ABSTRACT
After a preparatory period of more than 10 years an european prenorm (prestandard) ENV 1997–1 for geotechnical design was approved by the CEN for the use in its 18 member countries as an alternative to existing national regulations. After a period of 3 years of provisional application, it will be decided on a final introduction of the document replacing relevant national norms. This document is harmonized with the further structural EUROCODES (EC), all using the partial factors method for safety verification and dimensioning.
The design philosophy as well as the most important points of the documents content are reported together with a statement of its operationability. Special attention is given to the importance of the norm for tunnel design, both with opened and mined tunnelling methods. Finally, some indication is given on the necessity of maintaining existing or introduction of further, more detailed recommendations in order to keep or even improve the quality of geotechnical design.
