July Chapter Field Excursion
July 10, 2010
“Field Excursion: Mitigating Fault Rupture Hazards on the Hayward Fault in Berkeley and Fremont, California: Integrating Geologic Information and Engineering Design”
Time: 9:30 am – 3:00 pm
Venue: UC Berkeley & Fremont Central Park & BART Fremont Station
This field excursion offers visits to two sites along the active Hayward fault that highlight recent engineering mitigations for fault rupture hazards. Recent scientific consensus suggests that the Hayward fault has a relatively high probability of producing a large earthquake that will break the ground surface and possibly impact structures overlying the fault trace.
On the southern part of the Hayward fault in Fremont, the Warm Springs Extension (WSX) of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rail system is under construction at the fault crossing directly south of the Fremont BART station. Numerous paleoseismic trenches have been completed along Walnut Avenue and at the Tule Pond (Tyson’s Lagoon) site, and help define the location and likely characteristics of surface fault rupture at the WSX BART crossing, which involves an aerial structure over Walnut Avenue that merges with a 9-m-high earthen embankment across Tule Pond. The initiation of construction at the Tule Pond fault crossing provides an exciting update to the fault evaluation, and construction monitoring has helped ensure that mitigation designs are consistent with geologic conditions. The fault characteristics, expected displacements, and engineering mitigation design will be discussed during the field visit.
On the northern part of the Hayward fault on the University of California, Berkeley campus, a seismic retrofit of the Bowles Hall residential building was completed earlier this year. The retrofit design included features to accommodate surface rupture along the fault, which underlies the southeastern corner of the 82-year-old historic building. Geologic mapping and trenching define the fault characteristics near the building, and help define the expected type and amount of earthquake-related deformation. Engineering design involves a mat foundation, a moat adjacent to the structure, and a retaining wall system, which help the building resist fault offset and survive the earthquake.
The trip will include brief discussions of the geologic characteristics and engineering designs for both sites. The visits may involve short walks in the site vicinity; sturdy shoes recommended. Travel to and from both sites not provided; carpooling is encouraged. Both sites are within walking distance from existing BART stations. Family and friends are invited to participate and enjoy the trip.
Please RSVP by July 6 to chapterinfo@eerinc.org
Schedule for Saturday July 10, 2010:
9:30 am Bowles Hall, University of California Berkeley campus (meet on NW side, parking lot)
11:00 am Depart Berkeley for Fremont
12:00 pm Lunch at Fremont Central Park (Bring your own…)
1:30 pm Meet again BART Fremont Station, southeastern parking lot
3:00 pm End
Image of Hayward Fault running through Fremont Central Park & Fremont BART:
May Chapter Meeting
Wednesday May 19, 2010
“Engineering response to the 2010 M8.8 Chile earthquake: Success or failure?”
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Venue: URS Corp, 1333 Broadway, Suite 800, Oakland, CA, 94612-1924 google map
Join the chapter for an interesting and lively debate as to whether the performance of engineered structures to the strong shaking in Chile was a success or failure…
As we continue to see the immediate and long-term effects of large earthquakes around the world, the perception of building response is evolving. Our panel of experts visited Chile following the M 8.8 earthquake and will discuss the definition of “success” with perspective of past earthquakes. All audience members will have the opportunity to join in the debate and discussion!
Panel members:
Joe Maffei (Rutherford and Chekene)
Jonathan Bray (UC Berkeley)
Jack Moehle (UC Berkeley)
Moderator: Chris Poland (Degenkolb Engineers)
March Chapter Meeting
Mar. 17, 2010
“California High Speed Rail”
The Honorable Quentin Kopp, Member of the Board of the California High-Speed Rail Authority
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Venue: URS Corp, 1333 Broadway, Suite 800, Oakland, CA, 94612-1924 google map
Judge Quentin Kopp is a member of the board of the California High-Speed Rail Authority and is the former chair. He is a retired Superior Court judge, retired state senator and chair of the Senate Transportation Committee (a key supporter of the Caltrans retrofit program), member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and in addition to many other positions.
He will discuss the impacts and future of High Speed Rail in California, especially as it relates to the $2.25 billion in federal stimulus funds that were received by the State of California on January 28, 2010. Judge Kopp is a dynamic and engaging speaker so the presentation should be of great interest to all EERI NC Chapter Members.
SPEAKER BIO:
The Honorable Quentin L. Kopp was appointed to the San Mateo Superior Court on January 1, 1999, by Governor Pete Wilson and was administered the oath of judicial office on January 2, 1999.
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Judge Kopp retired effective January 31, 2004, but was immediately accepted in the Assigned Judges Program of the California Judicial Council. By order of the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, Judge Kopp has been assigned almost continuously to the San Mateo County Superior Court since February 1, 2004, with intermittent assignments to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Humboldt County Superior Court, Sonoma County Superior Court, Napa County Superior Court and Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
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On June 13, 2006, the state Senate appointed him to the California High-Speed Rail Authority, charged with implementing high-speed train service from Los Angeles to San Francisco at 200 miles per hour. He was elected chairman of the Authority on August 9, 2006.
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Prior to judicial appointment, Judge Kopp practiced trial law in San Francisco and Northern California. He served in the California State Senate from December 1, 1986, until December 7, 1998, and as a member of the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors to which he was first elected in November 1971, and re-elected four times thereafter. He was president of such board in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1982.
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Judge Kopp’s election to the California State Senate on November 4, 1986, represented election of the first non-incumbent Independent to the Senate since 1878. His re-election in 1990 constituted the first time in California history an Independent was re-elected to the Legislature. That historical milestone was reiterated by his re-election as an Independent to a third term in the Senate in 1994.
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Judge Kopp served as an ex-officio member of the California Transportation Commission from 1988 until 1998, as a member of the California Law Revision Commission from 1995 until 1998, and a member of the Little Hoover Commission from 1996 until 1998. As an elected local and state legislator for 27 years, Judge Kopp also served as a leader on virtually every regional governmental policy-making body affecting the Bay Area, including:
- Board of Supervisors representative to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), 1976-1986, and Chairman of MTC, 1983-1985;
- Member, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board of Directors, 1973-1974;
- San Francisco designee to the Board of Directors of the County Supervisors Association of California (CSAC), 1976-1986 and president of CSAC, 1980-1981;
- Member of the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, 1977-1986, and vice-president, 1984-1986;
- Board of Supervisors representative to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 1978-1979;
- Board of Supervisors representative to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), 1972-1978.
Judge Kopp was the founder and chairman of the Bay Area Super Bowl Task Force which brought Super Bowl XIX to Stanford Stadium in January 1985.
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Judge Kopp is also past president of the San Francisco and California Junior Bar Associations, a former director of the Bar Association and Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco, and a lecturer for 10 years at the annual State Bar Convention. He served from 1962 until 1965 in the American Bar Association House of Delegates as a delegate from the Young Lawyers Association.
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Judge Kopp maintained his own radio talk show on KGO-AM Radio in San Francisco from 1982 until 1992, and was a weekly commentator on KTVU-TV in Oakland from 1992 until his appointment to the bench. He was born in Syracuse, New York, educated at Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, and served as a lieutenant in the United States Air Force from 1952 until 1954.
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Judge Kopp is married to the former Mara Sikaters. He has three children, sons Shepard of the law firm of Geragos & Geragos in Los Angeles and Bradley, a musician and ferryboat deck hand, and daughter Jennifer, executive director of the Napa Valley Grape Growers.
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Appointed by the Senate President pro Tempore
EERI Annual Meeting
February 3-6, 2010
Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco
EERI National is hosting its 62nd Annual Meeting. For more information, see the event website: http://www.eeri.org/site/meetings/2010annual-mtg
ATC & SEI Conference: Improving the Seismic Performance of Existing Buildings and Other Structures
December 9-11, 2009
San Francisco
This inaugural conference will focus on exchanging new information on the seismic evaluation and strengthening of existing buildings and other structures. Presentations will include case studies, new discoveries, innovative use of new technologies and materials, shortcomings of existing standards, and socio-economic issues.
For more information, see the event website:
http://www.atc-sei.org/index.html
December Holiday Party
Dec. 2, 2009
Join your chapter colleagues as we celebrate the holiday season and toast to the successful end of 2009! The EERI Northern California Chapter Awards will be presented at 7:00 pm for “innovation and exemplary practice in earthquake risk reduction in Northern California.”
Please bring your friends and colleagues with you to learn about the chapter and participate in our joyous festivities. Non-members can attend guilt-free — we welcome all earthquake professionals to our party!
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Venue & Directions: Marines’ Memorial Club
609 Sutter St. (at Mason St.), San Francisco, CA 94102-1027
Progress Meeting for the Concrete Coalition
Nov. 23, 2009
A joint meeting of SEAONC EBC, YMF and EERI NC Chapter
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Venue: Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger, One Market St, Suite #600 , San Francisco
Please RSVP by email to Juliane Lane at EERI by Monday November 16th if you plan to attend.
Come to a meeting of the Northern California chapter of EERI and SEAONC (EBC and YMF) to learn more about the recent progress made by the Concrete Coalition to determine the number of older concrete buildings in the 22 California counties with the highest seismic risk. The purpose of the meeting will be to review progress to date with the Concrete Coalition‐‐estimates that have come in from volunteers in various Northern CA cities, approaches used by the volunteers, the development of a regression model to provide further estimates of the total number of buildings in California, and next steps.
The Concrete Coalition has received a time extension on its California Inventory project so even if you missed the first deadlines there is still time to participate.
We are still looking for volunteers:
1. to adopt cities that have been identified as high priority cities
2. to assist with cities where counts have begun but not yet finished
3. to gather further, more detailed data on buildings in San Francisco
Based on successes to date, specific instructions will be provided to future volunteers about how to approach the data‐gathering for items 1 and 2. Training followed by a one‐day walk‐around in San Francisco with students from UC Berkeley to gather further data on the SF buildings is planned for
item 3. We will encourage people to work in small teams.
TENTATIVE AGENDA:
6:00 pm Light dinner available
6:30 pm Overview of progress:
# of cities/# of buildings
projections made by regression model
discussion about results
7:00 pm Specific reporting from two cities (Alameda and SF) + collage of approaches from many of the other 22 cities in Northern CA where we have estimates
7:25 pm Still looking for volunteers:
high priority cities where we are looking for volunteers cities that have been started where we need assistance specific instructions for how to proceed (we’ll have a handout that summarizes a typical approach in a medium‐sized city)
7:40 pm Time frame for completion, progress on next steps (identifying which buildings most vulnerable)
8:00 pm Adjourn
Questions?
For more information see the meeting announcement or contact Marjorie Greene at EERI.
November Chapter Meeting
Nov. 18, 2009
“State-of-the-Art Early Warning Systems & A Northern California Case Study,” Richard Allen, UC Berkeley Seismological Labs
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Venue: Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger, One Market St, Suite #600 , San Francisco
Come hear Richard Allen of the UC Berkeley Seismological Labs discuss his research on early earthquake warning systems and how they might effectively mitigate risk. Allen will discuss the some technical issues related to early warning systems these systems while also looking at what political and social implications would result from their implementation in Northern California.
Loma Prieta Earthquake Commemorative Symposium
Oct. 17, 2009
Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco.
Speakers will discuss the effects of the Loma Prieta earthquake, as well as the tremendous strides that have been made in the past 20 years to make our cities and lifelines safer. They’ll also look ahead and consider where earthquake professions might be heading over the next 20 years.
For more information about the program, registration, sponsoring organizations or venue, see the event website:
http://peer.berkeley.edu/events/2009/loma_prieta/index.html
September Chapter Meeting
| Sept. 16, 2009
“New Seismic Design Guidelines for Tall Buildings in California,” Ron Hamburger, SGH Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Venue: UC Berkeley, Hearst Mining Building Join the chapter for a preview of the New Seismic Design Guidelines for Tall Buildings, the first to include design criteria and guidance for seismic designers and reviewers of tall buildings with industry-wide consensus. These guidelines are expected to be developed into code documents in the future. |
 Tall Buildings (photo credit: Marcos Saramago) |
Arrive early for a Tour of Hearst Mining Building Seismic Isolation Retrofit at 4:30 pm! (for more information contact: Heidi Faison, hfaison@berkeley.edu)
Directions:
For walking, driving and bart directions plus parking information, see the PEER website:
http://peer.berkeley.edu/about/directions_davis.html
The Hearst Mining Building is the building next to PEER’s office in Davis Hall.
