If the 6-ft, 4-in.-tall Mike Jones had only been a bit taller, he might not have become a veteran of Southern California infrastructure. “I needed another four to five inches,” says the former high-school basketball forward.
While current seismic design codes address life safety issues, the report says stakeholders should also consider re-occupancy and functional recovery time, taking into account the potential impacts to a community as a whole.
Code-based earthquake engineering is on the verge of getting simpler, thanks to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program’s recommendation to replace the traditional seismic hazards maps with an improved seismic hazards database.
Since Los Angeles joined San Francisco Bay Area cities last October in tightening seismic standards for non-ductile concrete buildings and multi-family, wood-frame structures with parking underneath (ENR 11/9/15 p. 16),
seismic retrofit work in those cities has been booming.
