DESIGN

PROCEDURE
USING BS8500
 DIFFERENT DESIGN STEPS AND INPUT
PARAMETERS
Type of concrete Description
specification
Designated concretes are types of designed concretes that allow the scope to be achieved using a range of
Designated concrete predetermined mixes, where for a range of applications, the specifier only calls up the required designations e.g.,
FND2 is a concrete suitable for use in ground assessed as 'DC-2', Design Chemical Class 2. Similarly, RC28/35 is a
designated concrete of C28/35 strength class suitable for example, for use in an internal suspended floor.
Designated concretes can only be supplied by ready-mixed concrete producers who have third-party product
conformity certification. A QSRMC or BSI Kitemark logo on the delivery ticket provides this confirmation.
Designated concretes are not applicable for concrete which needs to resist the risk of corrosion of reinforcement
by the ingress of chlorides, in such a situation, a designed concrete should be specified. The exception to this is
PAV2 designated concrete which can be used for reinforced concrete paving applications subjected to deicing salts.
Designated concretes are split into four main categories, as detailed below:
FND - Foundation applications
GEN - Concretes used for housing and non-structural building applications
PAV - Paving applications
RC - Reinforced concrete
Whilst these concretes do not cover all building applications, they do offer a wide range of quality assured
concretes that can be used in a vast array of scenarios.
Designed concretes are for the informed specifier, where the designer considers all the requirements for the
Designed concrete hardened concrete such as strength and durability to derive the necessary strength class and other properties such
as cement type, minimum cement content and maximum water/cement ratio. Normally the designer will assess
the exposure conditions and consider the recommendations set out in BS 8500-1 to determine the concrete
 DIFFERENT DESIGN STEPS AND INPUT
PARAMETERS
Type of concrete Description
specification
Prescribed concretes allow the informed designer to specify concrete by prescribing the composition. This method
Prescribed concrete is rarely used but is useful where a particular ratio of constituents is required, for example exposed aggregate
concrete finishes. The term ‘concrete mix’ is sometimes used to refer to a prescribed concrete, but otherwise it
should always be a ‘concrete’ that is specified.

Standardized prescribed concretes are intended for small building sites where concrete is either mixed by hand or
Standardized in a small, less than 150 liters, concrete mixer. They are denoted ST, and have no requirement for strength
prescribed concrete demonstration, but
BS 8500-1 provides some indicative values for the strength class that may be assumed for structural design. To
ensure the ST concrete is safe for the indeterminate range of materials and site supervision, the prescribed cement
content is very high. This results in ST concretes having a much higher embodied carbon value compared to
designated concretes. Therefore, the use of ST concretes should be avoided where a ready-mixed concrete, either
designated or designed, can be used.

Proprietary concretes are developed by the producer and marketed based on their enhanced fresh or hardened
Proprietary concrete properties. The producer will normally guarantee the performance of these products and provide test certificates.
They may be covered by third party product conformity certification and are often used for high performance
applications where the sustainability benefit is in the reduction in the total material volume used rather than the
value per volume.
DIFFERENT DESIGN STEPS AND INPUT
PARAMETERS
DIFFERENT DESIGN STEPS AND INPUT
PARAMETERS
DIFFERENT DESIGN STEPS AND INPUT
PARAMETERS
DIFFERENT DESIGN STEPS AND INPUT
PARAMETERS
DIFFERENT DESIGN STEPS AND INPUT
PARAMETERS (GUIDANCE)
 CASE STUDY
• The Busan-Geoje Fixed Link project
comprises an 8.2 km motorway link from
Busan, Korea’s southernmost and second
largest city, to the island of Geoje (Figure 1).
• The bridges and the tunnel should be
designed for a service life of 100 years. A
project-specific design basis was developed as
an initial part of the design, and details were
agreed upon with the client and owner.
• Chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion
was identified as the governing deterioration
mechanism in the design for service life, as all
other potential deterioration mechanisms
(sulfate attack, alkali-silica reaction, frost)
were solved through the

Avoidance of deterioration approach

 AVOIDANCE OF
DETERIORATION APPROACH
 CA S E S T U DY
The following operational basis for the
service life design was adopted:
• The design life is 100 years
• The initiation phase of the deterioration
by chloride ingress represents the design
life. During the initiation phase chloride
penetrates the concrete and reaches the
reinforcement level. The initiation phase
ends when the chloride content reaches
the critical level at the reinforcement
(threshold level). Thus, the chloride
Figure 2 Service life of concrete structures. A two phased
initiation is defined as the nominal end time-related modelling of deterioration - initiation and
of service life, see Figure 2. propagation phase
 1- Identification and quantification of the environmental exposure of the different structural members and
their location:

It is assumed that the main potential deterioration risk for the bridges is chloride induced reinforcement corrosion due
to marine exposure. Regarding chloride-induced corrosion the following different exposure classes have been
investigated:
• Splash zone (piers, pylons, caissons)
• Submerged zone (caissons)
• Atmospheric environment (piers, pylons, abutments, bridge decks)

2- Determination of the design quality of the concrete with respect to its design penetrability for the aggressive substances an d
their concentrations, as identified from the environmental exposure (Table A.1):

• Piers, pylons, caissons [XS3]

• Caissons [XS2]
• Piers, pylons, abutments, bridge decks [XS1]
• Tunnel [XAS]
TABLE A.7
 3- Determine the nominal concrete cover, W/C ratio, concrete grade, and cement or combination content
relatively to the cement type or combination (Tables A.5)

BS 8500 indicates that Δcdev will typically be in the range of 5 to 15

mm; however, Eurocode 2 recommends that Δcdev is taken as 10 mm,
unless the fabrication is subjected to an agreed quality assurance
system where it is permitted to reduce Δcdev to 5 mm, or 0 mm if the
element can be rejected if it is out of tolerance (e.g. precast elements).

Figure 3 Permitted deviations

4- Understanding cement types or combinations (Table A.6)

Figure 4 Explanation of the compressive strength class

notation
4- Understanding cement types or combinations (Table A.6)

Figure 5 Proportions of additions

Figure 6 Cement and equivalent combination nomenclature examples

4- Understanding cement types or combinations (Table A.6)

Figure 7 Cement designations

5- Other requirements
Freeze-thaw resistance

Freeze-thaw can be achieved by air entrainment or by specifying a higher strength concrete. Where air entrainment is
required for exposure classes XF3 and XF4 the minimum air content by volume of 4.0%, 4.5%, 5.5% or 6.5% should be
specified for 40 mm, 20 mm, 14 mm and 10 mm maximum aggregate size respectively.
For exposure conditions XF3 and XF4 freeze-thaw resisting aggregates should be specified. The producer is then obliged to
conform to the requirements given in BS 8500–2, Cl.4.3.

Water resisting concrete

If control of shrinkage is of importance, this should be discussed with the concrete supplier to optimise the mix design to
minimise shrinkage.

Fire design
Having selected concrete cover and strength to meet the durability recommendations of BS 8500, the nominal cover
should be checked in accordance with Eurocode 2, for the minimum axis distance required for fire resistance.
 5- Other requirements

Abrasion
BS 8500 does not contain abrasion
classes; Table 10 identifies the criteria set
out in EN 1992-1-1:2023 Table 6.1 which
holds exposure class XM pertaining to
mechanical attack of concrete by
abrasion. Table 11 summarises the factors
which affect the abrasion resistance of
floors, but for further information
reference can be made to BS8204-2 and
Concrete Society Technical Report 34.

Figure 8 Additional cover requirements for floors subjected to

abrasion per EN 1992-1-1:2022
5- Other requirements

Recycled aggregates
BS 8500 permits the use of coarse Recycled Aggregate (RA) and coarse Crushed Concrete Aggregate (CCA) in concrete,
providing certain quality and performance criteria are met. RA is aggregate resulting from the reprocessing of inorganic
material previously used in construction, while CCA principally comprises crushed concrete. Due to the uncertainty around
the use of coarse RA based on the wide potential composition of the aggregates, BS 8500 highlights that the requirements
for specified in BS 8500-2 are insufficient to form an adequate specification. Therefore, these requirements should be
assessed on a case-by-case basis considering the specific composition of the RA. BS 8500-1:2023 Clause A.7.10.1 provides
further details on this.
Clauses 4.3.7 and 4.3.8 of BS 8500-2:2023 and clause A.7.10 of BS 8500-1:2023 provide guidance on coarse RA and coarse
CCA use in designated concrete, as shown in figure 9.
5- Other requirements

Recycled aggregates

Figure 9 Designated concrete - allowable percentage of

coarse CCA and RA
5- Other requirements

Recycled aggregates
Coarse CCA and coarse RA is also permitted in
designed concrete, although no direct guidance
is given on limiting proportions. BS 8500-2
does however provide guidance on limiting
concrete strength and exposure classes for
coarse CCA and coarse RA use, as shown in
figure 10.

Figure 10 Permitted use of coarse CCA in designed

concretes
 5- Other requirements

Consistence
The term ‘workability’ to describe the slump or
flow of concrete was replaced by the term
‘consistence’ and a series of consistence classes
(ranges) were introduced. Figure 11
demonstrates these consistence classes.
The consistence class should be determined by
the constructor based on the method of placing
the concrete. Normally the consistence class S3
is used, due to its suitability for most
applications.

Figure 11 Consistence classes (S-slump, F-flow)

5- Other requirements

Chloride class
Concrete that is to be prestressed, pre-tensioned or heat cured should normally be specified as chloride class Cl 0,10. Non
heat-cured concrete containing reinforcement or other embedded metal produced with CEM I-SR 0 or CEM I-SR 3
cements are to be specified as Cl 0,20.
Reinforced concrete should be specified as class C l0,40 except where the concrete is in XS or XD exposure classes when
class Cl 0,30 should be specified. Post-tensioned elements subject to XC1 exposure conditions e.g. internal post-tensioned
office construction, can be specified as Cl 0,40. No further guidance is given in BS 8500 for post- tensioned concrete in
other exposure classes, or for unbound prestressed concrete. The appropriate class will depend on the particular exposure,
type of structure and construction method. Unreinforced concrete containing no embedded metal other than corrosion-
resistant lifting devices can be specified as Cl 1,00.
6- Specification of Designated Concrete
6- Specification of Designated Concrete
6- Specification of Designated Concrete