Baumann Research and Development Corporation
San Clemente, California, USA                                www.brdcorp.com
Welded Reinforcement Grids (WRG)
WRG vs. hoops and crossties for
2’ x 2’ column reinforcement
Starting in 1987, a solution to the constructability problem plaguing conventional transverse reinforcement has been under development.  Tested in laboratories at five U.S. universities and the national laboratories of Canada and the U.S.,  Welded Reinforcement Grids (WRG) have solved constructability problems.  Members reinforced with WRG have shown ductile performance superior to those with conventional transverse reinforcement.  Professor Murat Saatcioglu  attributes this superior ductile performance to the welds at each intersecting rod of the WRG which creates many smaller confinement cells inside the structural member.
The WRG are manufactured under a very strict quality assurance program, approved and monitored by the International Council of Building Officials (ICBO), which in 1999 issued an Evaluation Report ER-5192.  Similar approvals have been issued by the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix and New York.