Geotechnical site classification and Croatian National Annex for Eurocode 8.

One of the challenging tasks for Croatian accession to the European Union is the completion of the National Annex to Eurocode 8 (EC8) that calls for the development of national seismic hazard maps. These maps need to be developed for several return periods (probabilities of exceedance) and should consider both bedrock and soil conditions. The latter is especially challenging as it calls for site characterization at a microzonation level, i.e., site characterization based upon Vs,30, SPT blow counts, and undrained shear strength, information available only in the departments of Public Works of major cities. In this paper, the authors discuss several shortcomings associated with the EC8 ground type definitions and propose their revision. The authors also present the ongoing work for preparation of the Croatian National Annex to EC8 and explain the rationale for the improvement of EC8 ground type definitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]