EUROPEAN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING FOR EUROCODE 8.

Eurocode 8, for the seismic design of structures, has already been introduced for exploratory use by designers. It is due for full acceptance by member states of the European Union in 2000. Its five parts cover buildings, bridges, towers, masts and chimneys, tanks, silos and pipelines, foundations, retaining structures and geo-technical aspects. Each of these parts con tains new concepts, requiring a programme of research which utilizes experimental facilities to validate new theoretical methods. This paper gives brief details of these experimental studies, funded by DG XII of the European Commission during 1993-96 and coordinated by the Earthquake Engineering Research Centre at Bristol. The other shaking-table laboratories involved were at Athens, Bergamo and Lisbon, together with the reaction wall facility at the Commission's own research centre at Ispra. The research is continuing.