raising earthquake awareness in the eastern united states - mceer

Quarterly Publication of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research Volume 15 Number 1 Winter 2000Spring 2001

InsideRaising Earthquake Aware-

ness in the Eastern US page 1MCEER Core Institutions

Receive NEES Awards page 2HSRC Reviews Seismic

Retrofitting Manual page 4ASCE Seminar Features

MCEER Investigatoramp Partners page 5

EQNET Features Resourceson Recent Earthquakes page 5

New Seminar SeriesThree Reviews page 6

Short Course for Teachers page 7MEDAT-2 Workshop Review page 8Recent Events page 8Student Spotlight Diego

Lopez Garcia page 9Discovery Channel Examines

Earthquakes in NYC page 9SLC Activities page 10Research Experiences

for Undergraduates page 10New Committee Members page 11Kudos page 11MCEER Seeks Senior

Program Officer page 12MCEER Web Site Statistics page 12Staff News page 12Chi-Chi Taiwan Earthquake

of 1999 CD-ROM page 13EQNET Portal to

Earthquake Information page 13New MCEER Technical

Reports page 14Upcoming Events page 16

On January 17 2001 a minor earthquake occurred in New York City Although small the event served as

a warning that earthquakes can and do happen in the north-east On the same date in 1995 Kobe Japan experienced a72 (JMA) magnitude event that left over 5500 dead in a na-tion that expects frequent earthquakes and had taken stepsto mitigate their impact on the population However theKobe event was much stronger than previously thought forthat part of Japan The year before again on the same dateCalifornia experienced the magnitude 67 Northridge earth-quake Californians expect strong and frequent events of this

type Although the earthquake claimed over 50 lives the area was relativelywell prepared for this type of event and was able to recover quickly

In the eastern US infrequent moderate earthquakes can and do occur Whatwould the consequences be if a magnitude 6 or greater event were to happen inthe New York City area A dramatization of such an earthquake aired on theDiscovery Channel this past February The overwhelming majority of citizensinterviewed expressed surprise that a significant earthquake could occur in NewYork City They were primarily unconcerned ndash to them many other social andor safety problems are more important than mitigation of earthquake risk

MCEERrsquos research and education programs have been concerned with both typesof earthquake conditions frequent and strong earthquakes and infrequent mod-erate earthquakes (that may have significant consequences) For example ourresearch on retrofitting hospitals for post-earthquake functionality is built arounda two-pronged approach In California major health care facilities are mandatedby law to be retrofitted in the next few years Research is focused on determin-ing the most reliable and cost-effective methods to use to retrofit these facilitiesIn the central and eastern US (we have chosen New York City as our focal point)in addition to the engineering aspect we also must convince hospital adminis-trators legislators and the public at large that the threat of a moderate earthquakeand its ensuing consequences is an important issue and should be addressedThese stakeholders must first be willing to say that retrofittingpreparation forinfrequent moderate earthquakes is in fact beneficial and then allocate resourcesto mitigate the potential damage

Raising Earthquake Awareness in theEastern United States

(continued on page 3)

InsideRaising Earthquake Aware-

ness in the Eastern US page 1MCEER Core Institutions

Receive NEES Awards page 2HSRC Reviews Seismic

Retrofitting Manual page 4ASCE Seminar Features

MCEER Investigatoramp Partners page 5

EQNET Features Resourceson Recent Earthquakes page 5

New Seminar SeriesThree Reviews page 6

Short Course for Teachers page 7MEDAT-2 Workshop Review page 8Recent Events page 8Student Spotlight Diego

Lopez Garcia page 9Discovery Channel Examines

Earthquakes in NYC page 9SLC Activities page 10Research Experiences

for Undergraduates page 10New Committee Members page 11Kudos page 11MCEER Seeks Senior

Program Officer page 12MCEER Web Site Statistics page 12Staff News page 12Chi-Chi Taiwan Earthquake

of 1999 CD-ROM page 13EQNET Portal to

Earthquake Information page 13New MCEER Technical

Reports page 14Upcoming Events page 16

George C Lee

2 MCEER Bulletin Winter 2000Spring 2001

Three MCEER Core Institutions Receive NEES AwardsUniversity at BuffaloThe University at Buffalorsquos Departmentof Civil Structural and EnvironmentalEngineering has been awarded twogrants one for $438 million to constructa large-scale high-performance testingfacility and one for $616 million to con-struct a versatile high-performance shaketable and to upgrade the existing shaketable An additional $6 million in NewYork state support brings the total invest-ment to $165 million The new facility willallow for unprecedented research by in-corporating the new capabilities insimulation computing and networkingas integral parts of earthquake engineer-ing experimental testing This versatilityis achieved through

A high-performance set of two shaketables that each have full six degree-of-freedom capabilities includingone that can be rapidly repositionedfrom immediately adjacent to theother table up to as much as 100 feetfrom it Together these tables can hostspecimens of up to 100 metric tonsas long as 120 feet and subjected tofully in-phase or totally uncorrelateddynamic excitations

Large-scale high-performance actua-tors with immediate capabilities fordynamic testing pseudo-dynamictesting and also more importantlyproviding the platform needed for thedevelopment of powerful new testingmethodologies such as the effectiveforce control testing method thatwould make it possible to directlysubject large structures to dynamicexcitations without the need for shaketables

Substantial equipment required to op-erate the above two items includinghigh-capacity high-performance hy-draulic supply and distributionsystem and miscellaneous electroniccontrol systems

This modular and highly flexible earth-quake engineering experimental facilityallows for multiple configurations offull-scale component tests combinedsimultaneously with real-time numeri-cal simulations to investigate theseismic behavior of large structuralsystems in ways not possible until now

The Principal Investigators are MichelBruneau Andrei Reinhorn MichaelConstantinou Eddy Rojas and SThevanayagam all of the Departmentof Civil Structural and Environmen-tal Engineering at the University atBuffalo More details on the proposalsand personnel are available at httpcivilengbuffaloeduseesl

University of Nevada RenoThe University of Nevada Reno (UNR)Civil Engineering Department wasawarded $44 million to upgrade theJames E Rogers and Louis Weiner JrLarge Scale Structures Laboratoryrsquostwo 14-foot square 50-ton shake tablesfrom uniaxial motion to biaxial motionand to purchase a third biaxial table ofthe same size and capacity Additionalfunding from the Department of En-ergy ($1 million) and the Departmentof Housing and Urban Development($16 million) brings the total invest-ment to $7 million The new facilitywill be used for large-scale geotechni-cal and long linear structural andlifeline earthquake engineering experi-

Three of MCEERrsquos core experimen-tal facilities received substantial

awards from NSFrsquos George E Brown JrNetwork for Earthquake EngineeringSimulation (NEES) program The Uni-versity at Buffalo received two awardstotaling $105 million one to substan-tially upgrade its shake table researchequipment and the second to establisha large-scale laboratory experimentationequipment site The University of Ne-vada Reno will update its shake tableresearch equipment with a $44 millionaward and Rensselaer Polytechnic In-stitute will upgrade its centrifugeresearch equipment with a $238 millionaward As of February 4 2001 10 insti-tutions had received equipment awardstotaling $45 million under the NEESprogram

The George E Brown Jr Network forEarthquake Engineering Simulation(NEES) Program is a project funded un-der the NSF Major Research EquipmentProgram The grants awarded stipulatethat the equipment be operational bySeptember 30 2004 or earlier and thateach facility be managed as a nationalshared-use NEES equipment site withtele-observation and tele-operation capa-bilities to provide new earthquakeengineering research testing capabilitiesthrough 2014 New capabilities madepossible by the equipment will be inte-grated into the research programs andundergraduate and graduate curricu-lums of the institutions provide trainingopportunities for outside researchersthrough on site courses host visitingscholars and develop a web-basedtele-operation simulator of the NEESequipment More information about theNEES program is available from httpwwwengnsfgovnees

A summary of each of the awards follows

Conceptual drawing of the versatile high-performance shake table facility at UB

MCEER Bulletin Winter 2000Spring 2001 3

mentation The following equipment isincluded under this award

One new relocatable 43 x 45 m 445kN payload plusmn1 g plusmn 300 mm displace-ment (longitudinal and lateral) shaketable

Upgrades to two existing relocatable445 kN shake tables from uniaxial tobiaxial (longitudinal and lateral) ca-pability to be identical to the newtable

New hydraulic distribution lines Upgraded hydraulic power supply

by adding a third pump (720 lpm)

This facility enables next generation ex-periments to be conducted such as

studies of spatial variation in earthquakeground motion on critical extended-in-plan lifeline systems the biaxial responseof long structural systems and their com-ponents and the behavior of verylarge-scale systems that are either physi-cally too large for existing single-tablefacilities or too heavy or both Togetherthe three tables can host specimens upto 135 MN in total weight with thetables separated up to a maximum of36 m centerline-to-centerline

The Principal Investigators are IanG Buckle M Saiid Saiidi E ManosMaragakis David Sanders and AhmadItani all of the Civil Engineering Depart-ment University of Nevada Reno

Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteAt RPI the NEES award will be used toupgrade the existing 100 g-ton geotech-nical centrifuge The centrifuge wascommissioned in 1989 and physicalmodel simulations of soil and soil-structure systems subjected to in-flightearthquake shaking began in 1991 The re-search has been conducted with twoexisting one-dimensional in-flight shak-ers which can accommodate 90 kg and400 kg payloads respectively The next-generation earthquake engineeringcapability for the RPI centrifuge includes

One 2D in flight shaker (two proto-type horizontal components) andassociated 2D laminar box containerto allow more realistic 2D modeling

One four degree-of-freedom robotrobot tools and associated softwarecapable of performing in-flightoperations such as construction andexcavation pile driving ground re-mediation cone penetration andstatic and cyclic loading tests withoutstopping the centrifuge

Development of a new generation ofadvanced and improved sensors ca-pable of providing a better resolutionof the measured model response

Other equipment aimed at increasingthe capability of the centrifuge to testa greater number and wider varietyof earthquake engineering models

Especially important is the future use ofdense arrays of advanced sensors and ofhigh-speed cameras to provide highresolution measured model response Inconjunction with the networked data ac-quisition system with remote accesscapability this will allow for a quantumjump in the use of the data at RPI andthroughout NEES In addition theequipment will allow for tele-operationcontrol over the Internet which at thebeginning will focus on the use of therobot by remote observers

The upgraded centrifuge will providecapabilities to investigate three impor-

tant problems in earthquake engineer-ing lateral spreading and flow failuredue to soil liquefaction soil-structureinteraction and foundation response dueto liquefaction and lateral spreadingand the seismic behavior of innovativeslope stabilization systems

The Principal Investigators are RicardoDobry Tarek Abdoun Mourad Zeghal andThomas Zimmie from RPI and AhmedElgamal from the University of CaliforniaSan Diego More information can be foundat httpwwwcerpieducentrifuge andhttpwwwrpieduwebCampusNewsmar01mar_5homehtml1

Throughout MCEERNCEERrsquos historywe have taken many steps to heightenawareness in the US east of the RockyMountains to the earthquake hazardMost notably we participated in the ef-fort to add seismic provisions to the NewYork City building code (began in 1987and signed into law in 1995) Staff andresearchers have given in-depth inter-views to representatives from nationaland international media includingNational Public Radio the DiscoveryChannel in the US Canada and GreatBritain especially following majorearthquakes We actively participate incommittees to recommend standards andcodes We will continue these endeavorsand will work with others to create earth-quake resilient communities throughoutthe world in regions of high seismicity andwhere less frequent but no less severeevents can occur

mdashGeorge C Lee Director

Raising Earthquake Awareness inthe Eastern US (contrsquod from p1)

Rogers and Weiner Bridge Structures Lab-oratory at the University of Nevada Reno

RPIrsquos 100 g ton geotechnical centrifuge


Following the presentation and dis-cussion sessions the Council met in ex-ecutive session to discuss the content andtechnical approaches contained in themanual and to identify its perceivedstrengths and weaknesses Recommen-dations from the Council were presented

to the authors on Saturday and theCouncilrsquos written recommendations willbe submitted to MCEER and the FHWAin the next few weeks

One conclusion from the meeting wasthat the Council would like to have atleast one more meeting in order to as-sess the final version of the bridgeretrofitting manual A determination asto whether or not the Council will meetagain will be made by MCEER in con-junction with the FHWA and is largelydependent on manual preparation tim-ing and project funding

The Council comprises two groups theCoordination Group chaired by ArunShirole since 1995 (Joanne Nigg was theprevious chair) and the Technical Groupchaired by Joseph Nicoletti since the firstmeeting of the Council in March of1993

HSRC Meets to Review Seismic Retrofitting Manual

On February 16-17 2001 MCEERconducted what was anticipated as

the final meeting of its Highway SeismicResearch Council (HSRC) the advisorygroup for Project 106 Seismic Vul-nerability of Existing Highway Con-struction sponsored by the FederalHighway Administration (FHWA) Themeeting which was held in Las VegasNevada focused on a review of the draftSeismic Retrofitting Manual for HighwayStructures Highway Bridges

The highway bridge retrofitting manualis the first of a two-volume set being de-veloped by MCEER that is intended forpublication by the U S Department ofTransportationrsquos Federal HighwayAdministration The manual providesguidance on seismic vulnerabilityscreening prioritization detailed evalu-ation and design of retrofitting measuresfor highway bridges throughout theUnited States The second volume con-tains similar seismic vulnerabilityanalyses and retrofitting recom-mendations for other highway systemcomponents including retaining struc-tures tunnels slopes and embankmentsculverts and pavement These retrofit-ting manuals are the culmination of acomprehensive research program

conducted under MCEERrsquos HighwayProject

At the beginning of the meeting MCEERDirector George C Lee welcomed theCouncil on behalf of MCEER andthanked them for their commitment inguiding the research program over thepast eight years Dr Lee also recognizedthe contributions of Michael Higgins asMCEERrsquos Senior Program Officer pro-viding project administration over thepast year

John OrsquoFallon senior bridge researchengineer and program manager for theFHWA project thanked the Council onbehalf of FHWA He reminded theCouncil that the retrofitting manual un-der discussion was an important updateof an earlier bridge retrofitting manualthat had also been prepared by MCEERunder this project and which had beenpublished by FHWA in 1995 Publicationof the new manual is expected to greatlyimprove the knowledge base forpractitioners in bridge earthquake engi-neering

Early drafts of the bridge retrofit manualhad been previously sent to the Councilas well as to a select group of research-ers practicing bridge engineers andState and Federal government engineersThe comments and concerns from thesereviews were for the most part reflectedin the version being discussed during themeeting

Over the course of the one-and-one-halfday meeting the key elements containedin each chapter of the manual were pre-sented by the chapter author(s) and formost chapters lively and useful dis-cussions ensued Chapter presentersincluded Ian G Buckle Maurice PowerJohn Mander Geoffrey Martin RichardNutt and Ian Friedland

Ian Buckle (left) presented JosephNicoletti (right) with his certificate ofappreciation during Saturdayrsquos sessionof the meeting

Certificates of appreciation were pre-sented to the HSRC members during dinnerFriday evening by George Lee and IanBuckle Arun Shirole is shown (left) afterreceiving his certificate from George Lee


MCEER investigator Michael Constan-

tinou and several Centerpartners served as lec-turers at Infrastructure for

Earthquakes mdash Seismic Retrofit of Struc-tures March 19-22 in New York City TheAmerican Society of Civil Engineers(ASCE) Metropolitan Section Infrastruc-ture Group sponsored the program Itwas held in cooperation with the ASCEstudent chapter and Department of Civilamp Environmental Engineering at Poly-technic University

Professor Constantinou opened the pro-gram with ldquoAn Introduction to SeismicIsolation and Seismic Energy Dissipa-tionrdquo He is among the worldrsquos leadingauthorities on the subject A long-time

ASCE Seminar Features MCEER Investigator amp Partners

EQNET Features Resources on Recent Earthquakes

In response to the recent significantearthquakes in Seattle El Salvador

and Gujarat India the EQNET web-master has compiled a list of the majorinformative and authoritative web linkson these earthquakes Links pertainingto the Nisqually (Seattle) earthquake ofFebruary 28 2001 feature a wide vari-ety of preliminary news reports andreleases as well as preliminary recon-naissance and technical reports such asthe EERI Special Earthquake Report theNisqually Earthquake InformationClearing House web site at the Univer-sity of Washington a 3D VRML (VirtualReality Modeling Language) visualiza-tion of the Seattle earthquake by theUniversity of Illinois and many othersfrom earthquake engineering centers aswell as from major news agencies in theUS and worldwide

Of special interest are Seattle photo-graphs of damaged buildings andtransportation facilities in the quakersquos

MCEER researcher he is also professorand chair of the Department of CivilStructural and Environmental Engineer-ing at the University at Buffalo

A number of members of the CenterrsquosStrategic Partnerships Network also pre-sented papers All are members of theNetworkrsquos Specialty Interest Group onStructural Control Technologies Theyinclude Victor Zayas Earthquake Protec-

tion Sytems Inc (EPS) (httpwwwearthquakeprotectioncom) ldquoSeismicIsolation Retrofit of Bridges Buildingsand Industrial Structuresrdquo

Roy A Imbsen Imbsen amp AssociatesInc (httpwwwimbsencom)ldquoSeismic Retrofit of the I-40 Bridge amp

Approaches Across the MississippiRiver at Memphis Tennesseerdquo

Amarnath Kasalanati Dynamic IsolationSystems Inc (httpwww dis-inccom) ldquoJFK Air Rail System -Seismic Engineering Aspectsrdquo

Emmanuel E Velivasakis LZATechnology a division of Thornton-Tomasetti Group Inc (httpwwwthettgroupcomindexphp4) ldquoSeismicUpgrade of the New Terminal atthe Ataturk International AirportIstanbul Turkeyrdquo

For more information on MCEERrsquosStrategic Partnerships Networkcontact Donald J Goralski via emailgoralskiacsubuffaloedu or visit theldquoPartnershipsrdquo section of our web site athttpmceerbuffaloedupartnerships

aftermath that are contained in theEQNET Photo Gallery for RecentSignificant Earthquakes 1999-2001 partof the EQNET Archives In addition tophotographs for Seattle the Galleryprovides a list of resources for recon-naissance and aerial photos of sig-nificant earthquakes since 1999including India El Salvador Turkeyand Taiwan

To obtain a current and authoritativeoverview of recent signifi-cant earthquakes you may wish tobookmark or l ink to EQNET athttpwwweqnetorg For commentsor questions please visit the EQNETweb site or contact Ms Yi ChenWang EQNET webmaster e-mailycwangacsubuffaloedu

These photographs are among those included in the EQNET Photo Gallery for Recent Signi-ficant Earthquakes The photograph on the left shows the damaged Starbucks building inSeattle The photo on the right shows residents of Bhuj India after the January 2001 quake

Andrea J Wright The Seattle Times AP PhotoSaurabh Das


New Seminar Series at the University at Buffalo

The EERI student chapter of the University at Buffalo (UB-EERI) the MCEER Student Leadership Council theNetworking Program of MCEER and the University at Buffalorsquos Department of Civil Structural and Environ-

mental Engineering joined forces to sponsor a new series of seminars beginning in the spring 2001 semester Thepurpose of the seminars is to widen accessibility to timely technical presentations by MCEER students researchersvisitors and affiliates The seminars are broadcast over the Internet in real-time and can be viewed anytime throughhttpcivilengbuffaloeduwebcast UBrsquos Professor Andrei Reinhorn and undergraduate student Jason Hanley fromComputer Science and Engineering arranged the webcast

Mitigation A Framework for AnalysisWilliam J Petak Professor School of Policy Planning andDevelopment University of Southern California

Dr William J Petak Professor at the School of Policy Plan-ning and Development University of Southern Califor-

nia and prominent MCEER researcher gave a seminar entitledMitigationA Framework forAnalysis at the Univer-sity at Buffalo on February13 2001

Dr Michel Bruneau ofMCEER and UB intro-duced Professor Petakwho began the presenta-tion with three funda-mental questions

Are risks from theearthquake hazardpublic problems orprivate problems

Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Water SupplyLifelinesThomas D OrsquoRourke Thomas R Briggs Professor of Engineering School of Civiland Environmental Engineering Cornell University

Prominent MCEER researcher Professor Thomas OrsquoRourke gave a semi-nar entitled Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Water Supply Lifelines at the

University at Buffalo on January 26 2001

After an introduction by Dr Michel Bruneau of MCEER and UB ProfessorOrsquoRourke presented the salient features of the MCEER research program fo-cused on the seismic evaluation and retrofit of the water supply lifelines Thepresentation started with implications of the performance of Los Angeles De-partment Water and Power (LADWP) and Metropolitan Water District (MWD)water supply systems during the Northridge earthquake of January 17 1994

A Simple Method for the Design ofOptimal Damper Configurations inMDOF StructuresDiego Lopez Garcia PhD candidate Department of CivilStructural and Environmental Engineering University at Buffalo

The winner of EERIrsquos 2001 annual student paper competi-tion Mr Diego Lopez Garcia PhD candidate Depart-

ment of Civil Structural and Environmental EngineeringUniversity at Buffalo gave a seminar entitled A Simple Methodfor the Design of Optimal Damper Configurations in MDOF Struc-tures at the University at Buffalo on February 23 2001

Mr Lopez Garcia presented his award-winning research workfollowing an introduction by Benedikt Halldorsson UB-EERIstudent chapter president The presentation started with a briefintroduction to various damper systems followed by an ex-planation of the factors that make a design method of optimaldamper configuration simple practical and efficient The pro-posed ldquoSimplified Sequential Search Algorithmrdquo waspresented which was designed to meet requirements for adesign method that was simple practical efficient and easilyintegrated into conventional design procedures used by

(Continued on page 9)(Continued on page 9)

(Continued on page 9)

Professor Thomas D OrsquoRourke lsquos seminaraddressed the seismic evaluation and retrofit ofwater supply lifelines Shown from left areMichael Gaus Thomas D OrsquoRourke MichelBruneau and Michael Constantinou

Professor William Petak presented aframework for understanding thecomplex process behind hazard mit-igation policy and decision-making


When does a problem change from aprivate problem to a public problem

What are public sector and privatesector responsibilities for reducingrisk of loss

Over the course of addressing theseissues the presentation showed theimportance of involvement by thevarious stakeholders in shaping ef-fective earthquake hazard mitigationpolicy from the formulation stagethrough implementation A brief discus-

His presentation featured advanced usesof GIS and explained how the distribu-tion pipeline network could be a regionalsensing system to evaluate seismic haz-ards The presentation also addressed anew application of fiber-reinforced com-posites to strengthen the welded slipjoints of critical water trunk lines Thisstrengthening method was developed be-cause many compressive failures of thewelded slip joints had been found dur-ing the Northridge earthquake

After the presentation UB-EERI studentchapter President Benedikt Halldorssonled the discussion session Questionswere asked from the audience all relatedto the strengthening method for watertrunk lines

In addition the seminar was webcastedthrough the Internet enabling viewersfrom around the world to watch the pre-sentation

mdashSubmitted by Yasuo Kitane

practicing engineers Through a com-parison study it was shown that theefficiency of damper configurationsgiven by the proposed algorithm is com-parable to the efficiency of damperconfigurations given by more sophisti-cated procedures in the case of linearviscous dampers A brief discussion ses-sion followed initiated by questions

OrsquoRourke Seminar(Continued from page 8)

Petak Seminar (Continued from page 8)

Lopez Garcia Seminar (Continued from page 8)

sion session followed initiated byquestions from various faculty andstudents in attendance many from thedepartments of Civil Structural andEnvironmental Engineering Planningand Geography at UB

In addition the seminar was broad-cast successfully over the Internet aswas the previous seminar The presen-tation by Dr Petak was record-ed and has been made accessible throughhttpcivilengbuffaloeduwebcast


from various faculty and students in at-tendance

In addition the seminar was broadcastsuccessfully over the Internet as werethe previous seminars The presentationby Mr Lopez Garcia was recorded andhas been made accessible throughhttpcivilengbuffaloeduwebcast


Professional development oppor-tunities help precollege teachers

to improve teaching approachesand make them aware of newmaterials and technologies whichcan be used in the classroom Experi-ences in research environments areespecially useful However statis-tics indicate that these opportun-ities may be limited costly or ill-timed MCEER has expanded itsAnnual Teacher Seminar to offer afour-day short course for middle andhigh school level teachers focusingon earthquake studies and how theycan be translated into meaningfulclassroom activities as part of stan-

dard curricula in the sciences math-ematics and technology

MCEER researchers students andstaff will join together to provide tu-torials on earthquakes earthquakeengineering and socio-economic im-pacts followed by in-depth exposureto ongoing MCEER research projectsTeachers will then work withresearchers staff and students to re-search develop and test materials andmethods which can be used to inte-grate earthquake research lessonsinto the classroom

Social events throughout the weekwill allow teachers to network with

each other and with MCEER mentorsand to enjoy pleasant western NewYork summer activities

The inquiry-based program will beheld at the University at Buffalocampus August 1 ndash 5 2001 Par-ticipants from across the US andCanada are encouraged to participateA limited number of travel stipendsof $1000 will be available to thosetraveling more than 500 miles Foradditional information contactAndrea Dargush at MCEERdargushacsubuffaloedu Completeprogram information will be madeavailable on the MCEER website

MCEER Offers Short Course for Teachers at Expanded Annual Teacher Seminar


MCEER Holds Second Workshop on Mitigating Earthquake Disasters ThroughAdvanced Technologies

The first session was on soil liquefactionRicardo Dobry RPI and Juan Baez Hay-ward Baker Inc provided a generaloverview of the earthquake engineeringissues followed by seven presentationsby both MCEER researchers and otherpractitioners on the use of advancedtechnologies James Mitchell VPI sum-marized the state-of-the-art in variousadvanced technologies that could be ap-plied to earthquake engineering problems

Michel Bruneau MCEER and the Uni-versity at Buffalo (UB) provided anoverview of earthquake engineering is-sues for the MCEER hospital project inthe second session The session followedthe same format as the first and nine pre-sentations were given on materials anddamage monitoring Another nine pre-sentations focused on damping andsemi-active systems Larry Soong UBgave a state-of-the-art report on thesesystems and Andrew Whittaker UB

T he second in a new series ofMCEERNSF sponsored work-

shops involving advanced technologieswas held November 30-December 12000 in Las Vegas Nevada The Mitiga-tion of Earthquake Disaster by Ad-vanced Technologies (MEDAT-2) work-shop focused on the application ofadvanced technologies (nondestructiveinspection health monitoring advancedmaterials innovative devices etc) forthe seismic evaluation and retrofit ofhealth care facilities

Co-chairs Michel Bruneau of MCEERand Daniel Inman of Virginia Polytech-nic Institute and State University wel-comed about 35 engineers architectsand researchers from various fields ofadvanced technology Discussion ses-sions centered on mitigation techniquesfor soil liquefaction structural damageand nonstructural damage that could beused for the seismic retrofit of hospitals

addressed the state-of-the-practice onpassive seismic control of building struc-tures Jayanth Kudva Northrop Grum-man Corp gave a general overview ofadvanced technology issues

Mircea Grigoriu Cornell University in-troduced the third session which foc-used on advanced technologies fornonstructural retrofit Eight examplepresentations were given and DanielInman VPI provided an overview of theadvanced technology issues

Presentations made at the workshop areavailable on our web site at httpmceerbuffaloedupublicationssp_pubsmedat2defaultasp Proceedings are cur-rently being compiled and will beavailable this summer Extensive mate-rials from the first MEDAT workshop arealso on our web site at httpmceerbuffaloedupublicationssp_pubsmedat1defaultasp

Nove

mbe

r 1 2

000

ndash Ap

ril 3

0 2

001

November 2-4 2000Annual InvestigatorsStudentLeadership Council MeetingsBuffalo New York

November 5-6 2000NSF Engineering Research Centers(ERC) Annual MeetingWashington DC

November 6-12 2000China-US Millennium Symposiumon Earthquake EngineeringBeijing China

November 8 2000NYCEM MeetingNew York New York

November 11-14 2000Project Impact SummitWashington DC

November 29 - December 1 2000Mitigation of Earthquake Disaster byAdvanced Technologies MEDAT-2WorkshopLas Vegas Nevada

January 26-27 2001Executive Committee MeetingBuffalo New York

January 26 2001Seminar by Thomas D OrsquoRourkeSeismic Evaluation and Retrofit ofWater Supply LifelinesBuffalo New York

February 12 2001Research Committee MeetingBuffalo New York

February 13 2001Seminar by Dr William PetakMItigation A Framework for AnalysisBuffalo New York

February 15-17 2001MCEER Highway Seismic ResearchCouncil MeetingLas Vegas Nevada

February 23 2001Seminar by Diego Lopez GarciaA Simple Method for the Design of OptimalDamper Configurations in MDOF StructuresBuffalo New York

March 12 2001Workshop on Barriers to Implementationof Earthquake Hazard Mitigation PoliciesSan Francisco California

April 6 2001Seminar by Dominic KellyDesign Philosphy in Regions of Low-to-Moderate SeismicityBuffalo New York

April 18 2001Joint Meeting of Scientific and Implemen-tation Advisory CommitteesChicago Illinois


Diego Lopez Garcia is a PhD student and graduate research assistant in the Depart-ment of Civil Structural and EnvironmentalEngineering at the University at Buffalo His re-

search activities include earthquake-induced pounding in buildings andbridges (PhD dissertation in progress) optimal location of passive en-ergy dissipation devices and seismic fragility of nonstructuralcomponents His advisor is MCEER researcher Dr TT Soong Samuel PCapen Professor of Engineering Science The YPF Foundation (BuenosAires Argentina) sponsors Diegorsquos graduate studies through a ldquoJose AEstenssorordquo fellowship

Diego became interested in earthquake engineering because he grew upin a seismically active place and was introduced to the subject in his un-dergraduate studies According to Diego he ldquogrew up in San JuanArgentina a city that was completely destroyed by a 740 magnitude earthquake in 1944 Another 740 magnitudeearthquake occurred in 1977 but by this time most of the city was already rebuilt according to earthquake-resistantcodes hence damage and casualties were not significant Nevertheless I was 10 years old and I still have a strongmemory of that earthquakerdquo

When asked about his undergraduate studies Diego said ldquoI did my undergraduate program at the UniversidadNacional de San Juan (San Juan Argentina) and the Civil Engineering program included a couple of courses aboutearthquake engineering I performed as a teaching assistant in one of these courses and I also participated as aresearch assistant in a project related to earthquake engineeringrdquo The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange Foundationfinancially supported Diegorsquos undergraduate studies

When not involved in his research work Diego enjoys spending time with his wife and young son He was once aformal member of the San Juan Symphony Orchestra where he played clarinet He received a fellowship from theAntorchas Foundation in Buenos Aires to study clarinet at the Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic inGermany in 1987-88 Although he does not play professionally anymore he says ldquoclassical music is still my mainnon-academic non-professional interestrdquo

Diego expects to graduate between December 2002 and May 2003 He hopes to get a faculty position at a majorresearch university in the US and devote himself to teaching and doing research He received the 2001 EERIGraduate Student Paper Award (see page 11) and presented a well-attended seminar on the topic as part of a newseries at the University at Buffalo (see page 6)

NYCEMMCEER Help Discovery Channel Examine Earthquakes in New York City

On Monday February 19 the Discovery Channel aired an episode of Sci-Trektitled ldquoAn Earthquake in New York Cityrdquo The program examined the possi-

bility of an earthquake in the Big Apple and the vulnerabilities that exist there Anumber of MCEER affiliates appeared in the broadcast including Deputy DirectorMichel Bruneau and Assistant Director Andrea Dargush Dr Bruneau discussedthe importance of preparedness of hospitals and other critical facilities followingearthquakes and Ms Dargush spoke about the broad inventory of structural typesin the city such as those examined by the FEMA-sponsored New York City areaConsortium for Earthquake-loss Mitigation (NYCEM) Klaus Jacob former NCEERexecutive committee member and senior research scientist at Lamont Doherty EarthObservatory was featured throughout the broadcast Guy Nordenson PrincetonUniversity discussed the evolution of the existing New York City seismic code aneffort with which MCEER (then NCEER) was extensively involved

Diego Lopez Garcia (left) is shown withfellow students Ali Rejaie USC andSelahattin Ersoy New Jersey Institute ofTechnology

Representatives from the DiscoveryChannel visited the Seismic Lab at UBduring filming of ldquoAn Earthquake in NewYork Cityrdquo


Student Leadership Council Activities

Ali Rejaie and Gauri Guha made posterpresentations and participated in theERC retreat

During early February several membersof the SLC attended the EERI AnnualMeeting in Monterey California Themeeting provided an excellent chance forSLC members to attend sessions that fea-tured some of the leading scholars andpractitioners in the area of seismic miti-

The MCEER Student LeadershipCouncil (SLC) has been quite busy

over the past several months ona number of fronts First we have beenworking hard to prepare for an SLC re-treat The concept of an annual retreatwas conceived during the SLC sessionsat the 2000 Principal Investigatorrsquos Meet-ing in November The idea behind theretreat is to give SLC members an op-portunity to gather together and presentresearch to their peers in a low stressenvironment The retreat would also pro-vide an opportunity to further theprofessional development of its studentmembers by bringing in a speaker toaddress an area that the membership ofthe SLC views as being particularly im-portant We currently have about fifteenmembers who have committed to at-tending the retreat which has beenscheduled for mid-August at The Penn-sylvania State University

Also this past November three membersof the SLC participated in NSFrsquos AnnualMeeting of Engineering Research Centers inWashington DC Michael Kiley-Zufelt

gation and to hear from emergency man-agers and other front line personnel inthe battle to establish disaster resilientcommunities The meeting was a whirl-wind of activity with meetings takingplace in hallways and in conversationpits between scheduled sessions afterthe official close of the dayrsquos work andat some inhumanly early morning hoursAnd students being students your col-leagues found time to slip out and enjoya cloudy but beautiful hour watching thewaves crash on the amazingly pristinerocky coast of the Monterey Bay

During one of those early morning gath-erings at the EERI Annual Meeting thegroundwork was laid for theupcoming NSF site visit to MCEERwhich takes place June 6-8 The SLC willbe putting together its own research ac-complishments volume to present at thesite visit The volume will contain ab-stracts and summaries of the researchdone by SLC members during the pastyear It will be available throughMCEERrsquos web site this summer

mdashSubmitted by Michael Kiley-Zufelt

NSFMCEER Offers Year 2001 Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Undergraduate students are invited to

explore new directions inearthquake studies this

summer through the NSF sponsoredResearch Experiences for Undergraduates(REU) Program The program offersopportunities for undergraduate stu-dents to conduct individual researchthat contributes to ongoing programs atthe three NSF-funded earthquakeengineering research centers

MCEERrsquos REU Program enables under-graduate students to participate inCenter research activities through

summer internships with MCEER re-searchers All projects involve state-of-the-art studies to improve the disasterresiliency of communities throughapplication of advanced technologicaltools REU opportunities are availablein the following fields of study

Seismology Geotechnical Engineering Structural Engineering Risk Engineering Architecture amp Urban Planning Structural Control Materials Science Sociology

Economics Public Policy

MCEER-supported students willparticipate in a faculty-advisedgraduate-student mentored researchproject The activity will require par-ticipation in a team-based research effortincluding a literature search thesisdevelopment and results presentation

For more informat ion contactAndrea Dargush MCEER e-maildargush acsubuffaloedu or checkthe web s i te a t http mceerbuffaloedueducationreudefaultasp

The EERI meeting provided students withthe opportunity to meet leading profession-als in earthquake hazard mitigation Shownabove is Ali Rejaie (center) of the Univer-sity of California


Sarah Billington Assistant Professor inthe School of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering at Cornell University haswon the National Science FoundationrsquosARC Career Award She was recognizedfor research investigating the ability ofinnovative materials based on polymericfiber cement to make structures more re-sistant to seismic events The award isadministered by the Civil EngineeringResearch Foundation (CERF) and willbe used along with matching NSF fundsto further the research Graduate and un-dergraduate students will be involvedin future projects

Highway Projectresear-cher Profes-sor M Saiid Saiidiwas recently se-lected as the 2000Outstanding Re-searcher of the Year at the Universityof Nevada Reno from among 800 fac-ulty members He was recognized forhis research on earthquake engineeringof bridges Dr Saiidi has been direct-ing a large number of research projectswith funding from MCEER (throughthe FHWA-funded Highway Projectand US-PRC Researcher Exchange Pro-gram) NSF the California and Nevadadepartments of transportation and pri-vate industry He is an ACI fellow EERImember (since 1981) and holds a pro-fessorship awarded by the UNRFoundation

Diego Lopez Garcia a PhD candi-date in the Department of Civil Struc-tural and Environmental Engineering atthe University at Buffalo under Profes-sor TT Soong was awarded the 2001Earthquake Engineering Research Insti-tute (EERI) Graduate Student PaperAward for his paper entitled ldquoA SimpleMethod for the Design of OptimalDamper Configurations in MDOFStructuresrdquo He received a travel awardto present his paper at the EERI AnnualMeeting in Monterey California Febru-ary 7-10 2001

Patricia Grossi a recent PhD gradu-ate in Systems Engineering at theWharton School University of Pennsyl-vania previously received the NEHRPGraduate Fellow in Earthquake HazardReduction awarded by EERI under acooperative program funded by FEMAHoward Kunreuther and Paul Klein-dorfer were her co-advisors and herresearch focuses on the impact of un-certainty in risk assessments on policy

Two members of MCEERrsquos HighwaySeismic Research Council (HSRC) re-ceived prestigious awards from ASCEJoseph Penzien Senior Principal andChairman of the Board of Directors ofInternational Civil Engineers Construc-tion Inc was awarded the Ernest EHoward Award for his contributions toearthquake engineering and his publicservice in advancing seismic safetyJames E Roberts Chief Deputy Direc-tor of the California Department ofTransportation (Caltrans) has receivedthe ASCE Charles Martin Duke LifelineEarthquake Engineering Award Hewas recognized for his technical prow-ess and public policy leadership in theseismic strengthening of bridges and hispioneering efforts in the earthquake-re-sistant design and retrofitting of high-way transportation systems

MCEER Welcomes NewCommittee Members

Three new members have been ap-pointed to MCEERrsquos Scientific Ad-

visory Committee They are ProfessorIan G Buckle University of NevadaReno Professor Andre Filiatrault Uni-versity of California San Diego andProfessor Dennis Mileti DirectorNatural Hazards Center University ofColorado The Scientific Advisory Com-mittee provides input into the technicalmerits of MCEERrsquos research programand its strategic plan It is chaired byProfessor Surendra P Shah Northwest-ern University

The Implementation Advisory Commit-tee (IAC) chaired by Dr Jeremy Isen-burg Weidlinger Associates welcomesPaul Armstrong International Confer-ence of Building Officials and MariaVorel National Director Project ImpactFEMA The IAC assists MCEER in focus-ing its research to ensure that it meetsthe needs of potential end users

A joint meeting of the Scientific andImplementation Advisory Committeesis scheduled for April 18 2001

The MCEER Bulletin address listexperienced some serious prob-lems that may have affected themailing of the Fall 2000 issueThese problems have beenresolved but it is possible thatrecent requests to be added re-moved or to update mailing listinformation may have been lost(ie those made between Septem-ber and December 2000) If youdid not receive the Fall 2000issue notice that your address isincorrect or wish to be removedfrom the list please sendan email to Jane Stoyle atjestoyleacsubuffaloedu

Former student Patricia Grossi and currentdoctoral candidate Diego Lopez Garcia re-ceived awards at EERIrsquos annual meetingFrom left are Chris Poland Diego LopezGarcia Patricia Grossi and Michel Bruneau


MCEER Staff News

Additional qualifications stronglypreferred include the following

Experience in or knowledgeof earthquake engineering

MS or ME degree in StructuralEngineering

Professional Engineering regis-tration

Candidates should submit a letter of in-terest and resume or curriculum vitaeto Ms Connie Beroza MCEER Uni-versity at Buffalo 109 Red JacketQuadrangle Buffalo NY 14261-0025e-mail applymceermailbuffaloedu

Suitable candidates will be invited tointerview for the position beginningin early May 2001

MCEER is seeking a Senior ProgramOfficer to provide day-to-day admin-istrative and technical management ofthe Highway Project Minimumqualifications required for the posi-tion include the following

Research programproject manage-ment experience with an emphasison bridge engineering

Excellent demonstrated verbal andwritten communication capabilities

BS in Civil Engineering or Struc-tural Engineering

Knowledge of the operations ofAASHTO and its committeesState Departments of Transporta-tion and the Federal HighwayAdministration

MCEER Seeks Senior Program OfficerThanks for Your Interest inOur Web Site

During the past year over 100000 peoplehave visited the MCEER web site accord-ing to the counter on our home page Thecounter provides the number of distinctvisitors to the site omitting visits fromMCEERrsquos own domain and reloads withinthe same browser session Including theseparameters the site has over 1000000 hitsper year

MCEER welcomes Mr Gerald Meyersas Business and Contracts ManagerMr Meyers will assume responsibilityfor coordinating the Centerrsquos businessoperations including contracts per-sonnel purchasing and other relatedbusiness activities

Mr Meyers joins MCEER from the MidErie Health Services Corporationa non-profit corporation where he wasaccountingbusiness manager for 19years He was responsible for all busi-ness functions including accountingbudgeting cost analysis purchasingfinancial reporting and human resourcesHe has also held positions as a SeniorCost Analyst Corporate Risk InsuranceManager and Financial Consultant invarious private sector environmentsHe is a member of the American Man-

agement Association and past memberof the National Association of Insuranceand Financial Advisors Mr Meyers holdsa BS in Business ManagementAccount-ing from the University at Buffalo

Michelle Zuppa has joined MCEERpublications as desktop publisherMichelle brings strong skills in de-sign of both print and web publicationsShe will be responsible for the layout ofthe MCEER Bulletin Research Progress ampAccomplishments as well as many otherprojects Prior to joining MCEER sheoperated her own freelance graphicdesign and writing business and servedas communications coordinator forNOCO Express She has a BA in Englishliterature from Cornell University

Michael Higgins Senior Project Officerfor Transportation Research has left

MCEER to pursue other interests in theWashington DC area Ian M FriedlandAssociate Director for DevelopmentApplied Technology Council will over-see the MCEER Highway Project until asuccessor for Mr Higgins is named MrFriedland is former Assistant Director forTransportation Research at MCEER

Dorothy Tao has stepped down as man-ager of the Information Service and hasreduced her hours to three days a weekAndrea Dargush MCEER Assistant Di-rector for Education and ResearchAdministration will oversee Informa-tion Service activities

Marsha Flett Quakeline database coor-dinator has left MCEERrsquos InformationService to pursue other endeavors

The Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research is a national center of

excellence in advanced technology applications It seeks the reduction of earthquake damage and

losses through research development and application of new knowledge and advanced

technologies

NSFMCEER Offers Year 2001 Research Experiences for

Undergraduates Undergraduate students are invited to explore

new directions in earthquake studies this summer through NSFsponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)Program The program offers opportunities for undergraduatestudents to conduct individual research that contributes to ongoingresearch programs of the 3 NSF-funded earthquake engineeringresearch centers

MCEER Releases Taiwan Earthquake CD With Photo

Collection and Reconnaissance Report MCEER has issued a

CD-ROM (CD) featuring an extensive photograph collection from the921 Chi-Chi Taiwan earthquake as well as the full-color completetext of The Chi-Chi Taiwan Earthquake of September 21 1999Reconnaissance Report The MCEER reconnaissance effort took placeOctober 3-5 1999 Over 450 high quality images are included onthe CD in an html file for viewing in any web browser

Visit us online at httpmceerbuffaloedu


The 921 Chi-Chi Taiwan Earthquake of 1999 Collection on CD-ROM

mdash Portal to Earthquake Information

also features quick links to current seis-mic events (with extended links forsignificant earthquakes) state and re-gional information and an extensivecalendar of conferences and continuingeducation opportunities EQNET cur-rently logs over 4000 visits per monthand the number is growing

A popular feature of EQNET is theArchives section which stores web re-connaissance reports and images fromrecent significant earthquakes such asTurkey and Taiwan in one place The Ar-chives are updated continually with thelatest web path information This meansthat if you want to obtain a copy of a re-

port that is no longer at its original loca-tion you may be able to retrieve it fromthe Archives at its new address

Finally we are pleased to announce thatEQNET was selected as the site of theweek by the Radio-Television NewsDirectorrsquos Association and Foundation(RTNDA) for the week of March 5-122001(see httpwwwrtndaorg)Congrat- ulations to Yi-Chen Wang forher outstanding effort and initiativePlease visit httpwwweqnetorg toview EQNET or to submit a site for in-clusion Comments are welcome andmay be sent to Yi-Chen Wang emailycwangacsu buffaloedu

The 921 Chi-Chi Taiwan Earthquakeof 1999 Collection on CD-ROM con-

tains an extensive photograph collectionfrom the 921 Chi-Chi Taiwan earthquakeand the full-color complete text of the re-connaissance report (technical reportMCEER-00-0003) The reconnaissance efforttook place October 3-5 1999 about twoweeks after the September 21 1999 eventOver 450 high resolution images (300 dpiprint-quality jpeg files) are included in anhtml file for viewing in any web browserThe images can be used in printed publica-tions and presentations as long as thephotographer and MCEER are credited

The reconnaissance report is in PDF for-mat and requires Adobereg AcrobatregtradeReader 405 to view The ldquoReadMerdquo filecontains detailed information on how touse the CD-ROM The CD-ROM publi-cation number MCEER-00-SP03 is

available from MCEER Publications for$5000 To order call (716) 645-3391 ext105 or check the publications section ofour web site at httpmceerbuffaloeduoutreachprtaiwanCDasp

EQNET has compiled a list of sites including the March 24 2001 Hiroshima Japan earthquake

the February 28 2001 Nisqually Washington earthquake

(Includes disaster management listservs nonengineered construction sites etc)

Search EQNET

Search Organization Name

Search Keywords

Show Descriptions No Yes Advanced Search

SearchSearch ResetReset

the February 13 and the January 13 2001 El Salvador earthquakesthe January 26 2001 India earthquake New Additions to EQNET since 22001

EarthQuake Information NETworkCurrent

Earthquake InformationRegional States

Earthquake InformationCalendar

ConferencesDo you need quick access to earth-

quake images for a report due to-morrow A quick database search for animportant client proposal All the latestnews and images on the Seattle earth-quake or recent events in India ElSalvador and Turkey Visit the earth-quake information portal EQNET athttpwwweqnetorg for quick efficientaccess to all of these resources

In collaboration with the Earthquake In-formation Providerrsquos Group (EqIP) theMCEER Information Service staff main-tains and develops EQNET with theassistance of EQNET webmaster MsYi-Chen Wang gradute student De-partment of Geography University atBuffalo In 1995 at the suggestion ofNSF EqIPrsquos members (MCEER NISEENHRAIC EERI ATC and others) recog-nized the need to integrate and select themost useful resources from the many andoften confusing earthquakedisaster in-formation sources on the Internet Fun-ded originally by NSF and currently byFEMA EQNET provides extensive cat-egorized listings of the most useful websources in Information Services Data-bases Seismic Maps and Codes DisasterManagement Education EarthquakeEngineering and Seismology EQNET

The 921 Chi-Chi Taiwan Earthquake of 1999 Collection on CD-Rom featuresover 450 high resolution images and a full-color version of MCEERrsquos reconnais-sance report

The EQNET welcome screen features links to information on recent earthquakes


New MCEER Technical Reports

MCEER technical reports are pub-lished to communicate specific re-search data and project results Re-ports are written by MCEER-fundedresearchers and provide informationon a variety of fields of interest inearthquake engineering The pro-ceedings from conferences and work-shops sponsored by MCEER are alsopublished in this series To request acomplete list of titles and prices con-tact MCEER publications

MCEERrsquos web site offers a completelist of technical reports and their ab-stracts The publications section al-lows users to search the report list bysubject title and author and to placeorders for these reports Visit the siteat httpmceerbuffaloedupublica-tionsdefaultasp

A Risk-Based Methodology forAssessing the SeismicPerformance of Highway Systemsby SD Werner CE Taylor JE Moore IIJS Walton and S Cho 123100MCEER-00-0014 286 pages $3500

Post-earthquake functionality stronglydepends on the characteristics of thehighway system in question such as itsconfiguration the locations of the indi-vidual components within the overallsystem and within specific links andsubsystems and the locations redundancyand traffic capacities and volumes of thelinks between key origins and destinationswithin the system Consideration of theimportance of each component to theoverall system performance can provide amuch more rational basis for establishingseismic strengthening priorities definingseismic design and strengthening criteriaeffecting emergency lifeline route plan-ning estimating economic impacts due tocomponent or system-wide damage andcan also provide real-time information onhow to get emergency response resourcesto a given location following a damaging

event The procedures contained in thisreport provide a basis for addressing thehighway system seismic performanceissues and incorporate data and meth-odologies pertaining to engineering issues(structural geotechnical and trafficcapacity) repair and reconstructionsystem network and risk analysis andsocioeconomic considerations for impactsresulting from system damage They alsoprovide a mechanism to estimate system-wide direct losses and indirect losses dueto reduced traffic flows andor increasedtravel times

Effect of Spatial Variation ofGround Motion on HighwayStructuresby M Shinozuka V Saxena and GDeodatis 123100 MCEER-00-0013264 pages $3500

In this report a methodology was de-veloped to generate spatially varyingground motion time histories along thelength of a long multi-span bridge at itssupports Spatial variability of seismicground motion can be mainly attributed tothe following three mechanisms differencein arrival times of seismic waves atdifferent locations which is commonlyknown as the wave passage effect loss ofcoherence of seismic waves due to multiplereflections and refractions as they pro-pagate through the highly inhomogeneoussoil medium referred to as the incoherenceeffect and change in the amplitude andfrequency content of seismic groundmotion due to different local soil con-ditions known as the local soil effect Themethodology developed in this study togenerate spatially varying seismic groundmotion time histories at different locationsreflects all three of these effects

Representative highway bridges wereanalyzed using two cases of input groundmotions at the bridge supports In the firstcase the input motions were identical atall supports in the second case differentinput motions were applied at each pieralong the length of the bridge reflecting thewave passage effect the incoherence effect

and the local soils effect This was done toassess the effect of spatial variability ofground motion when compared to thestandard assumption currently used inpractice of identical support groundmotion An extensive sensitivity analysiswas carried out as a function of variousparameters controlling the spatial var-iability of ground motions Based on theresults from these studies two guidelineswere proposed one for the analysis anddesign of highway bridges that are lessthan approximately 1000-to-1500 feet longand have all supports on the same local soilconditions and the second for bridges thatare more than approximately 1500 feetlong or bridges of any length that havesupports on different local soil conditions

Experimental Evaluation ofSeismic Performance of BridgeRestrainersby AG Vlassis EM Maragakis and MSaiid Saiidi 123000 MCEER-00-0012160 pages $3000

The experimental study described in thisreport investigates the impact betweenadjacent bridge spans at in-span hingesevaluates the efficacy of restrainers inreducing relative displacement across thehinges and examines the effects of re-strainer stiffness and gap on the responseof the hinge-restrainer system Experi-mental results indicated that impactsbetween the adjacent frames produceacceleration levels significantly higher thanwhat is typically assumed in designRestrainers were capable of reducing hingerelative displacements and preventingspan unseating However restraineryielding occurred under strong inputmotions especially when the restrainer gapwas set to zero Only pounding at the hingelocation was included in this study whilepounding elsewhere in the superstructureas well as the detailed response behaviorof substructure elements were neglected


procedures using 3- and 6-story structureswith linear viscous nonlinear viscous solidviscoelastic and yielding damping systems

Proceedings of the First MCEERWorkshop on Mitigation of Earth-quake Disaster by Advanced Tech-nologies (MEDAT-1)Edited by M Shinozuka DJ Inmanand TD OrsquoRourke 111000MCEER-00-0009 270 pages $3500

Over 55 researchers from the US and Ja-pan participated in the first Mitigation ofEarthquake Disaster by Advanced Technologies(MEDAT-1) workshop held in Los Angeleson March 2-3 2000 Participants exploredthe state-of-the-art field applications of non-destructive inspection and health monitor-ing technology including remote sensingtechniques for the purpose of mitigatingurban earthquake disasters Innovative ap-plications of technology either actuallyimplemented or with a high potential forimplementation in civil infrastructure sys-tems were emphasized The proceedingscontain 15 papers and minutes from twodiscussion sessions Summary informationabout this workshop is available from thepublications section of MCEERrsquos web siteat httpmceerbuffaloedupublicationssp_pubsmedat1defaultasp

Dynamic Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction Analysesof Large Caissonsby C-Y Chang C-M Mok Z-L WangR Settgast F Waggoner MAKetchum HM Gonnermann and C-CChin 123000 MCEER-00-0011 108pages $2500

Large cellular reinforced concrete caissonsexist as foundations of major long-spanbridges across waterways in many parts ofthe country The purpose of this study wasto qualitatively assess the effects of vari-ous factors affecting the caisson responseSeveral equivalent linear and nonlinearanalyses were performed for a typical cais-son idealized from the large caisson at PierW3 of the west spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge The results indicatethat the effects of the superstructure on theresponse of the caisson were insignificantThe lateral earth pressure base bearingpressure and soil stresses computed by theequivalent linear analysis indicate the pos-sibility of soil-foundation separation (gap-ping and uplift) The results of nonlinearanalyses indicate that motions and stressesdeveloped in the caisson are sensitive tothe soil-caisson and rock-caisson interfaceproperties

Development and Evaluation of Sim-plified Procedures for Analysis andDesign of Buildings with PassiveEnergy Dissipation Systemsby OM Ramirez MC ConstantinouCA Kircher AS Whittaker MWJohnson and JD Gomez 12800MCEER-00-0010 510 pages $4000

This report presents the development andevaluation of simplified methods of analy-sis and design for buildings with passiveenergy dissipation systems The work wasconducted under the auspices of the Build-ing Seismic Safety Council Technical Sub-committee 12 Base Isolation and EnergyDissipation for the year 2000 update of theNEHRP Recommended Provisions for SeismicRegulations for New Buildings and Other Struc-tures Topics presented in the report includedevelopment of extended damping coeffi-cients for modification of response spectrafor damping in excess of 5 of critical de-velopment of relationships between elasticand inelastic displacement of yielding sys-tems with energy dissipating devices astudy of displacement ductility demand inyielding structures with viscous dampingsystems development of equivalent lateralforce and modal analysis procedures forbuildings with damping systems and vali-dation studies of the developed analysis

Published byMultidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering ResearchUniversity at BuffaloState University of New YorkRed Jacket QuadrangleBuffalo NY 14261Phone (716) 645-3391Fax (716) 645-3399E-mail mceeracsubuffaloeduWorld Wide Web Site httpmceerbuffaloeduISSN 1520-2933

StaffEditor Jane StoyleIllustrationPhotography Hector VelascoLayoutComposition Michelle Zuppa

Some of the material reported herein isbased upon work supported in whole or inpart by the National Science Foundation theState of New York the Federal HighwayAdministration of the US Department ofTransportation the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency and other sponsorsAny opinions findings conclusions or recom-mendations expressed in this publication arethose of the author(s) and do not necessarilyreflect the views of MCEER or its sponsors

University at Buffalo State University of New YorkRed Jacket QuadrangleBuffalo NY 14261

NON-PROFITUS POSTAGE

PAIDBuffalo NY

Permit No 311

Change Service Requested

Please check the appropriate box below correct the label and return to MCEER Add name to list Correct address Take name off list

University at Buffalo The State University of New York

April 28 ndash May 1 2002Third National Seismic Conference and Workshop on Bridgesand Highways Advances in Engineering Technology for the Seis-mic Safety of Bridges in the New Millennium Portland OregonSponsored byFederal Highway Administration Oregon Department of Transportation Washington State Department of TransportationOrganized byMCEERContactMichael S Higgins PE Pure Technologies US Inc 10015 Old ColumbiaRoad Suite B-215 Columbia MD 21046 Phone (800) 537-2806 Fax (410) 309-7051 E-mail mikehigginssoundprintcom

July 21 ndash 25 20027th US National Conference on Earthquake Engineering UrbanEarthquake Hazard Park Plaza Hotel Boston MassachusettsSponsorEarthquake Engineering Research InstituteOrganizing CommitteeMCEERContactAndrea Dargush MCEER Phone (716) 645-3391 ext 106 Fax (716) 645-3399 E-mail dargushacsubuffaloedu

Web Siteshttpmceerbuffaloedumeetingsdefaultasp and httpwwweeriorgU

pc

om

ing

Eve

nts


Three MCEER Core Institutions Receive NEES AwardsUniversity at BuffaloThe University at Buffalorsquos Departmentof Civil Structural and EnvironmentalEngineering has been awarded twogrants one for $438 million to constructa large-scale high-performance testingfacility and one for $616 million to con-struct a versatile high-performance shaketable and to upgrade the existing shaketable An additional $6 million in NewYork state support brings the total invest-ment to $165 million The new facility willallow for unprecedented research by in-corporating the new capabilities insimulation computing and networkingas integral parts of earthquake engineer-ing experimental testing This versatilityis achieved through

A high-performance set of two shaketables that each have full six degree-of-freedom capabilities includingone that can be rapidly repositionedfrom immediately adjacent to theother table up to as much as 100 feetfrom it Together these tables can hostspecimens of up to 100 metric tonsas long as 120 feet and subjected tofully in-phase or totally uncorrelateddynamic excitations

Large-scale high-performance actua-tors with immediate capabilities fordynamic testing pseudo-dynamictesting and also more importantlyproviding the platform needed for thedevelopment of powerful new testingmethodologies such as the effectiveforce control testing method thatwould make it possible to directlysubject large structures to dynamicexcitations without the need for shaketables

Substantial equipment required to op-erate the above two items includinghigh-capacity high-performance hy-draulic supply and distributionsystem and miscellaneous electroniccontrol systems

This modular and highly flexible earth-quake engineering experimental facilityallows for multiple configurations offull-scale component tests combinedsimultaneously with real-time numeri-cal simulations to investigate theseismic behavior of large structuralsystems in ways not possible until now

The Principal Investigators are MichelBruneau Andrei Reinhorn MichaelConstantinou Eddy Rojas and SThevanayagam all of the Departmentof Civil Structural and Environmen-tal Engineering at the University atBuffalo More details on the proposalsand personnel are available at httpcivilengbuffaloeduseesl

University of Nevada RenoThe University of Nevada Reno (UNR)Civil Engineering Department wasawarded $44 million to upgrade theJames E Rogers and Louis Weiner JrLarge Scale Structures Laboratoryrsquostwo 14-foot square 50-ton shake tablesfrom uniaxial motion to biaxial motionand to purchase a third biaxial table ofthe same size and capacity Additionalfunding from the Department of En-ergy ($1 million) and the Departmentof Housing and Urban Development($16 million) brings the total invest-ment to $7 million The new facilitywill be used for large-scale geotechni-cal and long linear structural andlifeline earthquake engineering experi-

Three of MCEERrsquos core experimen-tal facilities received substantial

awards from NSFrsquos George E Brown JrNetwork for Earthquake EngineeringSimulation (NEES) program The Uni-versity at Buffalo received two awardstotaling $105 million one to substan-tially upgrade its shake table researchequipment and the second to establisha large-scale laboratory experimentationequipment site The University of Ne-vada Reno will update its shake tableresearch equipment with a $44 millionaward and Rensselaer Polytechnic In-stitute will upgrade its centrifugeresearch equipment with a $238 millionaward As of February 4 2001 10 insti-tutions had received equipment awardstotaling $45 million under the NEESprogram

The George E Brown Jr Network forEarthquake Engineering Simulation(NEES) Program is a project funded un-der the NSF Major Research EquipmentProgram The grants awarded stipulatethat the equipment be operational bySeptember 30 2004 or earlier and thateach facility be managed as a nationalshared-use NEES equipment site withtele-observation and tele-operation capa-bilities to provide new earthquakeengineering research testing capabilitiesthrough 2014 New capabilities madepossible by the equipment will be inte-grated into the research programs andundergraduate and graduate curricu-lums of the institutions provide trainingopportunities for outside researchersthrough on site courses host visitingscholars and develop a web-basedtele-operation simulator of the NEESequipment More information about theNEES program is available from httpwwwengnsfgovnees

A summary of each of the awards follows

Conceptual drawing of the versatile high-performance shake table facility at UB























































































































Nove

mbe

r 1 2

000

ndash Ap

ril 3

0 2

001































































MCEER Staff News

























technologies






















Search EQNET


Search Keywords






































PAIDBuffalo NY

Permit No 311







pc

om

ing

Eve

nts























































































































Nove

mbe

r 1 2

000

ndash Ap

ril 3

0 2

001































































MCEER Staff News

























technologies






















Search EQNET


Search Keywords






































PAIDBuffalo NY

Permit No 311







pc

om

ing

Eve

nts
















































MCEER Staff News

























technologies






















Search EQNET


Search Keywords






































PAIDBuffalo NY

Permit No 311







pc

om

ing

Eve

nts















Search EQNET


Search Keywords






































PAIDBuffalo NY

Permit No 311







pc

om

ing

Eve

nts



























PAIDBuffalo NY

Permit No 311







pc

om

ing

Eve

nts

raising earthquake awareness in the eastern united states - mceer

Documents