Eurocode — Basis of structural and geotechnical design

Scope

EN 1990:2023 (Eurocode — Basis of structural and geotechnical design) is the second-generation foundational Eurocode setting the common principles, limit-state framework and partial-factor method that every other Eurocode — including the rail traffic-load provisions of EN 1991-2 — builds on. It defines reliability differentiation, combination-of-actions rules and the verification methodology used across all structural design of railway bridges, tunnels and other civil structures.

EN 1990 sets out the basis for structural and geotechnical design common to buildings and civil engineering works: principles of limit-state design (ultimate and serviceability), the partial-factor verification method, rules for combining actions (permanent, variable, accidental, and — via its normative railway annex — traffic actions), reliability differentiation by consequence class, and the general framework other Eurocodes reference rather than restate. The 2023 second-generation edition supersedes EN 1990:2002+A1:2005 and is being followed by a further amendment (EN 1990-1:2023+A1, in preparation for 2026). For railway structures specifically, EN 1990 is read together with EN 1991-2 (already in this library), which sets the rail traffic load models (LM71, SW/0, SW/2, HSLM) that EN 1990's combination and reliability rules then apply to a bridge or structure's design. This entry is added to complete that pairing — EN 1991-2 alone cannot be applied without EN 1990's basis-of-design framework — without duplicating the existing EN-1991-2 row. It is voluntary under EU law: Eurocodes are not cited under the Interoperability Directive's harmonised/OJ-cited presumption-of-conformity mechanism used elsewhere in this library (their own conformity regime runs through the Construction Products Regulation instead), so this entry is classified voluntary, not harmonised. Used by infrastructure managers, bridge and structural engineers, and the assessment bodies checking structural design files.