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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 m˛ 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
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