An interaction chart design method for Eurocode compliant railway electrification mast foundations

The methods proposed in this paper can be adapted for use with various formulae and codes of practice to suit the designer's preference, although the focus of this paper is on the use of Eurocode 7. This paper does not propose modification to design formulae but provides a more effective use of these formulae to develop designs. The results are ultimately presented in a series of design charts upon which the allocation engineer can plot applied structural loads to determine a pile's design length for given design criteria. This method yields many benefits: the end product is simple to use, it is able to cope with the large variations in applied loads inherent in electrification schemes, it provides a Eurocode compliant design and the time required to produce these designs is significantly reduced when compared to calculation based on site-specific loads. A particular benefit is that the method can cope more easily with iterations and variations in the assumed loads and system layout that arise during the design process.