A temporary structure is defined in accordance with the Eurocodes as a structure whose service life is limited to 10 years and that will be completely disassembled at the end of this period (e.g. falsework). The structural standards employed in Switzerland typically apply to permanent structures with service lives in the range of 50 and 100 years. The principles for determining the load factors of individual design situations, the actions, and other requirements for the design of temporary structures are therefore not explicitly regulated in the Swiss standards.
A risk-based approach will be implemented in order to demonstrate that the requirements for temporary structures could be reduced without compromising human safety. Such a risk-based approach for the design of temporary structures will be developed in the following three steps. 1. Preparation of the basic principles: A systematic compilation of the state of the art and the required theoretical background. 2. Development of a simple and practical methodology for the design of temporary structures on the basis of a risk-based approach. 3. Preparation of a research report outlining the basic principles for the design of temporary structures with recommendations and practical examples.