Atmospheric icing of structures

ISO 12494:2017 describes the general principles of determining ice load on structures of the types listed in this clause.

In cases where a certain structure is not directly covered by this or another standard or recommendation, designers can use the intentions of this document. However, it is the user's responsibility to carefully consider the applicability of this document to the structure in question.

The practical use of all data in this document is based upon certain knowledge of the site of the structure. Information about the degree of "normal" icing amounts (= ice classes) for the site in question is used. For many areas, however, no information is available.

Even in such cases, this document can be useful because local meteorologists or other experienced persons should be able to, on the safe side, estimate a proper ice class. Using such an estimate in the structural design will result in a much safer structure than designing without any considerations for problems due to ice.

CAUTION It is extremely important to design for some ice instead of no ice, and then the question of whether the amount of ice was correct is of less importance. In particular, the action of wind