the structural
reliability methods.
The knowledge of the structural reliability level of
construction works is becoming a major preoccupation
for designers, and this explains the increasing
demand concerning background documentation on
the calibration of the Eurocodes. Geotechnical design
will probably be influenced, in the future, by methods
already in use for the design of structures.
Jean-Armand Calgaro,
Chairman of CEN/TC250
Workshop on Eurocode 6
Eurocode 6: Background
and applications
Brussels, 2-3 April 2009
The workshop was
organised by the European
Commission, Enterprise
and Industry Directorate-
General and the Joint
Research Centre, with the
support of CEN/TC250,
CEN Management Centre
and Member States.
The workshop intended to
contribute towards the transfer of background
knowledge and expertise of Eurocode 6 writers to
potential trainers on national level. The principal
objectives of the workshop were to:
o transfer knowledge and information to
representatives of key organisations, industry
and technical associations involved in training
on the Eurocodes in Member States;
o enhance the training potential of the Member
States by providing state-of-the-art training
material and background information;
o contribute to the consistent and timely
implementation of the Eurocodes;
o facilitate exchange of views, networking and
cooperation.
A total of 118 participants from 23 EU Member States,
Croatia, Norway and Turkey, as well as from the
Russian Federation, Montenegro, Canada and India
registered for the workshop. The participants were
3
 representatives of national authorities, national
standardisation bodies, industry, professional
associations, universities and research institutions.
The large majority of the participants are involved in
training on the Eurocodes in their countries.
The large majority of the participants stated that the
workshop and distributed material will be useful for
further training and education in their countries.
Furthermore, the overall rating of the event has been
very positive.
Workshop programme
The opening session included presentations on the
EU legislation/standardisation for construction, the
JRC support to the implementation and further
development as well as the Eurocodes and National
Annexes.
J.-A. Calgaro, CEN/TC250 Chairman, and M.
Greenley, CEN/TC250 Secretary, introduced the
Eurocodes as a landmark for the construction
industry.
Greenland implements Eurocodes
Denmark, Danish Standard (DS) and the experts in
the Code Committees, have used the period from
2006 to 2008 to get ready for the 1st of January 2009
for the implementation of the relevant Eurocodes and
National Annexes (NA), supporting the Danish
Building Regulations. This experience has been used
to assist Greenland’s Home Rule with implementing
the Eurocodes in the Building Regulations of
Greenland.
Prof. Em. Dr. Bjarne Chr. Jensen has assisted DS in
producing Greenland’s National Annexes, based on
the Danish Annexes, taking into account the special
conditions in Greenland (climate and remote places of
building sites).
The work was carried out in close co-operation with
representatives from the Home Rule and
representatives from the building industry in order to
facilitate the best possible knowledge transfer. Also
some field studies were necessary and highly
appreciated by the DS-working group, see photos.

The workshop was an opportunity to prepare and

disseminate training and background material
(technical papers, worked examples, calibration of
NDPs) on Eurocode 6. Lectures were delivered by:
o R. van der Pluijm, CEN/TC250/SC6 Chairman
o P. Christiansen, Danish Technological Institute
o B. Haseltine, Jenkins and Potter
o J. Haynes, National House-Building Council
o W. Jäger, Jäger Ingenieure GmbH
o U. Meyer, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mauerziegel The Greenland’s Home Rule plans to introduce the
new codes in the autumn 2009.
o J. Morton, Morton Associates
The contents of all the National Annexes (in Danish)
o J. Roberts, Technical Innovation Consultancy
needed in Greenland have now been finalised and will
o P. Watt, Charlwood Partnership Ltd soon be uploaded for free download on the DS
Eurocode platform www.eurocodes.dk.
o S. Wijte, Adviesbureau Hageman.

“Don’t look back!”

Prof. R. van der Pluijm presented the conclusions of
the workshop and the subcommittee views about the
mid-term and long-term evolution of Eurocode 6:
o countries are encouraged to accept the
Eurocodes – “Don’t look back!”;
o CEN has decided for stability until 2015;
o corrections and amendments are underway;
o further development is planned for the long On this website you will also find the Danish National
term (e.g. advance shear model, assessment Annexes in Danish and English, also free of charge.
of existing structures). Prof. Em. Dr. Bjarne Jensen
All workshop material is available to download from Photos by Erling R. Trudsø, DS
http://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu.
Artur Pinto & Georgios Tsionis,
ELSA, JRC

4
First International Conference on
Protection of Historical Buildings
PROHITECH 09, Rome, 21-24 June 2009
The first International Conference on Protection of
Historical Buildings was held in Rome from 21 to 24 of
June 2009.
The Conference Chairman was Professor Federico
Mazzolani, who was also the leader and responsible
of a large and successful research project named
PROHITECH, acronym of PROtection of HIstorical
buildings by reversible mixed TECHnologies.
This conference was organised as the natural
conclusion of the 4-years long PROHITECH project
and it was a great international success, with more
than 200 people coming from 38 countries all around
the world to attend the conference and to present the
latest results of research and applications of both
innovative and traditional materials and techniques for
the protection of the built heritage.
The conference has also been attended by Prof. J.-A.
Calgaro, who was invited to give a keynote lecture
entitled “Assessment of existing bridges: general
aspects and safety principles”. This was an important
opportunity also to disseminate the recent
developments related to Eurocodes. Prof. J.-A.
Calgaro was also Chairman of a Special Session of
the conference, dealing with rehabilitation of old
bridges.
The Conference Proceedings
The Conference Proceedings have been published on
two volumes, collecting 276 regular papers plus 8
additional Keynote Lectures, for a total of more than
1700 pages.
Prof. Federico Mazzolani,
Chairman of CEN/TC250/SC9
Compliance of Montenegro
framework with EU legislation on
construction
A mission took place on 14-18 September with the
main objective to assess the current situation in
Montenegrin legislative and standardisation
framework on construction and to prepare a draft fiche
for an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA)
2010 project entitled “Achieving highest safety and
technical quality of Montenegrin construction”.
The work was performed in the Ministry for Spatial
Planning and Environment (MSPE) in close
collaboration with Ms. Maja Velimirovic-Petrovic, Vice-
minister, Ms. Svetlana Vuksanovic, Advisor, and Ms.
Sandra Lalic, Representative.
Ms. Suzana Miljevic, Head of Human Resources
Department in MSPE took the overall care of the
planning and organisation of the mission.
Highest quality interpretation was provided by Ms.
Snezana Dubljevic.
Support and consultation of the work on the IPA 2010
project fiche was provided by Mr. Nicola Bertolini,
Head of Operations at the Delegation of the European
Commission to Montenegro, and by Ms. Marija
Sjekloca, Task Manager for Infrastructure at the
Delegation of the European Commission to
Montenegro.
To assess the needs and capacities needed for the
adoption and the implementation of European
standards in the area of construction, meetings with
the following Montenegrin stakeholders were held:
o Mr. Zoran Bregovic, Vice-minister, Ministry of
Interior and Public Administration, responsible
for emergency management and fire design;
o Ms. Rada Janjic, Head of General
Standardisation Department, Institute for
Standardisation of Montenegro;
o Prof. Dr. Bozidar Pavicevic, Honorary
President, Montenegrin Association for
Earthquake Engineering;
o Mr. Ljubo Dusanov Stjepcevic, President of the
Montenegrin Chamber of Engineers;
o Ms. Sanja Radovic, President of the
Montenegrin Chamber of Civil Engineers;
o Prof. Dr. Miodrag Bulatovic and Ms. Zeljka
Radovanic, representatives of the Montenegrin
Chamber of Engineers;
o Prof. Dr. Dusko Lucic, Dean of the Faculty of
civil engineering;
o Prof. Dr. Branislav Glavatovic, Director of the
Seismological Observatory;
o Mr. Slobodan Radusinovic, Executive Director
of the Geological survey of Montenegro.
5
The reasons for adoption of the Eurocodes in Activities related to these three results include:
Montenegro, as underlined by the stakeholders, are:
o timeline for preparation of national annexes with
o political, because the task fulfils one of the priority to Eurocodes packages relevant to the
conditions for EU membership; most wide-spread structures in Montenegro;
o economical, because it will facilitate the access of o methods and IT equipment needed to lay down the
Montenegrin businesses to the enlarged European nationally determined parameters;
market with 500 million potential customers;
o roadmap for adaptation of the Montenegrin
o technical, because of the need for replacement of legislative framework for construction to allow the
the outdated regulations and standards, which use of the Eurocodes;
especially come into play in the current period of
o definition of needs for training material (designer
intensive construction, when many significant
handbooks and manuals, guidelines with worked
buildings are constructed and many foreign
examples, lecture notes) for continuous
investors are attracted.
professional development and university
All stakeholders expressed their support and devotion education, information leaflets on the
to work on the tasks needed for the adoption and implementation of the EN Eurocodes, training and
implementation of the Eurocodes in Montenegro. design software;
o planning for training the Montenegrin Eurocodes
trainers and the construction professionals;
Work performed at the Faculty of Civil Engineering
in Podgorica o estimation of the nationally determined parameters
of Eurocode 8 where values specific for
Given the fact that Montenegro is located in an area
Montenegro have to be introduced;
with high seismicity, the adoption of new seismic
design standards, namely Eurocode 8, is of primary o incorporation of results from the NATO Science for
importance to update the estimation of seismic hazard, Peace and Security project “Harmonisation of
to implement the highest available construction Seismic Hazard Maps for the Western Balkans
technology for seismic risk mitigation and as a Countries”;
consequence to provide better protection of human
o elaboration of the text of the national annex in
lives and property.
Montenegrin language.
Comparative studies between the Eurocodes technical
In addition to the project activities, regional networking
rules and the Montenegrin standards for design of
with the neighbouring countries should be sought in
reinforced concrete structures, masonry structures,
the translation of all Eurocodes parts, and in
bridges, and seismic design have been performed in
preparation of wind, snow, isotherms and seismic
the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Podgorica. They
maps.
show that no single Eurocode can be embedded into
the Montenegrin standardisation environment for
structural design due to the considerable difference of
the safety factors. That is why implementation of all
Eurocodes parts in thematic packages should be
sought, as stipulated in Guidance Paper L.
The Eurocodes have been already incorporated into
the Master Degree curriculum at the Faculty of Civil
Engineering. There is a need for systematic teaching
on Eurocodes in the lower (Bachelor) courses at the
Faculty.
Meeting on 18 September 2009: (from right to left) Ms. Maja
Velimirovic-Petrovic, Vice-minister, MSPE; Mr. Nicola
Achieving highest safety and technical quality of Bertolini, Head of Operations at the Delegation of EC to
Montenegro; Minister Branimir Gvozdenović; Ms. Silvia
Montenegrin construction
Dimova
A proposal for an IPA 2010 project entitled “Achieving
On 18 September the project proposal was presented
highest safety and technical quality of Montenegrin
to Mr. Branimir Gvozdenović, Minister of Spatial
construction” has been developed. There are three
Planning and Environment of Montenegro. Minister
main results to achieve within the project:
Branimir Gvozdenović expressed his satisfaction with
1. action plan for adoption of the Eurocodes; the project and his support to further harmonisation of
the Montenegrin legislation and standardisation
2. action plan for implementation of the Eurocodes; frameworks for construction with those of the EU.
3. National Annex to Eurocode 8 part 1. Silvia Dimova

6
The new structural Eurocodes in Portugal
“Os Novos Eurocódigos Estruturais”, Lisbon, 26
November 2008
Following the publication by CEN of the Structural
Eurocodes and in order to present the status of its
implementation in Portugal, the APEE, Associação
Portuguesa de Engenharia de Estruturas –
Portuguese Association for Structural Engineering, the
Portuguese IABSE member together with LNEC,
Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil – National
Laboratory for Civil Engineering, have organised a
National Meeting entitled “Os Novos Eurocódigos
Estruturais”, The New Structural Eurocodes. The
session was held in Lisbon, in November 26th 2008, in
LNEC’s Congress Centre.
The preparation of the Portuguese translations of the
Eurocode Parts and the elaboration of the
corresponding National Annexes is a task of the
Portuguese Mirror Committee of CEN/TC250
(Comissão Técnica CT 115 – Eurocódigos
Estruturais), whose secretariat is held by LNEC.
Besides the general overview of the Eurocodes, both
at national and international level, special attention
was devoted to the following Eurocodes:
o Eurocode 4: Design of composite steel and
concrete structures;
o Eurocode 7: Geotechnical design;
o Eurocode 8: Design of structures for earthquake
resistance.
The meeting was very successful, attended by 220
people, and included the following sessions:
o The Eurocodes: Principles, new developments and
future challenges, Prof. Jean-Armand Calgaro,
ENPC, Chairman of CEN/TC250
o General presentation of EC4, Prof. Luís Calado,
IST, National Technical Contact for EC4
o General presentation of EC7, Rui Correia, LNEC
Principal Research Officer, National Technical
Contact for EC7
o Celebration of the 40th anniversary of APEE
o Ferry Borges Award Ceremony
o General presentation of EC8, Eduardo C.
Carvalho, LNEC Specialist, Chairman of
CEN/TC250/SC8
o Timetable for the adoption of the Eurocodes in
Portugal, Carlos Pina, LNEC Vice-President,
Principal Research Officer, Vice-Chairman of
CT115
o Discussion
2008 Ferry Borges Award
The meeting included also a joint session evocative of
the 40th anniversary of APEE and the 2008 Ferry
Borges Award. The Ferry Borges Award is organised
every two years by APEE and grants Diplomas and
prize money to the best publications in three
categories: best paper in Portuguese, best paper in
foreign language and best paper published in Revista
Portuguesa de Engenharia de Estruturas (Portuguese
Magazine on Structural Engineering) edited by LNEC.
It is worth remembering that Professor Ferry Borges,
as researcher and engineer contributed in a very
active way to the progress in the field of the Structural
Engineering. Major contributions were made to
Structural Safety, Reinforced Concrete and
Earthquake Engineering. The progress of the Design
Codes in the field of Structural Engineering was also
one of his major concerns.
Dr E. Carvalho, Prof. J.-A. Calgaro and Dr M. Pipa
Ferry Borges promoted the creation of the Joint
Committee on Structural Safety (JCSS), which he
presided for more than ten years. As president of CEB
(Comité Euro-International du Béton), he promoted the
interest of this organisation for seismic design and at
European level, he defended a Code on Seismic
Design within the system of the Eurocodes. In fact,
Professor Ferry Borges was involved since the
beginning in the development of the Eurocodes. From
1986 to 1990 he was a member of the Coordination
Group for the Eurocodes in its condition of member of
the CODEST of the European Commission.
Further details can be found at:
http://estruturas2008.lnec.pt
Manuel Pipa,
Head of the Structural Behaviour Division – Structures
Department, LNEC
7
Thailand towards the Eurocodes Era

Doing Business with the European Union,
Bangkok, 28-29 April 2009
A seminar entitled “Doing business with the EU,
towards the Eurocodes era: background and its
applications” was organised on 28-29 April 2009 in
Thailand by the European Commission (Grand
Ballroom, The Landmark Bangkok Hotel, Bangkok).
The seminar took place in a satisfactory way and was
performed in full accordance with the established
programme. The good preparation and the excellent
organisation contributed to the success, in spite of the
fact that the meeting was initially scheduled for last
December and thus postponed once.
i) the actual state of the Construction Codes (Code
of Practice) in Thailand and their evolution in the
next future;
ii) research undertaken for the development of the
Eurocodes. Prof. Jean-Armand Calgaro provided
also information on the JRC organisation;
iii) the ways to take into account the regional
climatic conditions in the Eurocodes and how the
design rules were developed from the background.
The concepts of the “European standard family”
(material standards, testing standards, design
rules, site execution standards) and of the
Nationally Determined Parameters were
explained.

The programme of the these two days, may be

distinguished into 3 phases:
1. In the opening session, delegates from the
Thailand Government and professional
organisations and the representative of the
European Commission expressed their views on
possible beneficial aspects of the seminar and
prospective technical and scientific exchanges.
The attendance of this session was about 200
persons.
2. The technical conferences of the invited European
speakers presented the European standards
(norms) system, issued from the Construction
Products Directives, with special emphasis on
actions on structures (Eurocode 1) and design of
typical concrete structures (Eurocode 2).
As these topics are obviously rather huge, the
presentations where a general overview of the two
Eurocodes, mainly for the design of buildings.
Questions from the participants followed each
presentation and discussions between speakers Following a specific question, it was answered that it is
and participants took place during the breaks. As possible for non-European observers to be invited to
the presentations were very technical, the attend the meetings of CEN/TC250 or of its
attendance was around 60 persons. Subcommittees.

3. The final Round Table was organised with the
participation of six Thai Engineers and Professors,
including Prof. Ekasit Limsuwan acting as the
moderator, and the three European experts. The
main topics which were debated are the following:
It is noted that several participants asked for a
possible technical visit to sites where the Eurocodes
were applied in the design of the structure.
Dr J. L. Trinh,
Expert of the French mirror group of CEN/TC250

8
Workshop on Nationally Determined Parameters in Skopje
Eurocodes – Standards for design in civil
engineering, Skopje, 6-7 May 2009
The workshop took place in Skopje on 6-7 May 2009,
organised by TAIEX in co-operation with the
Standardisation Institute of the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
The main objective was to disseminate knowledge on
the following issues:
o why implementation of the Eurocodes is necessary
and which are the benefits;
o EU policy on the harmonised implementation of
the Eurocodes;
o general direction concerning Nationally
Determined Parameters (NDPs);
o NDPs Database of the European Commission,
national opportunities and obligations;
o examples of preparation of National Annexes.
The workshop was chaired by Dr. Goran Markovski,
President of the FYROM Technical Committee for the
Eurocodes. Opening addresses were delivered by Mr.
Ljupcho Davchev, Director of the Institute of
Standardisation of FYROM (ISRM), Mrs. Sonja
Cerepnalkovska, Head of the Department of
Standardisation of ISRM and by a representative of
the Ministry of Transport of FYROM.
The scientific and technical community of FYROM has
shown considerable interest to the presentations;
although only 39 participants were registered officially,
the actual number of the listeners was 80-90 during
the two days of the workshop. ISRM translated and
distributed to the participants two of the Eurocodes
promotion leaflets prepared by the JRC.
The first day of the workshop included the following
sessions:
o Implementation of the Eurocodes: progress and
support from the JRC, Prof. Silvia Dimova, expert
formerly at JRC
o The Database for the Nationally Determined
Parameters: national responsibilities and
opportunities, Prof. Silvia Dimova, expert formerly
at JRC
o Further harmonisation of the Nationally
Determined Parameters and of the Eurocodes
approach, Prof. Silvia Dimova, expert formerly at
JRC
o Background to the basis of structural design in EN
1990, Prof. Jana Markova, ENC, Klockner
Institute, Prague
o Introduction of the Eurocodes in the Bulgarian
regulatory framework, Ms Violeta Angelieva, ENC,
Head of Directorate of Technical Rules and
Regulations, Bulgarian Ministry of Regional
Development and Public Works
o Definition of the Bulgarian Nationally Determined
Parameters, Ms Iren Dabijeva, Bulgarian
Standardisation Institute
On the second day the following topics were covered:
o Background to the Nationally determined
parameters in EN 1998, Dr Eduardo Cansado
Carvalho, Gapres
o Experience of Portugal in the implementation of
the Eurocodes, Dr Eduardo Cansado Carvalho,
Gapres
o Czech Republic National Annexes to EN 1998,
Prof Jana Markova, ENC, Klockner Institute,
Prague
o Experience of Romania in the implementation of
the Eurocodes, Mr Ovidiu Cordoneanu, Director,
Romanian State Inspection for Constructions.
The main conclusions of the workshop referred to the
steps needed to accelerate the progress in the
implementation of the Eurocodes in FYROM, namely:
o consolidation of the stakeholders in the
implementation of the Eurocodes;
o more governmental financial support to the
translation of the Eurocodes Parts and elaboration
of National Annexes;
o representation of FYROM in the Standing
Committee for Construction;
o active cooperation with EU Member States under
the Twinning Programme of DG ELARG and
collaboration agreements with National
Standardisation Bodies.
More information at http://taiex.ec.europa.eu.
Silvia Dimova
9
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Eurocodes websites
National Training &
Helpdesk
implementation publications
Eurocodes, Building the Future, European Commission – http://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu √ √
Access Steel – Eurocodes made easy - www.access-steel.com √ √
Antenne Normes Eurocodes, Belgium - www.bbri.be/antenne_norm/eurocodes/fr/ √
BA-CORTEX: Le calcul des structures en béton selon les Eurocodes, France - www.ba-cortex.com √
Continuing Education in Structural Connections - http://people.fsv.cvut.cz/~wald/CESTRUCO √
DIFISEK+ Dissemination of Fire Safety Engineering Knowledge - www.difisek.eu √
Education packages for structural fire codes -
√
www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/project/research/structures/strucfire/Design/presentation/default.htm
Eurocode online, Germany - www.eurocode-online.de √ √
Eurocode 2, U.K. - www.eurocode2.info √
Eurocode 6, U.K. www.eurocode6.org √ √
Eurocodes – Assistance OA, France - www.eurocodes.setra.equipement.gouv.fr √ √ √
Eurocodes, Austria - www.eurocodes.at √ √ √
Eurocodes, Denmark - www.eurocodes.dk √ √ √
Eurocodes Expert, U.K. - www.eurocodes.co.uk √ √ √
Eurocodes, Ireland - www.nsai.ie/index.cfm/area/page/information/Eurocodes √
Eurocodes, Netherlands - www.eurocodes.nl √
Eurocodes, Steel Construction Institute - www.steel-sci.org/Information/Eurocodes.htm √ √
Eurocodes, U.K. - BSI - www.shop.bsigroup.com/en/Browse-by-Subject/Eurocodes/?t=r √ √
Eurocodes, U.K. - Highways Agency - www.highways.gov.uk/business/1200.aspx √
Eurocodes, U.K. – IstructE - www.istructe.org/technical/db/index.asp?page=703 √ √
Eurocodes 3 & 4 Help Desk - www.steel-alliance.org √
Eurocodici EN – Promozione Acciaio, Italy - www.promozioneacciaio.it/rassegna_normativa_eurocodes.php √
Eurokoder - SIS/TK 203, Sweden - www.sis.se/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabname=%40Projekt&PROJID=8400 √ √ √
Eurokoodi help desk, Finland - www.eurocodes.fi √ √ √
n-AKTive Structural Steel Design e-Learning Portal - www.n-aktive.co.uk √
Les Eurocodes, France - www.ponts-formation-edition.fr/eurocodes.php3 √