Assessment, Strengthening, and Repair Technologies for Buildings, Industrial Facilities, and Lifelines.
Assessment, Strengthening, and Repair Technologies for
Buildings, Industrial Facilities, and Lifelines.
(602 K)
Wright, R. N.
Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective.
U.S./Japan Earthquake Policy Symposium, 2nd Proceedings.
September 17-19, 1997, Kobe, Japan, National Land
Development, Tokyo, Japan, 206-216 pp, 1998.
Keywords:
earthquakes; assessment; buildings; industrial
facilities; lifelines; public works; strengthening;
repair; utilities
Abstract:
Experiences of catastrophic earthquakes such as San
Francisco 1906, Kanto 1923, Northridge 1994, and Kobe
1995 show that great human and economic losses arise
from unsatisfactory performance of the built
environment: buildings, industrial facilities, and
lifelines (public works and utilities). While
earthquakes are inevitable hazards, they are not
inevitable disasters. U.S. and Japanese experiences
have shown that properly sited, designed and constructed
structures can resist earthquake effects. This paper
describes what the central governments of the United
States and Japan, in cooperation with one another and
with industry, academia and local governments, can do in
supporting the further development, testing and
application of assessment, strengthening, and repair
technologies for buildings, industrial facilities, and
lifeline systems. The scope includes new materials and
systems, large scale testing and development of
recommendations for design guidelines, standards and
practices. The resulting knowledge and practice will
support disaster mitigation, emergency assessments of
vulnerability and damages, and post earthquake recovery
investments.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899