Steel to access all areas

A new website offering a fast and easy route to Eurocode information for steel construction will be launched on 13 June 2006.

The site, www.access-steel.com, was recently unveiled by six leading European steel institutes and is primarily targeted at the needs of practising designers, architects and their clients.

The technical guidance available in June will be harmonised, quality assured and in English, French, German and Spanish.  There will also be comprehensive coverage of single and multi-storey buildings and residential construction.

Steel is currently the only sector investing in an integrated approach to the Eurocodes and steelmakers are keen to encourage use of the website to help promote the materials use in existing EU countries as well as accession states.

Special attention will also be given to the new opportunities for fire safety engineering in the Eurocodes.

Gerhard Sedlacek, Chairman of the ECCS Technical Management Board commented that a special task force set up by the EU Enterprise Directorate would be keen to use the site to facilitate the adoption of the Eurocodes in countries outside of Europe.

Further information on Eurocode 3 will be put on the web site when the National Annexes, without which Eurocodes cannot be used in the UK,  become available in 2007.