Recommendations for assessment Eurocodes for bridges

The new structural Eurocodes offer increased economy in design over most existing codes of practice. However, the assessment of existing structures is specifically outside the scope of the Eurocodes, so many of the benefits these new codes bring cannot be directly applied when reviewing old structures. This paper investigates the areas where the steel and concrete Eurocodes give increased resistances compared to existing codes and makes recommendations for sections that could be directly applied to the assessment of existing structures. Areas where the Eurocodes cannot be applied directly to existing structures are also identified, together with the reasons why, such as reliance on modern material and execution specifications. Recommendations are then made for how the Eurocode design rules could be modified for assessment situations, including the use of measured strengths and imperfections in calculation. Actions and the format for combining actions are also investigated and recommendations are made for modifications to these aspects for use in assessing bridges. Finally, an overall assessment of the scope of work required to produce an assessment suite of Eurocodes is made.