Eurocode 7-1 covers the geotechnical design, among which is slope stability. As they are normally and routinely present in designing roads and railways, either as embankments or excavations, the necessity for actualization of Eurocode 7 through the prism of traffic infrastructures is understood. Most of the European countries have selected Design Approach 3 as appropriate for designing slopes according to Eurocode 7. Moreover, it was also found appropriate for Western Balkan countries, but in order to establish relation between the “old” and the “new” way of design, theoretical and numerical analyses were conducted. With them, direct relation between the global safety factor and prospective material partial factors has been adjusted, respecting both Eurocode 7 and former design tradition which has produced many stable and safe road/railway geotechnical structures. The results from research have shown that the material partial factor offered in Annex A of Eurocode 7-1 can not be directly applied if it is not absolutely clear in which circumstances i.e. load case, structure type, step of execution, reliability of parameters etc. it should be applied. This looks after enlarging the range of partial factors from the only single one as offered in Eurocode 7-1, since that keeping the single will push the roads and railways in the group of unsafe structures, unlike now. The methodology and findings are discussed further in the paper.

Eurocode 7; slope stability; roads/railways; design tradition; relation