Introduction to the
tenth edition
The latest edition of Reynold's Handbook has been necessi-
tated by the appearance in September 1985 of BS8 110
'Structural use of concrete'. Although it has superseded its
immediate predecessor CPI 10 (the change of designation
from a Code of Practice to a British Standard does not
indicate any change of status) which had been in current
use for 13 years, an earlier document still, CP 114 (last revised
in 1964), is still valid.
BS8I 10 does not, in essence, differ greatly from CPI 10
(except in price!). Perhaps the most obvious change is
the overall arrangement of material. Whereas CPIIO in-
corporated the entire text in Part 1, with the reinforced
concrete design charts more usually required (i.e. slabs,
beams and rectangular columns) forming Part 2 and the
others Part 3, the arrangement in BS81 10 is that Part
embodies the 'code of practice for design and construction',
Part 2 covers 'special circumstances' and Part 3 incorporates
similar charts to those forming Part 2 of CP1IO. There are,
as yet, no equivalents to the charts forming Part 3 of CP1 10.
The material included in Part 2 provides information on
rigorous serviceability calculations for cracking and deflec-
tion (previously dealt with as appendices to Part 1 of CP 110),
more comprehensive treatment of fire resistance (only
touched on relatively briefly in Part 1), and so on. It could
be argued that mute logical arrangements of this material
would be either to keep all that relating to reinforced
concrete design and construction together in Part I with
that relating to prestressed and composite construction
forming Part 2, or to separate the material relating to design
and detailing from that dealing with specifications and
workmanship.
The main changes between CP1 10 and its successor are
described in the foreword to BS8llO and need not be
repeated here. Some of the alterations, for example the design
of columns subjected to biaxial bending, represent consider-
able simplifications to previously cumbersome methods.
Certain material has also been rearranged and rewritten to
achieve a more logical and better structured layout and to
meet criticisms from engineers preferring the CP1 14 format.
Unfortunately this makes it more difficult to distinguish
between such 'cosmetic'
change in meaning or emphasis is intended than would
otherwise be the case.
In addition to describing the detailed requiremenis of
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BS8 110 and providing appropriate charts and tables to aid
rapid design, this edition of the Handbook retains all the
material relating to CP1 10 which appeared in the previous
edition. There are two principal reasons for this. Firstly,
although strictly speaking CP1IO was immediately super-
seded by the publication of BS8 1110, a certain amount of
design to the previous document will clearly continue for
some time to come. This is especially true outside the UK
where English-speaking countries often only adopt the UK
Code (or a variant customized to their own needs) some
time after, it has been introduced in Britain. Secondly, as far
as possible the new design aids relating to BS8 110 have been
prepared in as similar a form as possible to those previously
provided for CP1IO: if appropriate, both requirements are
1 combined on the same chart. Designers who are familiar
with these tables from a previous edition of the Handbook
should thus find no difficulty in switching to the new Code,
and direct comparisons between the corresponding BS8I 10
and CPllO charts and tables should be instructive and
illuminating.
When BS811O was published it was announced that
CPI14 would be withdrawn in the autumn of 1987. However,
since the appearance of CP1 10 in 1972, a sizeable group of
engineers had fought for the retention of an alternative
officially-approved document based on design to working
loads and stresses rather than on conditions at failure. This
objective was spear-headed by the Campaign for Practical
Codes of Practice (CPCP) and as a result, early in 1987, the
Institution of Structural Engineers held a referendum in
which Institution members were requested to vote on
the question of whether 'permissible-stress codes such as
CPll4. . .should be updated and made available for design
purposes'. By a majority of nearly 4 to 1, those voting
approved the retention and updating of such codes. Accord-
ingly, the IStructE has now set up a task group for this
purpose and has urged the British Standards Institution to
publish a type TI code for the permissible-stress design of
reinforced concrete structures. As an interim measure, the
BSI has been requested to reinstate CP114, and the Building
Regulations Division of the Department of the Environment
asked to retain CP1 14 as an approved document until the
new permissible stress code is ready.
In order to make room for the new BS81 10 material in
this edition of the Handbook, much of that relating