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The Timber Industry Yearbook 2011 Timber Research And Development Association www.trada.co.uk
Structures
Eurocode 5: a young engineer’s perspective Thomas Martin, graduate structural engineer with Burroughs, believes Eurocode 5 will push out the boundaries of what is possible in timber The engineering profession appealed to me as I was interested in architecture, design and the built environment. I have continued to find it a challenging and rewarding career choice and I am working hard towards gaining my professional qualifications. I have gained wide experience of projects from complex domestic timber-framed properties to large steel and concrete commercial developments. In addition to this work, I was given a key role in the development of a novel timber building system, Ty Unnos, (‘House in One Night’), a collaborative project between Coed Cymru, The Welsh School of Architecture, Gwalia Housing, Pontrilas Timber Group and Kenton Jones Timber. It aims to develop a timber-framed, modular, affordable housing system using locally sourced lower grade (C16) Sitka spruce, hemlock and larch and which meets high BREEAM standards. This system is the first to use home-grown softwood in this way and has required much research and development.
comparable, there was more information within the Eurocode on dealing with built-up sections, which made it easier to push out the boundaries. When I started working on Ty Unnos I decided to attend one of TRADA’s EC5 workshops to give me more confidence in using the standard and to have an informed second opinion on whether my interpretation of some of the clauses within it was correct. I had already looked into the Eurocodes for concrete and steel and they are all written in a similar way. One of the big advantages of that is that once you are into mindset of the Eurocodes, it is much easier to work with a new code.
Freedom and flexibility The course certainly helped me to use Eurocode 5 with confidence. In addition, course tutor Dr Keerthi Ranasinghe, as part of the TRADA Technology engineering team, checked a further set of calculations, which again boosted my confidence in EC5 as the best design code for Ty Unnos. Eurocode 5, in my view, gives more freedom and flexibility. Some might see the Eurocodes as set up for designing more by computer than by hand - and that is partly true. Some parts of EC5 can be long-winded and laborious, but that is partly down to a lack of familiarity. BS 5268 had more to offer in terms of reference tables, but I am sure these will come with the Eurocodes in time. I have really enjoyed my work on Ty Unnos and using Eurocode 5 has offered more opportunity for clear sky thinking than might otherwise have been possible.
Eurocodes provide more information My involvement with the project began in 2008 when Burroughs was commissioned to undertake a feasibility study on the structural aspects, which involved carrying out a full set of structural calculations. At that stage we made the decision that using the Eurocodes was the best way forward. I did make comparisons with BS 5268 and although the results were
Thomas Martin graduated from Cardiff University in 2006 with a BEng in Architectural Engineering. He attended a TRADA workshop to help him to get the most out of the design standard.