At the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) Symposium 'Metropolitan Habitats and Infrastructure'  Shanghai, China Sept. 22 - 24, 2004, Mr. Baumann will present a paper titled "Recent Advancement in the Design and Construction of Tall Earthquake Resistant Structures in California, USA"  Here is the abstract.

"Recent Advancement in the Design and Construction of Tall Earthquake Resistant Structures in California, USA"

by

Hanns U. Baumann, S.E.

Baumann Research and Development Corporation

510 Avenida de la Estrella, Ste. K., San Clemente, CA 92672, USA

Tel: (949) 361-0888  Fax: (949) 361-0868

E-mail: hanns@bautech.com

ABSTRACT

The economic need to rapidly design and construct tall earthquake resistant buildings in California USA has resulted in advancement of both design and construction technology. After extensive development and testing for more than a decade, the world’s tallest 39-story precast concrete building has been constructed in San Francisco using a new type of concrete reinforcement, Welded Reinforcement Grids (WRG™) that saves costs, time and labor. Also in San Francisco is a recently completed 42-story building that by using the new reinforcement system WRG™ reduced the time of construction by over 40%.

A 100,000 m² 24-story building in Long Beach, California USA is being constructed at the rate of six apartments each day. A 23-story building in Los Angeles is planned to complete a floor every two days using tall WRG™ reinforcement cages that connect very rapidly on site.

Testing at five universities and national laboratories of Canada and the USA has shown that structures when designed with this new reinforcement will have little to no damage during a violent earthquake. The tests also proved that the structures, designed using the new reinforcement product, require significantly less concrete and reinforcement steel.

The success of the Welded Reinforcement Grids in tall California earthquake resistant buildings has caused great interest by structural engineers in their use in other types of structures. Presently fatigue testing is underway in preparation for use in segmental bridges where the dimension accuracy of ±3 mm allows automation of the reinforcing cage assembly.

KEY WORDS

Welded Reinforcement Grids, WRG™, earthquake resistant, rapid construction, tall earthquake resistant buildings, reinforcement steel, precast

Revised: 04/15/04.
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