ABSTRACT
Eurocode 7 is known as the European standard for geotechnical engineering design and is widely considered as a great success story. The second generation of the standard recently being finally drafted by CEN/TC250 SC7 will be published 2024/2025 and will represent a significant step forward towards further harmonization and efficient guidance for geotechnical design. Besides other geotechnical structures this is the case also and especially for piled foundations. In comparison to the first generation the clause on piled foundations in EN 1997-3 ´Geotechnical Structures´ has been fundamentally revised and improved including new rules for pile design. For example, in the second generation pile groups and piled rafts will be covered equivalently to single piles. Detailed guidance is provided to consider actions due to ground displacements like downdrag. Revised sets of correlation, model and partial factors were specified. The design approaches for axial and lateral loaded piled foundations were harmonized. As the authors have been involved in the evolution of the revised clause on pile foundations since 2011 this paper aims to inform first-hand about the upcoming changes and to present the improvements and challenges.
