07 July 2008
South African engineers step up Eurocode familiarisation
 South African engineers are continuing to familiarise themselves with Eurocodes by attending a further series of one-day courses run by Cape Town University from July to October 2008.
The increased focus on Eurocodes follows a Eurocodes summit meeting held by the South African Bureau of Standards in 8 February 2008. ‘Most sectors indicated that adopting the Eurocodes was probably the way to go in the future, and in due course the necessary supportive structures for this transition will need to be put in place,’ says Professor Alphose Zingoni of Cape Town University.
The majority of South Africa’s structural design codes are based on British Standards that are being replaced by Eurocodes in 2010. ‘In preparation for this shift in basis, and to remain internationally competitive, South African structural designers require to familiarise themselves with the essential provisions of the Eurocodes,’ says Zingoni.
Twelve events are planned in total, with four each in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. The first in each venue, which are taking place in July, provide an introduction and overview of the Eurocode system and are being presented by Professor Nary Naryanan, consultant with Clark Smith Partnership in London.
Events in August and September will respectively cover Eurocodes 2 (concrete) and 3 (concrete) and be given by Professors Joost Walraven and Frans Bijlaard from Delft University of Technology. The October events will focus on Eurocode 7 (geotechnical) and be run by Dr Andrew Bond of Geocentrix in the UK.
The 2008 courses follow a similar series of events in 2007 attended by nearly 400 engineers.The cost of each event is R3500 (approximately £240).
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