Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER)

Concrete Coalition To Improve Earthquake Safety Of Older Buildings

Casualties suffered in earthquakes very often stem from structural collapse, whether at home, in the office, or while driving under a lengthy overpass. The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER), based at the University of California at Berkeley, has partnered with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) in Oakland to address the earthquake safety of older concrete buildings.

The research centers have proposed to create a Concrete Coalition to encourage mitigation of the high degree of risk that earthquakes pose to older concrete buildings in the Western U.S. The new coalition will unite structural engineers, materials organizations, building officials, public policy officials and groups, building owners, and managers in a long-term effort to confront the challenge head-on from a multidisciplinary perspective.

The coalition will help identify the older buildings most dangerously prone to collapse, push for those to be retrofitted and take other steps to minimize future casualties. As a result, the coalition is poised to contribute to a better understanding of earthquake engineering and more importantly saving lives

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the PEER web site at http://peer.berkeley.edu/news/2006/nsf-nees-grant.html.

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The Concrete Coalition is bringing together
engineers, building officials, public policy interests,
and building owners/managers to encourage active
migration programs.

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Last modified: April 8, 2007