Travanca and André
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8.2.2 Codes
The design of engineering structures can essentially be defined as a continuous process of
making difficult engineering decisions based on the available knowledge and under the
severe constraints imposed by society and nature. In the traditional approach, engineers
resort to structural design codes to make decisions. These documents are developed specifically to address areas where significant past experience exists and where critical
societal risks are not involved. Thereby, design codes are established for the purpose of
providing a general, simple, safe and economically efficient basis for the design of ordinary structures under normal loading, operational and environmental conditions [16].
The absence of specific design codes or design guidance applicable to towers and
masts, was recognized in the early 1970s and developments followed to address this
situation (see [6] for details). Of significant importance were the studies performed by
the International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS). from which the
rules given in modern design codes for steel lattice towers and masts are still based.
In Europe, examples of early design codes are the German Code, DIN 4131, and the
BS 8100 series (Part 1 to 4) [17–20] in the UK published in 1986. In the last decade, a
joint European effort resulted in the publication of a suit of euronorms for structural
design: the Eurocodes. Among the set of ten standards, EN 1993‐3‐1 [21] is directly
concerned with steel towers and masts. It should not be forgotten that the Eurocodes
are only valid if used together with the corresponding National Annexes published by
every European Union member state, which contain the national choices for the
Nationally Determined Parameters (NDPs). In the present book, the UK National
Annexes will be used as an example. In the USA, the most important design code is the
TIA‐222 standard. The first version of this document was published in 1959. The current version is Revision G, published in 2016 [22] by the Telecommunications Industry
Association (TIA). Other relevant documents are ASCE/SEI 48‐11 [23] for monopoles
and ASCE/SEI 10‐15 [24] for lattice towers.
In this chapter, Eurocodes will be used as the reference design codes for communication structures. The versions of the documents used are those current at the time of
writing. Code comparison exercises are presented in [6].
8.2.3 Outlook
There are sound reasons for believing that communication engineering will continue to
innovate and advance technologically in the future; 5G is just the next step. Consequently,
physical infrastructures of the existing and future mobile communication networks will
continue to be subjected to difficult challenges as they need to adapt to service requirements in an increasingly competitive market, in particular, the growing demand for and
importance of mobile communications services, namely 5G.
Concurrently, irrespective of the success of our mitigation efforts, the impact of
climate change will increase in the coming decades. While efforts must continue
towards mitigating its effects, there is no other choice but to take adaptation measures. Extreme weather and climate changes leave physical infrastructure systems
exposed to different and more extreme and recurrent conditions. Since the available
amount of resources is finite, it is highly likely that design thresholds, which are built
into physical infrastructure project designs, may be breached more frequently in a
future changing climate. This may result in threshold failures once considered
170
8.2.2 Codes
The design of engineering structures can essentially be defined as a continuous process of
making difficult engineering decisions based on the available knowledge and under the
severe constraints imposed by society and nature. In the traditional approach, engineers
resort to structural design codes to make decisions. These documents are developed specifically to address areas where significant past experience exists and where critical
societal risks are not involved. Thereby, design codes are established for the purpose of
providing a general, simple, safe and economically efficient basis for the design of ordinary structures under normal loading, operational and environmental conditions [16].
The absence of specific design codes or design guidance applicable to towers and
masts, was recognized in the early 1970s and developments followed to address this
situation (see [6] for details). Of significant importance were the studies performed by
the International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS). from which the
rules given in modern design codes for steel lattice towers and masts are still based.
In Europe, examples of early design codes are the German Code, DIN 4131, and the
BS 8100 series (Part 1 to 4) [17–20] in the UK published in 1986. In the last decade, a
joint European effort resulted in the publication of a suit of euronorms for structural
design: the Eurocodes. Among the set of ten standards, EN 1993‐3‐1 [21] is directly
concerned with steel towers and masts. It should not be forgotten that the Eurocodes
are only valid if used together with the corresponding National Annexes published by
every European Union member state, which contain the national choices for the
Nationally Determined Parameters (NDPs). In the present book, the UK National
Annexes will be used as an example. In the USA, the most important design code is the
TIA‐222 standard. The first version of this document was published in 1959. The current version is Revision G, published in 2016 [22] by the Telecommunications Industry
Association (TIA). Other relevant documents are ASCE/SEI 48‐11 [23] for monopoles
and ASCE/SEI 10‐15 [24] for lattice towers.
In this chapter, Eurocodes will be used as the reference design codes for communication structures. The versions of the documents used are those current at the time of
writing. Code comparison exercises are presented in [6].
8.2.3 Outlook
There are sound reasons for believing that communication engineering will continue to
innovate and advance technologically in the future; 5G is just the next step. Consequently,
physical infrastructures of the existing and future mobile communication networks will
continue to be subjected to difficult challenges as they need to adapt to service requirements in an increasingly competitive market, in particular, the growing demand for and
importance of mobile communications services, namely 5G.
Concurrently, irrespective of the success of our mitigation efforts, the impact of
climate change will increase in the coming decades. While efforts must continue
towards mitigating its effects, there is no other choice but to take adaptation measures. Extreme weather and climate changes leave physical infrastructure systems
exposed to different and more extreme and recurrent conditions. Since the available
amount of resources is finite, it is highly likely that design thresholds, which are built
into physical infrastructure project designs, may be breached more frequently in a
future changing climate. This may result in threshold failures once considered